Faeries and humans together

Are the faeries here to help us?  The opinion differs depending on the person.

“I don't think [the fae] are here to help us, although they sometimes can be helpful to have around,” faerie artist Soso Erlenkamp said.  “All in all they are not very philanthropic and why should they be? Humans have not been very kind to them for a long time.” 

The fae tell Soso that the magic is disappearing from the world and they want us to recognize and understand this.  It’s not only the magic that the fae themselves possess, Soso said, but also the magic

that keeps our world turning.  Perhaps it is this reason, above all, that faeries have made their way back into our minds and our hearts, despite being buried in history and folklore for so many centuries - to help us grow with the one thing that is common to us all - Mamma Earth - in this prominent time of enlightenment and change.

Although some believe, and some faeries have intimated that they are not specifically here to help humanity, Mind Key member and artist Grace NgDung eloquently sums up my belief in why they have chosen to guide some or all of us.

“Faeries’ goal is to protect life forms already on earth, but also to protect nature.  Kind of like stewards of nature.  Thats why they help and guide us.  [They are more apt] to help you when you live closer to nature,” Grace said.  “Angels will come in no matter what state you’re in, but faeries want you to chose to be a part of it.”

It’s a nice distinction. Like us, their fellow earth-dwellers, faeries have the ability to choose their destiny - for better or worse. They may not always claim to make the right decisions, but they have maintained one trait that humans have all but lost - their ability to work with the world rather than try and bend it to their will.

Faeries also help us to become more conscious and more connected.  They are intricately connected to the earth, which is likely why as we, who need the earth to survive as much as they do, become more and more disconnected from it, faerie energy seems to be fading. 

For this reason, many faeries have chosen to help humanity rediscover that connection, become more spiritually conscious, and simply enjoy that which is around us.

“Usually, they have their own agenda, but in the past humans and faes have at times worked together and this is still an option,” Soso said. “Besides, who says they are wiser than us? I think our different types of energy serve different roles and we humans can learn from faerie, as they probably can make use of  and learn from our energy as well.”

“I’ve heard them referred to as our cousins,” Grace said.  “I like how that feels.  We’re related, not from the same parents, but related on a spiritual level, they want to connect and share things with us.”

Read more about faeries:
Faeries for Beltane
What Faeries think of Us
Advice for Seeing Faeries
Faeries and Humans Together

Advice for seeing faeries

photo by Kely Luzio-Cardona

People often ask how I see faeries.

Like most things, seeing faeries (at least for me) is a good measure of faith and imagination. The imagination being the place where creative beings such as the faeries who paint the sunset or drop dew on the flowers live.  Faith is believing your gut when it tries to convince the heart that these stories—this imagination—is something more than flight of fancy.

There are always signs when the faeries talk. Some people get the chills, some hear the voice in their head change in pitch or timbre.  Sometimes the signs are more subtle—diary entries that mimic subsequent events, or dreams that come true.  Sometimes the sign is as simple as a song on the radio at just the right moment, or a heart shaped rock in your path as you reminisce about a love that was lost.  When these things happen we must believe that it’s the voice of an energy unseen—if not then we lose our opportunity to hear it full force.

I have been blessed to meet many wise souls who see or speak with faeries as regularly as I do… and thanks to them the faith in my own experience has grown.  Faerie artist Brian Froud has been one of the most influential in this journey, and below I will share the words of friend and faerie artist Soso Erlenkamp who took the same life-changing masterclass with Brian and his wife Wendy two years ago in Belcastel France.

Soso suggests that those looking to contact faerie stay present, eliminate distractions, and go out into nature whenever possible.

“For me one essential way to get in contact with faerie, was to learn to be entirely in the here and now with open eyes, an open mind, and an open heart,” Soso said.

Soso continues with a note that she wrote some years ago. I find it a lovely meditation with some food for thought at the end:

***************************************************************
Sometimes in life we are lucky enough to find ourselves in a perfect moment. Often we do not recognize it until we're in the middle of it, even more often when the moment is gone.

photo by Kely Luzio-Cardona

It is like finding yourself in a beautiful fairy garden. The air is filled with the smell of fall, mild sun rays break through the leaves of old and dignified looking trees, gifting you the perfect mixture of sun and shadow, dark and light, warm and cool. The grass underneath your bare feet keeps you grounded. The sound of water whispering in a little creek nearby is almost like a lullaby. Looking around you, taking in the scenery, you do not know what to expect next but you are not bothered because you're not expecting anything in particular anyway. It is the moment of perfect tranquillity and serenity. Suddenly your attention gets drawn to a dragonfly hovering in front of you, just a short distance from your face.

And in one of these rare moments - perfect moments - the dragonfly somehow decides to take a rest on the palm of your hand. You hardly dare to breathe, so afraid are you to scare this strange, but beautiful creature away.

And then you have a choice: you can dwell on your thoughts and fears that you might scare the dragonfly away or you just can enjoy every breath of this fantastic moment, not wondering about what is going to happen next.

But one thing is for sure: when you try to catch the dragonfly it will be gone sooner than you can realize what precious gift you just chased away. For there is one rule every wanderer in the fairy world of perfect moments needs to know: do not try to catch the dragonfly, because it cannot be caught without loosing its magic...

But if you let it go, it might come back, somewhere, somehow, when you least expect it as another fairy moment of a perfect here and now. The question is: are you ready to let go?

Read more about faeries:
Faeries for Beltane
What Faeries think of Us
Advice for Seeing Faeries

What the faeries think of us

Photography by Kely Luzio-Cardona

what is a faerie, and why not call them fairies? Learn more HERE
 
There are many beliefs on who the faeries are and how they view humanity at large.  What is their role in this world, and what is their role in our lives?

Faeries are in large part energy, but they also live in part in our world, on Earth.  In fact, they cannot live without Earth, and it is their duty and their purpose to keep earth spinning.

They also believe it is our purpose in living here - to work with them to keep the world turning, to keep it happy and healthy for it is our mother and our child in turn.  Shame on us, they say, for not looking at it otherwise.

Yet, the faeries are carefree and wild.  They don’t expect us to be any different.  They don’t expect
humanity, which in their opinion is more wild than they, to do what they don’t.  After all, we work hard, we care for our families, work at our jobs, keep up our homes.  We build and connect and help each other.  Many of us think humanity is dark and trouble, but the faeries know they are dark and trouble, too.  They don’t look down on us for being who we are.

They are, however, saddened that we have forgotten where we come from.  “This,” I hear, “is an unforgivable sin.”  Then in the same breath, “but we don’t believe in sin.”  Then they titter, and flit away.

Artwork by Michelle Farenci

Sigh.  Such is the life of a faery.  Maybe one day I will get a straight answer… but then again, as my blog on Time so clearly states, there are no straight lines, so why should there be straight answers.

So I am hesitant to fall into the trap of those who say the earth and the faeries, and all who protect the land we live on are angry, or even saddened by our actions (or inaction).  They know we are simply on our path.  I’m also quite spiritual, but hesitant to say that God and the Universe is angry or saddened that we do not always act as God has guided us to. 

Instead my spirituality leads me to believe both stories in part.  We HAVE forgotten where we’ve come from, and we HAVE forsaken the land in which we live… but not completely.  And if it makes us dark, or makes us bad, then so what?  Humanity was never meant to consist of all light or all goodness.  We did not come here to be at peace - we could stay in Spirit for that.

Ahhh… The faeries breathe.  Now you’re getting it.  As a race we are too lax on ourselves and too hard, both.  We are here to learn, and here to remember.  No one is as disappointed in us as we are in ourselves. 

We work hard to make the world a better place without reflecting on what might be best for the greater whole. In this way we create for other living spirits an oppression that we fight tooth-and-nail to be rid of ourselves.  Is it no surprise we cannot bend things to our will - we humans who refused to be bent to anyone’s will?  The faeries understand this, even though we may not.

Read more about faeries:
Faeries for Beltane

Faeries for Beltane

Artwork by Brian Froud

What is a faery?

There are many definitions and belief systems for faeries and their role on earth.  A common thread through most stories and beliefs, however, is how Beltane, or May Day, is one of the faeries primary holidays.

Because May Day (May 1st) is fast approaching, I thought it appropriate to share some thoughts on who the faeries are, what their role is in our lives, and how we can try to contact them as the days draw closer to one of their favorite festivals… which also happens to fall on a full moon this year.

As I wrote in a November blog, Faerie, or faery, is a broad term for the millions of different kind of elemental spirits that live with and among us.  They embody the magic behind the science of things.  They are the reason the flowers bloom, the snow glistens, and the waves crash upon the sand.  Sure, science has these things figured out, but the spirit behind them is purely faerie. . . [Click to read more]

Classifying faeries is far more difficult than defining them (although, they tell me all the time they don’t like either).

Artwork by Brian Froud

Faerie artist and tattooist Scarlet Sinclair said, “To me ‘faerie’ is a way to describe and put faces on the spirits inherent in nature, whether they are tangible things in nature such as rocks or trees or flowers or unseen things in nature such as energy, emotions or magick.”

To read more about the term faerie (and why we use it instead of fairy) as well as to better understand some of the faerie classifications, click HERE to read more.

Stay tuned this week for more stories on faeries, what they think of humans, and advice on seeing faeries for yourself, including note (that I believe makes a lovely meditation) from Norwegian faerie artist Soso Erlenkamp on getting into the right frame of mind to meet your own faery friend or guide.

In a Nutshell: Connection

This week our bloggers spoke on connection and what it means to them to be connected.  Mind Key IS connection - a way for people of all walks of life to find their personal path to health and enlightenment.  As a community we bring together the resources and support to make that happen.


As member Dr. Kevin Hall of Do Well Be Well says in Connected through Community, “I think that we are all affected by everyone that we meet and interact with, and that sometimes they mold or reshape our way of understanding things."

In large part this happens because no matter who we are or where we live we all have common experiences as human beings. These experiences are what gives teachers the knowledge to help their students, and is what gives children the ability to teach their elders.

Charla Dury calls it "The Human Experience." "Someone out there has been through what you’re going through," Charla said.  "And it’s possible that they’re not just like you."

But there is more to being connected than our similarities and differences.  Connection happens between people and spirit, people and nature, and even through technology.

"Technology has been a bridge to help us understand how connected we all are," Danielle Rose writes in Defining Connection.  "It has helped us better understand the butterfly or ripple effect, proving humanity is just as powerful energetically as we are technologically."

Perhaps because of this more than anything, it is so important to just be at times.  We try so hard to connect to certain aspects of our lives that we forget to recognize the important connections that simply are.

“Outlets for disconnection are what helps me reconnect to what identifies me, beyond what I do for a living,”Mind Key writer Tara Ann Lesko said in "Connected through Community."

This is likely why even people who live in the midst of a concrete jungle find sanctuary outdoors in nature. There are many studies eager to prove why. Shinrin-yoku (森林浴), or forest bathing, has been shown to positively affect hormones and the neurological system. In his book, "Last Child in the Woods," Richard Louv discusses how spending more unstructured time in nature equates to better behavior and better grades.   The Tree Whisperer, Dr. Jim Conroy of Cooperative BioBalance teaches that we are all working members of both small and large ecosystems, and as such are able to connect with them to provide genuine healing for ourselves and the world.

In "Nature Connectedness," Tamara Rokicki writes, "Ecopsychologists say that wholesome connection with nature show an increase of peace, positive attitude and a way to see interconnectedness of all things."

Time to start thinking of ourselves as part of something bigger - something in which we all play an integral role. 

"Community is more than just the sum of the individual relationships within it, and as a whole functions as a higher vibrational energy."
Danielle Rose
Connected through Community


Want to read more?  Click the links below to check out this week's blogs on connection:
Defining Connection
Connection through Community
Charla Dury on the Human Experience, and
Tamara Rokicki on our Connection with Nature 

Nature Connectedness

Photo by Helminadia Randford

The history of humankind is impossible to understand, or even validate, without acknowledging the evolution of man in the natural settings.  Since the beginning of time our ancestors relied on nature to provide them with physical sustainability, spiritual awareness and a holistic connection. The direct connection which humans and nature have shared for centuries can’t be ignored, but should help us reevaluate the benefits of it while living in a world so embedded in technology.

The modern world has been enriched by the technological advancement of global connectivity, managing to connect billions of people around the world with the simple click of a button.  This process, which enables us to view a virtual tour of the Grand Canyon while chatting on Skype with a friend, has impoverished the distinct benefits deriving from Nature Connectedness. 

But what is Nature Connectedness?

It is the way individuals connect with, incorporate and understand nature as part of their identity.  It is the understanding if its cycles, seasons, sustainability, sensitivities and strengths, which form the backbone on which emotional connection, creativity and inner awareness build upon.

During my research on Nature Connectedness, I came across a quote from 18^th Century poet and writer, Samuel Johnson:

“Deviation from nature is deviation from happiness.”

Is this true? I asked myself.  Does a connection with nature truly create happiness? 

The article The Relationship between nature connectedness and happiness: a meta-analysis, published for Frontiers Psychology and written by Colin A. Capaldi, Raelyne L. Dopo and John M. Zelenski, describes that “contact with nature can be beneficial, for example leading to improvements in mood, cognition, and health.”  Several studies done by professionals validate these benefits.

Ecopsychologists say that wholesome connection with nature show an increase of peace, positive attitude and a way to see interconnectedness of all things.  When individuals immerse themselves in the natural world they can begin to understand patterns of life, engaging in positive life styles and adjusting their relationship with the environment and fellow humans.

Our children are learning about nature in schoolbooks, but spending less time outdoors and more time on the computer.  One can easily understand the difference between learning about nature and living in nature.  I’ve witnessed first hand how my senses and body responded to the physical rhythms of nature, from the chirping of birds, swooshing of the wind through a canopy of knotted trees, and the array of colors presented during a hike. 

In the book Psychology of Sustainable Development by P.W. Schmuck and W.P. Schulz, Schultz identifies three Nature Connectedness components: cognitive, affective and behavioral.  The cognitive component is how integrated one feels with nature; the affective component is the individual’s sense of care of nature; and the behavioral component is the commitment to protect the natural environment.   It’s easy to see how these three components not only teach us how to be in harmony with nature, but also transcend into the way we connect with other humans.

It is such connection with nature that teaches us how to relate to others.  It was not only normal but also imperative for early societies to depend on the natural world.  This forced them to work together and by doing so it created an everlasting bond that eventually forged customs, mores, spiritual rituals and an array of beliefs.   I say everlasting because I believe that as human beings we still retain that inner instinct to connect with others in a more personal, meaningful way. 

Mind Key is the bridge between the natural world and everyone it encompasses (artists, spiritualists, writers and anyone who understands the value of human connectedness).   Mind Key strives to connect that inner awareness with the beauty of nature and everything it teaches.  As human beings we need to understand the value of nature and how it is detrimental to our creativity and overall being to neglect a bond that has existed since the beginning of time.

Connectedness - The Human Experience

Have you ever been sitting in a movie theatre and felt a kinship with the character on the screen?  Ever had something hit a little too close to home? Have you read a book and wondered how they knew what was going on in your head?  There’s a reason for that.  I’m going to call that reason “The Human Experience.”

No matter your station, your race, religion, sexual orientation or creed, if you have “this” experience, “this” will almost inevitably happen.  Cause and effect of the human kind.  Human experiences encompass birth through death and everything in between and they are fact.

• If you live to a certain age, you go through puberty.  Male or female, puberty is hard, no matter what.
• If you are in a monogamous relationship and stay in that relationship long enough, your relationship and sex life will most probably go through a slump.  Relationship slumps come in many shapes and sizes and it’s difficult to judge one against another, but they happen.
• You yearn for something different sometimes.  You wonder, what if?  And you don’t like being lied to.
• If you’re female and experience labor, it hurts.  It really hurts.  If you’re male and get kicked in the crotch, it also really hurts.
• If you choose to raise children, there will be many highs and lows, tough times and times of joy.  Babies cry and wear out the parents, toddlers have WAY too much energy and teenagers try your patience.  And it doesn’t end when they move out.  When you’re a parent, you’re a parent forever.
• If you’re lucky enough to live long enough (and long enough is subjective), you’ll be touched by cancer.  Whether it’s someone you know or you get it yourself, it’ll be there.  And when someone close to you dies, you’ll have to walk the steps of grief.

 

After listing all of these out, I was wondering if this is more a white middle class straight married American experience.  Because that’s where I fall.  Are any of these events only experienced by Americans?  Or only middle class people?  Or white people?  Or straight folks?  Are these experiences unique to North Americans or people of the northern hemisphere?  I don’t think so.

Granted, I’ve never lived anywhere but here or been anyone but me, (for all I know foxes and Martians could have the same stuff happen) but I think these are human experiences, not to be pigeon-holed into anything but the overall umbrella of the human race.

These human experiences connect us.  Even if you choose to live in isolation, playing on your introvertedness and without a physical community, if you reach out (be it online or however people who aren’t online reach out) you can find someone out there with whom to share your human experience.  Someone out there has been through what you’re going through.  And it’s possible that they’re not just like you.

This is important.  We’re all connected.  We’re all the same on the human level.  This fact should bring us closer together, allow us to share and feel each other’s pain and joy.  But today’s society divides us and tells us that we’re all different and should proclaim our differences loudly and with passion.  I don’t mean to discount each human’s uniqueness and place in this universe, and we should all be proud to be just who we are, but we still need to remember…

We’re all connected by the human experience.