It’s hard to write about faeries in the darkening season; as the world around us becomes cold and frozen and only the most stoic Gods/Goddesses remain to shape the season. Here, I’m speaking of The Morrighan, Dagda, Cernunnos, Osiris, Hades, Pan, and Persephone. Deeper into winter, we have the Oak King and Holly King, Cailleach, Demeter, Hekate, and Cerridwen. Just to name a few, while the ‘wee ones’ and elementals burrow deep within the womb of Mother Earth until they flip over and emerge on the other side of the Earth’s equator; what a vision! But, what can we do to connect to the fae and the Gods and Goddesses of the winter seasons?
Through majick, of course! I’m going to assume you have some sort of an altar at this point and you have a method of mediation, be it Laurie Cabot’s Crystal Countdown or another. In this Faerie Majick article, I’ll be discoursing how daily, five-minute, semi guided mediations at your devotional or seasonal altar can connect you to the hidden Underworld during these dark winter months.
Why would you want to be connected to the Underworld? Because, within the darkness new life can come into being. Issues like fear, hopelessness and seasonal depression can be understood, slowly nurtured, even healed to become bravery, assurance, and acceptance. How you ask? Imagine meeting with an Underworld God a few minutes each day in an elevator. Sure, you’re as shy as school child at first! Then “hello’s” start to emerge from your lips, then small talk; soon you are confiding in them while longing for their sound advice. Each exchange you gain more insight without the deep day-wrecking, soul searching that true Shadow Work can cause.
The Underworld can seem like nothing more than the womb of Mother Earth, a covered Cauldron, or the blackened earth beneath our feet. Seeing this psychic location in a familiar way takes the edge off of the pitch dark, cold, unknown aspects it also carries. Opening caves can illuminate whole new worlds underneath! Don’t get me wrong though, for it can be as scary as the visual of an unchecked elevator ride down with the Morrighan! Eek. Again, the idea is to make small approaches while getting used to entering and leaving with confidence… and hoping an inner light will be turned on at some point during your journeys.
Let me get right into the daily semi guided aspect. I say semi guided because you might already have a visual of how you enter the Underworld; if not, you’ll need to create one. It can vary, like going through a cave that descends deeper and darker into the abyss, or perhaps a stone stairwell that spirals forever downward into the roots till the stairs are now made of black earth. Maybe the Underworld is strangely familiar to you, and it has the ability to swallow you whole. Either way you enter, it is best you start by imagining a comfortable narrative…as comfortable as this type of journey could be.
How: Start by entering into an Alpha/meditative state. Once ready, begin your visual journey; stopping at the opening/door/larger room entry that is the Underworld. Look around…is there a light within? Do you see or feel a presence with you? Are you uncomfortable but safe; or is every part of you yelling “RUN”? Make note and come up the way you came. Next important steps, give yourself Total Health Clearance and JOURNAL.
What You Need: A tiny bit of time, 3 to 8-minute journey a few times a week till you can approach the God or Goddess within with an open mind. That’s it! But we Cabot’s are fancier that that…so, beforehand, place on a pentacle charm that’s been charged already or an object (amulet/talisman) as a protection tool(s), protection oil to self-anoint, slow meditative drumming or music on, and ready your journal and pen. Go further with a black cape, Cabot robe or blanket on and now you’ve turned this momentary meditation into a ritual!
What Can Come of It: Well, I can’t say, really! Perhaps it’s a Faerie Court you are about to meet and learn from; maybe it’s your ancestors. It could be more than one God/dess; each having a message for you. Here, you can commune with a deeper wisdom that the Winter season has to offer, learning and understanding some of your darker rhythms and how to approach them. By making smaller efforts often, they can help you transform yourself… care for you in a softer way, so that you may grow as the Sun starts to till you are sprouting come Springtime.
Advice: Be humble. Ask then listen, then LISTEN again. Bring a psychic offering; ask where you should leave it and do so without making a big deal about it. Take very little; if you feel it is insisted you receive a gift, then do so. Otherwise, ask if ‘it’ can remain there. Trust your instinct, follow your gut, allow yourself to trust what you are being shown. This isn’t a daydream fantasy, you are receiving wisdom…yes, you might be limited in your interpretation of that wisdom, but their message will become clear in due time. JOURNAL! Eye opening moments are better served when you have a detailed reference to past moments.
When to Stop the Journey: This work isn’t for everyone and if you’re hearing “RUN” every time, then you’re not meant to be there just yet. So, don’t proceed! Leave an offering at the threshold if you wish and turn up the path you came for a final time. The work and wisdom of the Faerie Court/God/dess will come to you by another method. But let’s say that isn’t the case, you’ve entered and have been receiving and appreciating the connection like myself. Well when to stop is your choice, really. I’m seasonally driven, I bid adieu at Ostara/Beltane depending on the weather and energy tide of the season that year.
I hope this seasonal practice interests and scares you all at once (hehe), like it does me every year I begin again. May the Gods and Ancestors fill you with the knowledge and power to keep that spark of life lit during the storms that rage while the Winter months keep you warm, safe, and healthy. Faerie Blessings!
Originally written for the Samhain/Yule CKHT Newsletter in 2019
New editing by Priestess Kimberlee Cabot Elizabeth
Comments