Elements of the Welsh Faerie Tradition

The Welsh Faerie Tradition contains elements of the three Universal Concepts: Shamanism, Pictish/Welsh Witchcraft and The Faerie Faith. Shamanism is as old and as vast as the night sky; Witchcraft in its various forms, has been a part of humanity since the building of the first communal village; and The Faerie Folk have inhabited the hills, valleys and plains of the Earth since the very beginning of time. The Faerie Tradition is an ecstatic philosophy with an essential belief in the reality of the spirit world.

1.) The Welsh Faerie Shaman, through training or calling, is one who is able to enter that spirit world and work with the unseen forces. The Faerie Shaman acts as an intermediary between the spirit world and the everyday lives of men and women. He or she may also guide others to experience the spirit world for themselves and so deepen their spiritual lives. Through contact with the spirits, the Faerie Shaman can work acts of healing, divination and magic - revealing by way of vision, poetry and myth the deeper reaches of the human spirit. This component is derived from Native American Shamanism, the Druid philosophy of Wales, and Bards of the Isle of Anglesey.

2.) The Welsh Witchcraft component is that known as Dewianeth Cymry or Gwyddon. This is the herb woman and "black" man of the village and is known by many other names, least of them Witchcraft. This component also derives from a tradition of Pictish Witches. This person did not "worship" as such. This was the herbal and magickal healer. The Ovate as such.

3.) The Faerie Faith component is that which connects the two above. This is a communication with the elementals, the spirits, or fairies, if you will, which work with us and sometimes even against us if we are not strong enough. The Welsh man sized faerie is called Y Dynion Mwyn They WILL help if asked nicely and given something in return. And they have access to much power!!

There are many distinguishing factors which make the Welsh Faerie Faith different from other groups: the use of The Thirteen Faerie Treasures, Faerie Gifts and Faerie Power; achieving ecstatic or alternative states of consciousness; the Vision Quest to the OtherWorlds; a Ecstatic/seasonal/cyclic awareness as well as a fertility orientation; an invocational nature of Natural Magick; and the inviting of the Faeries to the rites, ritual, and Magick of Y Dynion Mwyn.

In the Welsh Faerie Tradition, the natural human body, soul, and mind are seen as beautiful, powerful, and divine. Human beings were not cast out of paradise, they are born into it. Human beings are not born innately evil, they are born innocent with the gift of choice. Human beings do not answer to the laws of an omnipotent god, they answer to Karma and account for their own actions. And the eternal afterlife of a human being is not judged by one lifetime alone; many lifetimes will be traversed before we are all reconnected with divinity.

Finally, in the Faerie Tradition, there is the communion with the ancient divinities of the Spirit World; the Gods and Goddesses, Heroes and Heroines of Wales. The original race of Faeries who first came to the Earth from the Stars were known as the Nephelim, the Old Ones or the people of the Goddess Don. Eventually, when humans came to inhabit the Earth, the Old Ones moved into the Realm of the Faerie, or Faerie Land. We know, speak and commune with them when we travel to their Realm or when they cross over into our reality.

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