Tree Of Enchantment: Ancient Wisdom and Magic Practices of the Faery Tradition - Softcover

Orion Foxwood

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1578634075 ISBN 13: 9781578634071

Publisher: Weiser Books, 2008

Synopsis

In Faery Seership the truths we seek can only be found within ourselves, within nature, and within our relationships to nature. At the center of the Faery Tradition lies the Tree of Enchantment: the symbol for these relationships and for the threefold life of humanity. At each level of the tree, there are attending spirit forces that vary from beings of light to beings of shadow, from the ancestors of humanity to the architects of form and nature, from the destiny of our planet to the creation forces of the universe. The tree's roots grow through the lower world, where all life originates and the dead travel, its trunk and lower branches reach out across the middle world, where elemental forces and the four directions guide us, and its highest branches reach the into the upper world and the Star realm. Weaving together folk tradition and extensive academic research, Orion Foxwood has created an accessible, beautifully written pathway into the Old Religion of Faery Seership. Based on Appalachian traditions, Wiccan studies, Celtic oral traditions, and the Craft from Western and Northern Europe, The Tree of Enchantment offers the student of Faery Tradition both introductory and advanced visionary practices and authentic tools to learn to navigate the three realms of humanity. With diligence and an open heart, the reader will learn to cross The River of Blood, pass through The Gate of Awakening, and over The River of Stars.

About this title

About the Author

Orion Foxwood is an elder in the Celtic and Romano Celtic Traditional Craft, a high priest in Alexandrian tradition and the founding elder of the Foxwood Temple of the Old Religion. He lectures throughout the United States and the United Kingdom on the Craft, Faery Seership tradition, Southern folk magic, and conjure. Visit him at www.orionfoxwood.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

the Tree of Enchantment

Ancient Wisdom and Magical Practices of the Faery Tradition

By ORION FOXWOOD

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

Copyright © 2008 Orion Foxwood
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-407-1

Contents

Foreword by R.J. Stewart
Prologue
Part I: Approaching the Tree of Enchantment
Chapter 1 The Tree and the Keys
Chapter 2 The Threefold Life
Chapter 3 The Re-Enchantment of Life
Chapter 4 The Visionary and Magical Process in Faery Seership
Part II: The Vision Keys and the Gates
Chapter 5 The Divine Ancestor—Wisdom of the Blood
Chapter 6 The Guardian—Encountering the King of the World
Chapter 7 The Well of Enchantment—Opening the Gates of Faery
Chapter 8 The Gate of Memory and the River of Blood
Chapter 9 The Weaver—Goddess of Fate
Chapter 10 The Dreamer—The Vision of the Sacred Land
Chapter 11 The Stone—Raising the Star from the Stone
Chapter 12 The Gate of Awakening and the River of Stars
Chapter 13 The Star Father—Patriarch of Light
Chapter 14 The Utterer—She Who Breathes Forth the Stars
Chapter 15 The Holy Flame—Encountering the Peace Eternal
Epilogue—A Blessing to the Seeker
Bibliography
About the Author

CHAPTER 1

The Tree and the Keys

Welcome to the Tree of Enchantment

All of creation is driven by a type of "divine discontent." The poem "Unrest,"by Don Marquis, speaks great wisdom about the nature of life, the universe, ourplanet, humanity, and other living beings, both seen and unseen. This unrestmakes us wonder and seek, driven by some invisible and unrecognizable longing.It makes us search relentlessly for the answers to what we are and why we are.This divine discontent propels us on a search for answers—a quest for truth andsatisfaction—only to discover that the prize of our longing is within us andwithin all of nature, as well as in the relationships in between. For those whoseek a spiritual focus that puts humanity at the center of the universe and apath of spirituality centered on the individual, the path of Faery Seership canbe a challenge. In Faery Seership, the truths we seek can only be found withinourselves, within all of nature, and within the relationships in between.

Divine discontent was the seed of the Tree of Enchantment. The Tree grew into aforest of inquiry and self-exploration, wherein the Source sought to understanditself through all of its parts—all of its creations. In this way, all ofcreation is an aspect of and face of the Creator, or mechanisms by which theinfinite explores through the finite. Nowhere in the universe is this curiosityand drive to know more apparent than in the plight of the human species.

Humanity has, since before the beginnings of recorded history, explored themysteries of the universe for the answers to questions it can barely articulate.We seek to fill an inner need whose shadowy face is barely visible beyond thelight of our consciousness, and whose whispered name is lost in the cacophony ofour daily lives. But we must ask ourselves this question: How can we seek forthat which we never possessed? Rather than sailing the vast oceans to satisfy anunknowable craving, could it be that humanity is spurred on by the deep-seatedremembrance of a paradise lost? Perhaps encoded in the very substance of ourbeing is a memory of the first causation and the plan that prompted all ofcreation and our role within it.

Humanity stands in a dangerous and precarious place on the scales of life.Humanity has spent generations believing—adamantly and erroneously—that its ownreligions and perceptions of the universe, as defined by the programming ofpolitics, orthodoxy, and science, really define how the universe works and whereit is going. Think about it: How arrogant of us to believe that our philosophiesalone dictate the intention and destiny of all things! Today, more humans areawakening from the sedation of this programming, filled with an unsatisfiedhunger that drives them to look elsewhere for answers and fulfillment—to nature,occultism, mysticism, and other more arcane approaches. Mind you, there are manyvaluable components to our modern religions, science, and political processes—butthey are completely human and incomplete in and of themselves. What aboutthe rest of creation and the wisdoms contained within their lives and theirrelationships with each other and humanity? This is where Faery Seership and theTree of Enchantment bring new insights from old lore. The old lore gives usvaluable insights into the hidden faces and orders of life and how we, ashumans, must relate to them to become healthy, whole, and aware.

Metaphorically speaking, the Tree of Enchantment taps us on the shoulder,awakens our divine discontent, and declares:

Hey you! The answers you seek are not on that island of self-delusion, self-aggrandizement,and self-isolation. No, the answers you seek are in yourrelationship with the rest of the inner and outer orders of life. Truth is notout there on a cloud or throne in the heavens to be contemplated and revealed bysome distant order of spiritual beings. Rather, it is there within you, in yourblood and bones, and written into the processes of all life. Come home to yourblood. Come home to your spirit. Come home to the spirits that guide, guard, andbless you. Come home to your original family. Make peace with your divinediscontent. Make peace with creation and its attending spiritual forces. Let thepearl be revealed. Awaken to your purpose as an individual, a species, and aparticipant in the collective of creation. Bring your will, passion, andimagination back into the service of the One. Awaken the Dreaming Child ofPromise and be born again. It is time to come back to the Tree, eat its fruitsof wisdom, and let it awaken the seed of spirit within you. The first taste ofthese fruits imparted free will to your species. The second taste brings thatfree will home to the service of creation. Come, sit in the shade of the Tree ofWisdom and find where the branches enfold you. Come, know your spirit family andyour ancient heritage, and be at one.

The Tree provides a clear understanding of humanity's soul experiences inrelationship to the soul of the world of which we are part. However, themysteries of the Tree are only revealed to seekers when they come home to theirskin, their human ancestry, and the soul of nature in its masculine and feminineforms. You cannot choose one branch of the Tree over another. You must choosethe whole Tree or the isolation of the twig on which you stand.

At first, it seems that the Tree grows in a wilderness of despair. This despairis driven by an innate divine discontent within us that deludes us into thinkingthat our inherent flaws form a boundary that prevents us from becoming one withthe Creator. Do not let it fool you into thinking that you will never attaininner peace and oneness with creation and the Creator. You must go into thatwilderness and cry out for a vision, in humility and hope, as a child of theOne. When you have surrendered to its majesty and mystery, the beauty of theTree unfurls.

There are Rivers of Blood, Rivers of Stars, and many ordeals that lay before youon your journey. If you have the unstained heart of a child or, as traditionterms it, the "Hidden Heart of Blue Flame," then, through innocence and divinediscontent, the way before you will open and you will see light in the darkforest. But you cannot define what lies beyond the veil of your human-centeredviews, and this is a challenge for those who seek the wild, untamed paths ofFaery. You can only walk with faith into the deep running streams of the "under-country"and be washed in those inner rivers, baptized into the mysteries of theTree of Enchantment, and rise from the Star Within the Land to the Holy andFormless Fire that abides in the depths of the universe—the source of all.

How does this intense insight connect with Faery practices and the folkways?Well, the folk practices of Faery Seership, when looked at in their full breadthand depth across the cultures that venerate as well as fear the Faery people,give us a composite picture of how Faery practices, lore, customs, and balladsform the basis of a profound spiritual approach.

The Tree, as I present it in this text, is a living, diagrammatic description ofcreation, destruction, and regeneration, and of the beings that attend theseprocesses, as illustrated in the practices of my branch of Faery Seership. Itlays out graphically a process whereby you can become whole and re-enter yourplace upon the sacred land, as well as engage and understand the underworld,surface world, and over-world forces associated with these Faery practices. TheTree is a map to and through the realms of enchantment to the heart of creation.It is a recipe for transformation of your self from a mere surface walker intoone who walks the hidden paths of dream and the brilliant streams of starlightto the source and sum of creation. However, the first steps of the journey arewithin, through the bloodline of the seeker. Your body and mind are the gatewaysto the souls/siths of the threefold life and the worlds in which they live.These souls are your heritage, for they hold the mysteries of their source, theCreator of all things. They are untapped reservoirs of spiritual insight andliberation.

The Tree shows us that all of the living beings and processes of the threeworlds are mystical, magical, powerful, and crucial. The Tree makes us awarethat all orders of life minister to us aspects of truth and spiritual being—creativeand destructive, maleficent and benign. There are no accidents in theprocesses of universal intelligence. However, the Tree will not reveal itssecrets without real change—real reshaping of the self in all its forms. Truthis a hard-won lover, one that will never compromise or be compromised. Truthrequires personal change, and change may require personal sacrifice. There areno loopholes for negotiating your way out of this. I know ... I have tried.

The Tree illustrates a series of relationships between beings, states of being,and the three souls or "walkers" of your spirit. It depicts how these comprisethe living holism of your world and your experiences. At each level of the Tree,there are attending spiritual forces that vary from beings of light to beings ofshadow; from the ancestors of humanity to the architects of form and nature; andfrom the destiny of our planet and incarnate selves to the creative forces ofthe universes. The Tree is no intellectual exercise. Instead, it is a process ofexchange, contact, and partnership with the forces of creation, destruction, andtransformation. Over time, this process unfolds an actualized being. You mustengage the forces of the Tree to be changed. This is a tradition of co-creationand partnership, not manipulation and domination. The forces encountered cannotbe willed into submission by your human mind. Your human will alone isinsignificant to the forces of the Tree, so I advise you to be humble and comewith the unstained heart of a child, the Hidden Heart of Blue Flame.

The Tree of Enchantment will introduce you to the Tree and its powerful forces.It differs from my previous book, The Faery Teachings, which presented thefoundation and language of the Faery Seership practices. The Tree of Enchantmenttakes you to the next level, where you can begin to integrate the paradigm andpractices of the Faery Seer into your own path of spiritual and magicaldiscovery. Where the first book cited many academic and anthropologicalreferences, this one is more direct and experiential in approach. Although therewill be some additional academic and literary citations, the bulk of theteachings are a sharing of oral lore.

The Origins of the Tree

As is the case with all my material, the Tree is based on a combination of oraltradition (Celtic, American Southern, and Appalachian), academic research ondocumented Faery practices (folkloric and extant), and contemporary practices(based on direct contact and transmission). The Tree of Enchantment, in the formI have developed it, is the synthesis of my life's work in Faery tradition. Itis a device that illustrates the interaction between the threefold life ofhumanity (and all of creation), the primary inner contacts known as the VisionKeys, and the gates, rivers, and other inner topology of the Faery and Starrealms that reveal and shape the mystical unfolding of life. These contacts canbe found and identified by many names and across many cultures in folklorictradition.

The keys (or contacts) were not presented, gifted, transmitted, or firstdescribed to me in any real relationship to each other. Through a long journeyof discovering the keys and their inter-relationships, I have changed, grown,and deepened in my spirituality and contentment. In summary, I have come home tothe sacred land and begun my path toward "living in blessedness." For thesereasons, I am charged to share these teachings with the many seekers and walkersof the Faery paths. By doing so, the old ways are given new life. They may bepassed into our generational tree so that current and future generations may,once again, become enchanted.

Some of the keys were passed to me through studies in traditional witchcraft.Yes, Old Craft has survived, but not in the forms popularized in the moderngenre of occult books. Old Craft is very simple and yet overwhelmingly profound(although not for the faint of heart). Old Craft traditions of western andnorthern Europe, and their variants in America, have many Faery practices attheir foundation, although many of their adherents are not immediately aware ofthis. A great number of Old Craft practitioners are alive and well in America inAppalachia, the Ozarks, the American South, Pennsylvania, the Ohio valley, NewJersey, and New York (primarily old Italian variants), as well as other areas.Old Craft is also very much alive in continental and insular Europe. One of thehallmarks of these traditions is their use and transmission of inner contacts orspirit beings that have been in the families, "houses," or communities forcenturies. These contacts are often the most revered and protected jewels of thewitch's heritage in those lineages. They originate from age-old Faery practices.Some followed the bloodlines during immigrations to the Americas; some were lostand replaced by new ones throughout generations of settlement and integrationinto the inner life of the American inscape. I have been blessed to have some ofthese contacts shared with me, and have been given permission to share them withall who seek.

The Vision Keys and the Structure of the Tree

A full diagram of the Tree of Enchantment is included with this book. I adviseyou to use this diagram as a constant frame of reference as you work with theteachings in the book. The more you can internalize the pattern of the Tree intoyour self, the more it will work for you.

The Tree is divided into three distinct, yet interpenetrating, spheres orrealms: the upper world, the middle or surface world, and the lower world. Thesethree worlds are very relevant to all that we perceive in the paradigm of FaerySeership. They illustrate the perception we have of looking above to the distantwhite stars, below to the deep earth out of which all life grows and into whichthe dead travel, and around us to the elemental forces that come upon us fromthe four directions. It is easy to imagine that these three perspectives (above,below, and around) are the basis of all life, and we frail humans seem to standat the center, for we are the center of our own world.

There are many names for these worlds in different traditions. It is moreimportant, however, to understand the function of these worlds than their manycultural and linguistic variants. One simplified way to understand them isillustrated in Table 1.

Although, at a glance, one may erroneously perceive these worlds as distinctplaces, they are, in fact, functions or expressions of one constant, dynamic,creative life-force. They can be seen as the souls of the one spiritual being ofwhich we are all part. Another way to understand them is as "organs" or "organsystems" of one living entity. In this paradigm, the beings (incarnate,discarnate, and non-carnate) that live within these realms can be likened tocellular structures or microbes. Many of the beings living in these three worldswill be discussed in this book. Although some may question this assertion,humans are only one form of intelligent life existing in these realms.

The three worlds have certain interface points, as illustrated in the Tree.These points are thresholds of transformation, memory, and awakening. As nonbeingis uttered into being, all of creation passes through these thresholds andis initiated into form. As divine discontent drives beings to remembrance ofspiritual truth, all of creation passes back through these thresholds and isinitiated back into spirit.

The three primary thresholds are:

• The Well of Enchantment

• The Gate of Memories

• The Gate of Awakening

(Continues...)

Excerpted from the Tree of Enchantment by ORION FOXWOOD. Copyright © 2008 Orion Foxwood. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Weiser Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1578634075
• ISBN 13: 9781578634071
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288