Morgan Daimler has a reputation for producing no-nonsense, richly scholastic works. Living Fairy absolutely supports her position in an area oft-overrun with writing about twee sparkling beings. Fairy and the beings that inhabit this realm are ancient Powers whose realm was seemingly once into better alignment with our own. Daimler's focus is on connecting with Fairy/Faery in a meaningful way, one that isn't blinded by pixie dust and moonbeams.
Perhaps you think the Good People are beings of light, interested in making friends with humans and helping them reach their potential. If, in fact, you think they are *good* people because that is their name, Living Fairy will utterly disspell those notions. Their long persecution and disenfranchisement by Christians has created a deep rift between the Otherworld and ours. Healing that rift can happen, Daimler argues, but not without much effort and a willingness to sacrifice one's own safety.
"This is wild witchcraft that walks through the dark woods and knows that all life is both beautiful and precarious. It is a path that one walks without any assurance of safety and sometimes without any clarity on where exactly the path is leading. Sometimes there isn’t even a path to follow, just trees and darkness. But it is a witchcraft that is full of wonderful and uncanny things and for people who are drawn to it, it is a
witchcraft that feels alive and inspired. (p.8)"
Living Fairy opens with a collection of Daimler's personal experiences with the beings of Fairy. These encounters are enlightening and encompass a range of scenarios. The chapter ends with a specific (and vital) list of cautions for working with the Good People. The cautions include creating and maintaining boundaries, succumbing to tunnel visions, worshiping them, not doing good research, making an effort, and being very respectful at all times.
Subsequent chapters discuss:
- practices for working with Fairies
- using dreams to communicate with them and learn about best practices
- engaging with the liminal Gods and Queens
Chapter Five may be controversial, as it breaks Daimler's usual mold of being research-based and thoroughly annotated. In it, she posits a connection between the Good Folk and the star cluster we call the Pleiades. Her personal gnosis and research on the constellation has led her to a personal folklore in which the seven stars represent seven Fairy Queens. Her worship cycle will shift to reflect this knowledge within a specific holy day "to remember and acknowledge the Queens and this eternal journey and to remember the intrinsic joining of the two worlds, Fairy and earth."
Chapter Six offers several rituals honoring the Pleiades, and concludes with Daimler's reflections on having spent a year this new worship cycle.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in working with Fairies.
~review by Lisa McSherry
Author: Morgan Daimler
Moon Books, 2020
pp. 112, $10.95
