| REVIEWS |
A REVIEW OF THE FAIRY RING by Serena Brink
The Fairy Ring cards truly portray the enchanting nature of the fairy realm with its diverse and fascinating inhabitants. Beautiful fairies, hairy goblins, helpful brownies, and mischievous pixies will advise, tease and sometimes scare you.
The book is an essential guide to interacting safely with fairies, who as you know, are often delightful and benevolent, but also magical, tricky and elusive beings who can be unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. The author of the book, Anna Franklin, has written an authoritative and readable account of fairy lore which includes information on each particular fairy, its stories and legends, divinatory meanings and a section on working with the fairy. This can include practical advice on how to invite the fairy into your life or a visualization exercise. In the case of fairies who are unpredictable or problematic, the author indicates that working with the fairy concerned is not recommended.
| The artwork by Paul Mason is a skillful blend of photography, illustration and computer graphics. The images are dynamic and capture the illusionary nature of fairies as they sparkle and dance and flit and lurk throughout the Fairy Ring deck. Unlike many tarot and divinatory cards on the market which are of uneven quality, these are exceptionally consistent - all the cards demonstrate good quality artwork. Even the spectacular box, which shows images from the deck, accurately reflects the images on the rest of the cards. I have often been disappointed when I have discovered that the images on a box of divinatory cards were the only high quality cards in the deck. There is no danger of that with the Fairy Ring, what you see on the box is what you get inside the box. | image 1
Queen Oonagh |
When using this deck you will encounter fairies of extraordinary beauty and benevolence, such as the exquisite and glamourous Mab, queen of the winter court, or the Sea Mither who brings abundance and fertility; as well as less friendly creatures such as the hairy, goatish Phooka, and the Boggarts with their yellow teeth, and yellow eyes. Beware the Boabhan Sith who look like beautiful young women but are really vampires, and exercise caution when you meet practical jokers such as Robin Goodfellow (sometimes known as Puck), and of course the mischievous Pixies or you might end up looking foolish!
It is also not advisable to allow your curiosity to tempt you into following a will o’ wisp - you might end up bogged down, or to let the bogey man give you a fright - for he’s really not that scary; and while it might be exhilarating to ride a fairy horse, you need to beware the kelpie who looks like a horse, but who will give you a ride you will shudder to remember - if you don’t fall off.
| The book gives lots of useful advice on how to react
appropriately to the fairies you meet. For instance, if you want to escape
the attention of the will o’ wisps ‘you should lie facedown on the
path until they go away’, and it really isn’t a good idea to fall in
love with Garconer, a handsome Gypsy elf, because he’s definitely going
to leave you.
Although many fairies are hardworking and will help favoured humans around the house and farm at night by spinning, weaving, baking, and building, its important to reward your fairy workers with a dish of cream, otherwise they will be offended. Obviously, you don’t want to offend the fairies and have them hide your valuables, smash the crockery, or pinch and poke at you. |
Image 2 : Jack Frost |
The cards in the Fairy Ring deck are divided into four suites which reflect the seasonal nature of fairies: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Each suite contains thirteen cards, numbered one to nine, with four court cards. In addition, there are eight festival cards that mark the times of the fairy feasts. There are nine interesting layouts to use during divination, such as the comprehensive Fairy Mound or the simple Fairy Gifts spread which helps you determine the skills a questioner can access to fulfil his or her destiny, and how to overcome the obstacles encountered on the way. For those who are interested in self-development the layout called the Wildfolk Guides is an exciting experience as it puts you in touch with your fairy guides who can help you in diverse ways to fulfil your potential and expand your possibilities.
Divining with the Fairy Ring cards can certainly enrich and expand your world view. Some of the fairies are light-hearted, playful and fun - absolutely perfect for inviting to parties, while others are decidedly odd, like the Fachan who has only one of everything, and whose presence in a reading advises caution. If the Knockers appear in a spread they can indicate financial, material and practical issues, whereas the Mermaid can signify a time of fulfilment and joy as she symbolizes the emotional, watery realm. The gifts of the Oakman are willpower and self-control; and the appearance of Tam Lin indicates ‘restoration, release from a bad or frightening situation, recovery from illness’ and so on.
There is considerable diversity in the fairies represented in the Fairy Ring, which is essential for successful divination. These cards represent a balance of different forces and energies which enable the development of a depth of insight as you delve into the world of the self, and the patterns of behaviour that promote or obstruct your progress in life. There is sufficient variety in the Fairy Ring to address the wide range of human issues that arise during divination. A deck which represented only sweet, pretty fairies wouldn’t have sufficient depth or scope for effective divination. These cards will engage your interest for years as they teach you valuable lessons about love, laughter, wisdom and joy as well as about setbacks, change, illusions and justice.
In South Africa, the Fairy Ring is available at shops such as Exclusives.