Feri Tradition
Encyclopedia
The Feri Tradition is an initiatory tradition of modern traditional witchcraft
. It is an ecstatic, rather than a fertility
, tradition stemming from the experience of Cora and Victor Anderson . Strong emphasis is placed on sensual experience and awareness, including sexual mysticism, which is not limited to heterosexual expression.
Among the distinguishing features of the Feri tradition is the use of a specific Feri power or energetic current. Feri witches often see themselves as "fey": outside social definitions, on the road to Faeryland. They believe that much of reality is unseen, or at least has uncertain boundaries. Within the tradition there is a deep respect for the wisdom of nature, a love of beauty, and an appreciation of bardic and mantic creativity.
Core teachings acknowledged by most branches of the tradition include the concepts of the Three Souls and the Black Heart of Innocence, the tools of Iron and Pearl Pentacle, as well as an awareness of "energy ecology", which admonishes practitioners to never give away or waste their personal power. Trance experiences and personal connection to the Divine are at the heart of this path, leading to a wide variety of practices throughout the larger body of the tradition.
Early in 2011, a schism became visible around philosophical differences between those who wish to teach the religion publicly and for pay and those who prefer the more personal, one-on-one methods traditional to religious witchcraft. Some of the "old Craft" adherents have gone back to the older "Faery" spelling of the tradition in order to distinguish themselves from the more public faction, while others have not.
Feri is not a tradition of Wicca
; there are Wiccan groups and traditions sometimes calling themselves "Fairy" (Faerie, Faery, etc.), but these are distinct from the Feri Tradition.
Some practitioners use the lemniscate
(infinity symbol) as a cosmological glyph to describe main deities of the tradition, sometimes called The Infinitum. In this system, all gods and goddesses can be placed somewhere on the glyph.
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Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. It is an ecstatic, rather than a fertility
Fertility
Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
, tradition stemming from the experience of Cora and Victor Anderson . Strong emphasis is placed on sensual experience and awareness, including sexual mysticism, which is not limited to heterosexual expression.
Among the distinguishing features of the Feri tradition is the use of a specific Feri power or energetic current. Feri witches often see themselves as "fey": outside social definitions, on the road to Faeryland. They believe that much of reality is unseen, or at least has uncertain boundaries. Within the tradition there is a deep respect for the wisdom of nature, a love of beauty, and an appreciation of bardic and mantic creativity.
Core teachings acknowledged by most branches of the tradition include the concepts of the Three Souls and the Black Heart of Innocence, the tools of Iron and Pearl Pentacle, as well as an awareness of "energy ecology", which admonishes practitioners to never give away or waste their personal power. Trance experiences and personal connection to the Divine are at the heart of this path, leading to a wide variety of practices throughout the larger body of the tradition.
Early in 2011, a schism became visible around philosophical differences between those who wish to teach the religion publicly and for pay and those who prefer the more personal, one-on-one methods traditional to religious witchcraft. Some of the "old Craft" adherents have gone back to the older "Faery" spelling of the tradition in order to distinguish themselves from the more public faction, while others have not.
Feri is not a tradition of Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
; there are Wiccan groups and traditions sometimes calling themselves "Fairy" (Faerie, Faery, etc.), but these are distinct from the Feri Tradition.
Practices and beliefs
There are several practices and beliefs in the larger body of the Feri tradition that are almost universal:- The Three Souls. As in Huna, partly from which this concept is derived (other traditions such as Judaism also have a concept of multiple souls), Feri postulates the existence of three separate yet interdependent souls as a part of the natural psychic structure of the human being. Although a multitude of different names are used to describe them, they are sometimes called the fetch , the talker, and the Godself . The talker is that part of humans which is self-aware and deals with language, rational thought, and the gathering and dissemination of knowledge. A central practice of Feri concerns bringing these souls into alignment so they may communicate freely, granting the practitioner a deeper awareness of their own personal Godself and the Goddess.
- The Iron Pentacle. A symbolic and energetic tool that is used to help realign and purify the practitioner. It is meditated on in various ways.
Deities of the Feri Tradition
While some lines place a special emphasis on certain deities or pantheons, there is no one pantheon that is universal among Feri. However, certain deities are given special importance in most lines of the tradition:- The Goddess is the central deity of Feri. Sometimes referred to as "God Herself", s/he is the androgynous point of all creation, the primal darkness of deep space, the intelligence of the great Void.
- The Blue God is frequently said to be the first born of the Goddess. S/he is the spirit of youth and of eroticism and often appears as an androgynous male figure with blue skin and peacock feathers in his hair. S/he is related to the YazidiYazidiThe Yazidi are members of a Kurdish religion with ancient Indo-Iranian roots. They are primarily a Kurdish-speaking people living in the Mosul region of northern Iraq, with additional communities in Transcaucasia, Armenia, Turkey, and Syria in decline since the 1990s – their members emigrating to...
angel and indeed some lines of Feri see the two as a single being.
Some practitioners use the lemniscate
Lemniscate
In algebraic geometry, a lemniscate refers to any of several figure-eight or ∞ shaped curves. It may refer to:*The lemniscate of Bernoulli, often simply called the lemniscate, the locus of points whose product of distances from two foci equals the square of half the interfocal distance*The...
(infinity symbol) as a cosmological glyph to describe main deities of the tradition, sometimes called The Infinitum. In this system, all gods and goddesses can be placed somewhere on the glyph.
Founders and major figures of the Feri Tradition
- Victor Anderson was a blind poet and shaman who began teaching the Feri Tradition (then reportedly known variously as Vicia or simply "The Craft") more or less in its modern form in the 1940s. He began initiating people into the tradition on an individual basis before the 1950s. According to Cora Anderson, Victor received a letter in 1960 from several witches in Italy, among them Leo MartelloLeo MartelloLeo Martello was an author, lecturer, gay civil rights activist, and an early voice in the American Neopagan movement. He drew heavily on his Sicilian heritage, teaching the Strega Tradition which was named after the Italian word for Witch....
, asking him to form a coven in California. Victor taught openly for several decades before dying in 2001.
- Cora Anderson met Victor in Bend, Oregon in 1944. By her account, they had met many times before on the Astral Planes, so upon meeting on the earthly plane recognized each other instantly and married after only three days. Cora was an Appalachian kitchen witch whose folk magic has been credited with helping many. She was best known for her teachings on putting magic into food, her Pagan Rosary, and her books on her life and the Feri Tradition. Cora died on May 1, 2008, 64 years to the day after meeting Victor in person.
- Gwydion PendderwenGwydion PendderwenThomas deLong , better known as Gwydion Pendderwen, was an American musician, writer, poet, conservationist and witch....
, Anderson's Craft "foster son", worked with him during the 1950s and '60s, helping to edit and publish Victor's book, Thorns of the Blood Rose. Gwydion brought in the name "Faery" (later changed to "Feri" to avoid confusion with other groups using similar terms), emphasized Celtic origins almost exclusively in his own practice, with a smattering of Vodou; other teachers have emphasized the HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
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n-diaspora, or even traced the lineage back to the AttacottiAttacottiAttacotti refers to a people who despoiled Roman Britain between 364 and 368, along with Scotti, Picts, Saxons, Roman military deserters, and the indigenous Britons themselves. The marauders were defeated by Count Theodosius in 368...
, who were small, dark, possibly southern EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
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thousands of years ago. Gwydion later purchased and moved to Annwfn, 55 acres (223,000 m²) of land in Mendocino county he later deeded to the Church of All WorldsChurch of All WorldsThe Church of All Worlds is a neopagan religious group whose stated mission is to evolve a network of information, mythology, and experience that provides a context and stimulus for reawakening Gaia and reuniting her children through tribal community dedicated to responsible stewardship and...
as a gift, and worked psychedelic group shamanic and Vodou rituals. Gwydion produced a large number of articles, rituals, poems, and songs before his death in 1982.
Books and publications
- Victor Anderson, Thorns of the blood rose. A collection of his poetry, much of which has found its way into the liturgies and rituals of the tradition.
- Victor Anderson, Lilith's Garden. A companion volume to Thorns of the blood rose, is another collection of mostly liturgical poetry, including some that was considered too "scandalous" for inclusion in the original volume.
- Victor Anderson. Etheric Anatomy: The Three Selves and Astral Travel (Harpy Books | http://www.harpybooks.com). A look at the psychic structure of the human being, with intuitive insights into some of the practices of Feri magick.
- Cora Anderson, Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition. A book of musings about the Feri tradition and community.
- Cora Anderson, Kitchen Witch: A Memoir. A memoir of her life. (Harpy Books)
- Anaar, The White Wand. Looks at the artistic foundations of Feri. It also includes an interview with Victor Anderson. (available as pdf from http://www.whitewand.com/)
- Storm Faerywolf, The Stars Within the Earth. A collection of liturgical poetry, visual art, and spells inspired by the work and mythos of Feri.
- T. Thorn Coyle, Evolutionary Witchcraft. A training manual in Feri written primarily for a non-Feri Pagan audience. Contains poetry, exercises, and lore.
- T. Thorn Coyle, Kissing the Limitless. Expands on and continues the training in Evolutionary Witchcraft, and is intended to be used with whatever spiritual path the reader follows.
- Francesca De Grandis, Be A Goddess. A comprehensive structured magical training in Goddess Spirituality borne out of the teaching and training of the Andersons.
- Francesca De Grandis, Goddess Initiation. An experiential initiatory journey into Goddess Spirituality and the Craft.
- StarhawkStarhawkStarhawk is an American writer and activist. She is well known as a theorist of Paganism, and is one of the foremost popular voices of ecofeminism. She is a columnist for Beliefnet.com and On Faith, the Newsweek/Washington Post online forum on religion...
, The Spiral Dance. An early and influential liturgical codification of Anderson Craft.
External links
- Community Resource Community Resource
- The Faery Tradition The Faery Tradition
- Lilith's Lantern Lilith's Lantern
- FireDarke Feri FireDrake Feri
- Reclaiming Official Reclaiming Collective homepage
- The Feri Tradition: Vicia Line by Phoenix Willow
- My Authentic Self Taking Feri teachings into the realm of Intuitive Counseling, Healing, and Art - by StarChild
- http://www.wiggage.com/witch/fericontents.html DustBunny Feri
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