Faerie faith
Encyclopedia
- See Fairy Faith for traditional beliefs.
Faerie Faith is a Neopagan tradition that branched off from the "Old Dianic" tradition (later renamed McFarland Dianic
McFarland Dianic
The McFarland Dianic tradition was founded by Morgan McFarland and Mark Roberts in the early 1970s. It is distinguished from the feminist traditions of Dianic Wicca begun by Zsuzsanna Budapest, Starhawk, and others....
) through the work of Mark Roberts and his high priestess, Epona.
The Neopagan
Neopaganism
Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...
Faerie Faith founded by Roberts and Epona is often confused with other traditions of similar name, including:
- The Feri TraditionFeri TraditionThe 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...
, brought to the public by Victor Anderson and Harpy coven in the 1920's. - Radical FaeriesRadical FaeriesThe Radical Faeries are a loosely-affiliated, worldwide network and counter-cultural movement seeking to reject hetero-imitation and redefine queer identity through spirituality. The Radical Faerie movement started in the United States among gay men during the 1970s sexual and counterculture...
, a nature-worshiping, spiritual and political group, primarily consisting of gayGayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
men. - Faery WiccaFaery WiccaFaery Wicca, or Fairy Wicca is an umbrella term that refers to any tradition of modern Wicca that places an emphasis on the Fey , their lore, and their relation to the natural world....
History
The history of the Faerie Faith begins with "the Dallas Dianics," founded by Mark RobertsMark Roberts
Mark Roberts is a British streaker who has run naked during several international events.A father of three, Roberts' streaking began when he saw a female streaker run naked down a 1993 Rugby Sevens game in Hong Kong...
and Morgan McFarland in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(in 1999, the name of the tradition was changed to the McFarland Dianic
McFarland Dianic
The McFarland Dianic tradition was founded by Morgan McFarland and Mark Roberts in the early 1970s. It is distinguished from the feminist traditions of Dianic Wicca begun by Zsuzsanna Budapest, Starhawk, and others....
Tradition). McFarland, Roberts, and a third member together formed the Covenstead of Morrigana. According to the McFarland Dianic Homepage, "It was Mark who pointed out to Morgan the reference to "Dianic cults" in Margaret Murray
Margaret Murray
Margaret Alice Murray was a prominent British Egyptologist and anthropologist. Primarily known for her work in Egyptology, which was "the core of her academic career," she is also known for her propagation of the Witch-cult hypothesis, the theory that the witch trials in the Early Modern period of...
's The Witch Cult in Western Europe. It spoke to their beliefs and practices, and they adopted the name "Dianic" for their tradition. Later that year, Mark and Morgan began creating rituals based on the Ogham. McFarland went on to initiate several high priestesses who hived off to start other covens. In 1979 she withdrew as high priestess, and now serves as matriarch and advisor to the Council of High Priestesses of the McFarland Dianic Tradition.
In 1979 Roberts moved to Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, where he met a woman named Epona. Roberts taught her the lessons he had written while with McFarland, and Epona became a high priestess and the founder of the "Eponian" branch of the McFarland Dianics - what is now known as the Faerie Faith. Roberts most likely took the name for this new tradition from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W.Y. Evans-Wentz, published in 1911 . This book is an oral history and describes a variety of folk beliefs and practices, many still extant at the time the book was written.
In 1981, Roberts returned to Dallas and started a new tradition, called Hyperborea. Epona continued to teach the Faerie Faith tradition she and Roberts developed, and today there are members of the Faerie Faith spread out across the Southeastern United States.
Beliefs and practices
The distinguishing characteristic of Faerie Faith is the use of the Beth-Luis-Nion "Celtic tree calendar", allegedly invented by Robert GravesRobert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
in his book, The White Goddess
The White Goddess
The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth is a book-length essay on the nature of poetic myth-making by author and poet Robert Graves. First published in 1948, based on earlier articles published in Wales magazine, corrected, revised and enlarged editions appeared in 1948, 1952 and 1961...
: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth. The system is based on Graves's controversial re-interpretation of the Celtic ogham
Ogham
Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic language. Ogham is sometimes called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a High Medieval Bríatharogam tradition ascribing names of trees to the individual letters.There are roughly...
alphabet; however, scholars believe Graves's invention is not based on any actual Celtic calendar
Celtic calendar
The Celtic calendar is a compilation of pre-Christian Celtic systems of timekeeping, including the Gaulish Coligny calendar, used by Celtic countries to define the beginning and length of the day, the week, the month, the seasons, quarter days, and festivals....
. In the Faerie Faith, specific lessons are associated with each lunar month, and students experience personal transformation in connection to each tree/letter.