I am again hearing about a split in the Feri tradition. "Public" vs. "Mystery Tradition" Feri. Since I am one of those at the forefront of Feri in the public eye I can just imagine that this has at least a little to do with the work that I have been doing, namely in providing Feri tools to a wider audience.
This is nothing new. When I first came into Feri there was a "split": "Old Feri" vs. "New Feri". Later there was another, what I call "Red vs. Blue" (or, "those who initiate sexually vs. those who don't"). And there were others: those who charge money for classes vs. those who don't... those who initiate and then offer training vs. those who do it the other way round... those who use angelic names for the Guardians vs. those who use animal totems... those who teach the Iron Pentacle first and then the Pearl ("Oh, no! You must teach them together!", "No! It's Pearl first!")... those who teach Liberty on the Pearl Pentacle rather than "Power" (I actually heard a then-student bemoan the fact that Thorn taught "Liberty", adding that he "tolerated" her doing so). Really?
Really? And the list goes on and on, and on, and on, and on... it never ends. It's kind of like Cher's consistent farewell tours only far more predictable and far less exciting. It seems that practically from the beginnings of the Feri tradition there have been those who are predicting, perpetuating, or bemoaning this "split" in the tradition. We seem to be pretty good at amputating ourselves and giving away our power.
An old argument that has been brought up again recently is in regards to those of us who offer training over long distances. I can assume that this is the thought behind a recent website (called "FaeryRoads"... you can find it on the links page at
FeriTradition.com). Regardless of the thinking behind this particular website, it is being stated that it is impossible to train someone without physical proximity. Nevermind that Victor Anderson sometimes offered this type of training (he offered to teach
me this way). And when it is begrudgingly accepted as possible it is quickly dismissed as being less potent than in-person training. Again with the ego. ("My way is just so much better than your way...")
What's kind of funny to me is that the people who are stating that you simply cannot teach Feri over long distances are really just showing their own lack of imagination. I can't exactly blame them; at first I was in that camp; thinking (as I was told to) that the Feri tradition needed to be taught hand to hand, eye to eye, heart to heart. It wasn't until I attended a "phone tele-conference ritual" (which, I admit, I agreed to participate in only as a lark!) that I realized that there was a lot more going on than was previously reported. Contrary to what many may have held as belief, I learned that this was all
real. Witchcraft... magic... all of it. Absolutely real. If I could feel the energy
over a freaking phone call then there was something extra potent going on. I learned that energy did not require physical proximity in order to cause the changes necessary for a ritual to be effective... it just took concentration, determination, and a little imagination. Ahh... imagination. A resource apparently in short supply in the current Feri community.
Those who have consistently reported that it is impossible to transmit Feri over long distances have absolutely no idea what I am doing in those sessions. And not a single one of them has bothered to ask me... they just assume that because they lack the insight necessary to pull it off then it can't be done. (At one time I made it public that I would speak to any Feri initiate and take the time to explain in detail exactly how I am teaching these classes... now I require that you be nice to me. And a few of you can just suck it.)
So to those of you who feel that Feri tools and training shared publicly are anathema to our tradition: I get that perhaps you think that you are "defending the tradition"... but
I think you are doing the very thing that is causing it to be dumbed down. Feri is alive. It is authentic. It invites change, and adaptation, and evolution. By doing what I am doing I am defending the tradition too; Feri as a tradition of bardic diversity and cultivating one's divine authority. We are all Gods; shimmering reflections of God Herself.
I am God. And in realizing this fact I must accept that
you are too. I just wish you'd learn that same lesson and get off your high horse long enough to realize it's been dead for years. (And really, the stench is overpowering.) Wouldn't you all rather get back to the business of communing with the Gods? Or is it really better to try and beat each other down with dividing lines and false accusations?
So go ahead and talk of your little "split". It wont last long. It never does. You'll find something else to bemoan. Perhaps you'd like to start talking about the Wand system again and how it goes against everything you think Feri to be (I got mine from Cora Anderson, mind you)... or how Feri doesn't have a Grandmaster (I've met her... she's nice)... or any of the other topics that you use in order to drive further wedges in between people who really should be working together to help transform the world into a better place. But then, that would require imagination. Better yet to get back to your previously scheduled egos and proclaim yourselves the one right and true way of Feri (TM). But I don't have much time for it... I have real work to do.
