Spirit Keeping & Paranormal Collecting Forum

nd that brings us to Fairy Queens: Meeting the Queens of the Otherworld [(https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/moon ... iry-queens)] by Morgan Daimler. This is a new offering from Moon Books “Pagan Portals” series of short, concise guides to topics of interest to Pagans. It’s a work of scholarship that covers the literary and folkloric material about the various Queens of Fairy. And as the subtitle promises, it’s a guide to meeting them and interacting with them....

Fairy Queens begins with this introduction:

The Fairy Queens are alluring and mysterious, sometimes easy to find yet often difficult to understand.

Fairy Queens consists of three main elements woven together into one book. One is a biography of six Queens, two from Scotland and four from Ireland. They are the Queen of Elfland (known only by her title), Nicnevin, Áine, Aoibheall, Cliodhna, and Una. The chapter on each Queen begins with what is known of her from folklore. For example, Áine is usually associated with the area around Lough Gur, while Aoibheall is the Fairy Queen of County Clare. Nicnevin is first mentioned (in writing, that is) in a 16th century poem by Alexander Montgomerie, then again by Sir Walter Scott in 1831.

The second element is a review of Fairy Queens from literature and pop culture. These Queens were not part of folklore, but some of them aren’t exactly new. They include Mab and Titania from Shakespeare, and Morgen la Fey from the Arthurian tradition. Some of them have been adapted by contemporary writers such as Jim Butcher. We can’t dismiss any of these Queens. As Daimler says:

For many people their introduction to the Queens doesn’t come through folklore or literature but through fiction in some form, and this must be respected and also understood in context.

The third element is a series of journeys to meet these Queens, as well as a guide to interacting with them safely. Understand that Fairy is not an egalitarian society and Queens are used to receiving respect and deference. At the same time, you are still a person with agency – you can say no. Just do it in as polite a manner as possible.

Daimler explains the difference between journeys and guided meditations.... A guided meditation takes place entirely within your mind, so you can control it. A journey uses similar methods, but it takes you into a spiritual realm with other persons who have agency of their own. You can’t control them, and what happens there has consequences that can continue after you return to the ordinary world. Guided meditation is mostly safe. Journeying isn’t.

Each journey begins with this warning:

Listen to whatever your Guide tells you; promise nothing and give nothing that you are not truly willing to lose; never forget for a moment who it is you are dealing with.

As with all the Pagan Portals books, Fairy Queens is not intended to be an all-encompassing reference. It includes a bibliography of sources, primarily from folklore. Daimler encourages readers to dig deeper into the resources that exist, including seeking out storytellers in living cultures where fairies are still acknowledged. I agree with that recommendation.

But the true follow-on to Fairy Queens has yet to be written. It falls to the next practitioner-leader to undertake these journeys, form relationships with one or more of the Fairy Queens, fulfill the terms of their agreement, and then write about their experiences.

If that is you, this book is where you need to begin.