On Liminal Powers or Fairy Gods

Liminal Fairy Goddess. Art credit: Pixabay

Shortly after I returned from Ireland, as a continuation of the initiatory experience that onset there, my fairy familiars instructed me to begin honoring specific Powers that fairies themselves – at least the group that I am primarily connected with- acknowledge. Each of these Powers appears to be both of Fairy and transcending of Fairy, operate on a much bigger scale in Fairy and also in the human world, and also acquire regional aspects. Such powers, I was told, are present within the cycles of seasons and in every single aspect of the natural world as well as in peoples’ lives. 

The idea of Liminal Powers and Fairy Gods isn’t a new one neither to me in particular nor in general. In their work, Morgan Daimler describes several such Powers standing at the core of Fairy Witchcraft as they teach it. (Daimler, 2014.)  I can’t even begin to describe my reaction when I first read about such Powers in Daimler’s work. The thrill and explosive joy were almost too much to bear. I read those pages again and again, carried the book in my bag for a while and re-read, until the dog-eared pages came lose and there was no space left on margins for how many side notes I had written. The reaction may seem out of proportion, right?  But, there I was after many years of trying to put a finger on, to name  something so elusive that I was not even certain they existed outside my own perception. Those were concepts that I had touched on intuitively, but I never dared to openly speak about because I did not know how. I was also afraid of ridicule, and anguished with uncertainty and self- doubt. 

 But…

 “The Liminal gods are not like other deities – they have no millennia of myths and stories behind them, no layers of theology, no nuanced understandings. They are both primal and wild and the only way to truly understand them is to experience them directly…The Liminal Gods are deities of the transitional space between wild and tame, between safety and danger, between our world and Fairy. They are not Gods of the mundane. They are the essence of Fairy, of enchantment, even as they are at the heart of our reality. They exist in ordinary moments and in magic. They are urban as much as they are in the wild woods…They are immortal, endless, and relentless. They are eternal and fleeting, constant and ever-changing. They are unspeakably beautiful and horrifyingly ugly. They are gentle; they are cruel. They are all of these things at all times.” (Daimler, 2015)

Reading these words gave me the courage to revisit my own glimpses of intuition and my childhood years, freed from cumbersome feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. In my mind’s eye, or through the window that opened in my heart, I saw a very young Daniela wearing a burgundy table cloth fashioned as a cloak, a tinsel crown, and a wand (this was a real thing, fully functional, made of Blackthorn), walking around in the backyard and solemnly addressing “ the highest among the Fairy Kings and Queens, and Powers who reign above all that is, who come and go with the seasons on Earth and in Fairy.” Or something like this. I had used many times the word Powers that I had heard from Grandma. Its meaning was ambiguous, same as the feeling associated with them: Powers that go even above fairies? Powers that are themselves of Fairy? I agonized over these and other questions for quite some time until everything in my young life went south and my relationship with my fairy familiar fell apart. I found myself on a completely different track where fairies had no place, and questions about the reality and nature of higher powers had to be shooed away. But this is a whole different story⁴. 

Fast forward, I found thus in Daimler’s work not only validation, but also the vocabulary I was lacking to organize, define, and ultimately talk about my relationship with those whom I called by the generic name, Powers. 

Inspired by what I read and learned, I began to listen again to how and what they, the Powers, speak to me.  Ever since, I’ve been walking by starlight, by moons risings and sunsets, and following the cycles of equinoxes and solstices. 

Calling the Powers. Art credit: Pixabay

I am aware that there are many, many more Powers such as the seven I was told to acknowledge. Maybe for some who are reading this post the seven Powers listed here will ring true. Some other people may find out that they connect with Liminal Powers who are completely different from those listed here. I truly hope that what I wrote and the resources listed at the end of this post will help readers on the individual paths they follow. 

- Queen of Apples: vitality, joy and zest for life, health and vibrancy, sensuality and sexuality, encapsulates the energies of the seed that will become the apple tree (of any tree for that matter) whose twigs can be made into wands used in healing work, and whose fruit nourishes and heals (...an apple a day...); empowered feminine and personal sovereignty. 


- Queen of Ancient Earth and Stones: stands for the earth itself, the fertile soil, the rock of mountains and sandy bottom of oceans and seas. She holds the potential for seeds to hibernate, germinate, grow into mighty trees, and then receive them back when they 

- Queen of Winds: she holds power over first and last breath, she is the air in the freshly aerated soil awaiting the seeds to fell and nestle in; the hollow and mysteries of caves, and bubbles in the lacy crests of ocean waves; she’s in the burning fire logs, the flame and the popping; she’s in the fluffiness of snow but also in the deadly blizzards: she in the summer storms, hurricane winds, the gentle breeze in springtime, and the forest’s cool shadow in summer. 

- The Ever-Shining One/ Queen of Flame She is the gold on treetops at sunset; she is behind the reds and purples in the morning sky; she’s in the tender warmth that make snow melt and first flowers peak through in springtime; she’s in the merciless heat the scourges man and beast and leaving deep cracks into rock-hard ground; she’s deep into the Earth where all is but fire, where molten rocks flow like rivers carrying continental plates on their backs. She’s in the moonshine that brightens up night, and she’s the spark making every star burn bright.  


- The Queen of Waters/ The Ever-flowing One is the spirit present in the raindrops enlivening the land, nourishing vegetation and animals; she’s is present in the downpour making torrents and rivers swell and drown everything in their path; she’s is present in oceans and sees as much as it is present in the crystal-clear lakes, mountain springs and small puddles. She is within tears and dew drops, in the pearls of sweat rolling down the skin, in the blood, as well as in the plants’ juices.  

- The Spinning Goddess/The Great Weaver: she’s the one who spins the thread of anything or everything, who turns wool into thread, and thread into tapestry or clothing, doing both work of art or utilitarian- as needed. Time itself is strung on the thread she spins: past, present, and future for her are one. She gives out her thread for people to use it, but then what individuals do with it is their own choice: she’s there to help, provide, teach but cannot complete the task for you; she’ll teach you how to work – magically and otherwise- but will not do the work for you. I personally associate her with the symbol of Triquettra, a triple spiral resulting from three overlapping circles, a never-ending cycle.

- The Horned Lord/Green Lord: he is solar, fiery, embodies the energy of spring when nature awakens to life, and the energy of early autumn, the mating season: he is merriment and laughter, and spirit of competitions; he is the exuberance of lighting in the storms, and the Sky Lord with power over weather. 

The H. 

- The Hunter King, Lord of Arrows, Hunter, The Arrow Master: he (she, they) impersonates separation of life force from the physical form; cessation of life in physical form; physical death. His/their arrow releases the last breath which then the Queen of Winds receives upon life departing the body. He/they ends suffering for the very old and the pained ones who are tired of dragging on yet another day. He trims down the numbers of animals in the wild maintaining balance: none shall exceed in numbers and none shall starve on his watch

-  Keeper of Passages, Key Master/ Master of Keys, The Gate Keeper, initially assigned to the list of foundational Powers, he then explained his role as go between people (of Fairy or human world) and the Powers themselves. He is the guardian of portals between worlds, opener of doors that are locked in the human world and the Other, and when he doesn’t have a key to offer you directly, he’ll help you blast the obstacles that block your path. He is behind the energy released in magic to manifest or dissolve. However, be wise in choosing what path you are asking him to open for you because he’s also known as Lord of Shenanigans, and bears this name for a reason.

Mine is still a work in progress[1]: The Powers’ attributes and their mythologies distill gradually as I work both with and for Them.
 

About two weeks after having written the post, and in line with the mentioning that this is a work in progress, more Powers with seasonal and regional agency added themselves to the list. They complement the action of the initial nine who form a core in the sense that without the existence of the nine, the other two won’t exist nor make any sense. 

- King of Waves and Queen of Tides. The King is ever-present in the ocean waves - the rise and fall of a giant’s chest while he sleeps, in the vastness of fluid emerald that glitters in the sun, in the howl and crash of mountains of water raising and dropping to crash the boat of the fisherman and drown him and his crew- the ultimate price, the blood tribute the Kings of Waves exacts. The Queen follows the moon-lit path, perpetually returning and going away from sandy shores; she moves quietly but is undeterred, her powers unstoppable. She’ll bring ashore gifts from hidden realms beneath waters, and sweep away whatever she encounters, washing it off into the sea. 

 
-The Queen of Snow and Ice is the spirit in the snowflakes dancing through the air, the snow blanketing the earth, in the icecaps, in the sheets of glass covering bodies of water or the silvery-white coating grasses and rooftops with the first frost in late autumn, within the grains of hail in summer storms. She is the cold soul devoid of emotion or devastated by loss as much as she is spark of joy, perfection and beauty, and sheer potential awaiting to express itself.
 
These last two sets of Powers, like the other nine, may appear in various other forms to other people and everybody can relate to them in their own personal way.

Thanks for reading, and until we next meet, blessings of the Liminal Powers to all of you.
Daniela

Bibliography and Resources

Books:

Daimler, Morgan “Fairycraft. Following te Path of Fairy Witchcraft”, 2015

Daimler Morgan “Traveling the Fairy Path”, 2018

Daimler, Morgan “Living Fairy”, 2020

Heath, Cat, “Elves, Witches & Gods”, 2021

Simina, Daniela, “A Fairy Path: The Memoir of a Young Fairy Seer in Training”, 2023

Blogs:

Morgan Daimler, “Liminal Gods- Deeper Theology” https://lairbhan.blogspot.com/search?q=liminal+Powers

Morgan Daimler, “New Liminal God- The Queen of Apples” https://lairbhan.blogspot.com/2019/12/new-liminal-god-queen-of-apples.html

Morgan Daimler, “Meting a New Liminal God” https://lairbhan.blogspot.com/2016/11/meeting-new-liminal-god.html

Morgan Daimler, “Meeting New Liminal Gods- Thallea and Thessilae” https://lairbhan.blogspot.com/2018/04/meeting-new-liminal-gods-thallea-and.html

            Seo Helrune, “Elves and Witchcraft, Seidr and Grimoirs”  https://seohelrune.com

 
           Rose, Winifred Hodge, “Landwights and Human Ecology”, https://heathensoullore.net/landwights-and-human-ecology/

Classes:

Seo Helrune, “Elves and Witches: A Survival Guide”, class. For access, contact Seo Helrune at seo.helrune@gmail.com

Daniela Simina, "Fairycrafting: The Art of Fairy Magic", 3 parts course offered bi-annually. Email Daniela Simina at dsimina@gmail.com or check SiminaYoga on Facebook for announcements about course dates and description. 

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[1] As of last night, October 2^nd, 2022, after observing the positions of the Pleiades to track the moment they will rise above the horizon, and the time when they are first visible from my location, two more Liminal Powers made themselves known and announced that only now the list is complete. Part of the reason for these two Powers adding themselves to the list later on, is their regional character. For example, the Queen of Snow and Ice is not a strong presence in the Sahara Desert. The Queen of Waters too takes various aspects, depending on Her manifesting oceans, seas, large rivers, torrents, raindrops, dew, tears, sweat, or blood. Depending of context, she may be entirely absent, such as dew or rivers in the desert, and only manifest in some forms, such as body fluids in plant and animal people who live in such areas. The Keeper of the Passages relates to the energy gathered and released in ritual, magic, and prayer - energy that is intrinsic to both manifestation and dissolution