The Lost and Exiled of Elfland: doing faery deposession By Mary Courtis And do you see that bonny

bonny road Which winds about the ferny brae? Oh that is the road to Fair Elfland, And together there you and I well go. --The Ballad of Tho as !hy er" A persistent theme in many Celtic stories and poems is that humans may pass through thin places into the Otherworld and have adventures in the lands of the faery fol ! "n some cases and human may wander through a thin place without #eing aware of it! But more commonly a human is sought out #y the faeries or sidhe! Thomas $hymer% for example% is invited #y the &ueen of Elfland to visit her realms for a period of seven years! "n order to reach Elfland he must ride with her on her horse for forty days and forty nights 'through red #lood to the nee(! Thomas also had to promise to not write or spea of anything he experienced there! "n most of these stories% humans remain awhile in Elfland #ut eventually return to the human world! Travelers% however% are usually warned not to consume food or drin in the Otherworld% and to #e careful not violate faery rules or customs! The $everand $o#ert )ir foolishly invaded the realms of the *nseelie Court and was punished for this transgression! To avoid death% he had to promise to remain in the faery realms forever% leaving his +ournal #ehind as a testament to his experiences! Legend has it that the spirit of the dead minister appeared to one of his relatives and relayed a message for his cousin ,raham of -uchray! The message was to this effect: that )ir was not dead #ut the captive of fairyland! .e then declared that he would return at the christening of his cousin/s child% and that if the man could throw a nife over the apparition% he might thus #e released! The christening duty too place and there% sure enough% )ir /s 0ghost/ appeared! 1o astonished was ,raham of -uchray that .e forgot to throw the nife2presuma#ly a reference to the faery fear of iron2and with a cry the vision departed% never to #e seen again3 4hat is not as commonly addressed in stories and poetry is the reverse situation! 5ust as humans can travel to Elfland and #ecome stuc there% so can sidhe #ecome lost in the human world! "n some cases they may #e called out #e careless humans% or wander through thin places inadvertently and then not now how to get #ac home! There are also sidhe exiles% or individuals who have fled from Elfland to avoid punishment or #een #anished to the human world for their transgressions! 1idhe of #oth these groups can fre6uently attach themselves to humans and get caught up in their luminous field! Clients who have sidhe attached to them display many of the regular symptoms associated with possession! These signs include chronic low energy% disassociation% a sense of #eing

ta en over or overshadowed #y something else% unusual or compulsive thoughts% emotions or #ehaviors% or chronic and unexplained physical pains! "n many cases of possession% the #eing attached to a client is dead and needs to #e psycho7pomped! Most cases of faery possession% however% involve #eings who are still living and +ust displaced! 1o they need to #e returned to Elfland rather than crossed in the usual manner! This situation re6uires practitioners to follow a different set of protocols than the ones usually used in other depossession situations! 4or ing together with my sidhe allies% we have developed procedures for doing faery depossession safely and effectively! 8ractitioners who are interested in learning these methods are encouraged to ta e an introductory wor shop with Betsy Bergstrom 9see her we# site at www!#etsy#ergstrom!com:! This training is essential to ac6uaint shamanic practitioners with the #asic methodology of doing deposession in a compassionate way! " also strongly recommend ta ing training such as Tom Cowan/s faery doctoring wor shop or other wor shops focusing specifically on the sidhe! .is two7year Celtic 1hamanism program is also essential to gain a greater understanding of faery realms and how to wor cooperatively with various Celtic deities! All the well nown Celtic deities such as Lugh% the Morrigan% or Brighid% are sidhe! These Celtic deities are also gate#ee$ers% or sidhe who guard Elfland/s #oarders and wor cooperatively with human allies! "n addition to the well nown ones% there are many other sidhe gate eepers who can #e called upon to assist lost or exiled sidhe to find their way home! As your nowledge and relationships with the sidhe expand% you will meet a greater num#er of them! "n the #eginning% however% it is usually helpful to wor with one or two of the main sidhe gate eepers exclusively! ;or shamanic practitioners who are already well versed in faery or Celtic shamanism it is li ely that you are already wor ing with one of the Elfland gate eepers! Once you have completed the #asic depossession training% then you should feel free to forge ahead with the first sort of simple faery depossession descri#ed in this article when your faerie allies indicate that you are ready! ;or practitioners who are unfamiliar with the sidhe% " recommend reading #oo s a#out the sidhe to #roaden your nowledge and understanding! Boo s " have found especially helpful include The 1idhe #y 5ohn Matthews% the 1ecret Lives Elves and faeries #y $o#ert )ir and edited #y 5ohn Matthews% the Living 4orld of ;aery #y $!5! 1tewart! "t can also #e helpful to do a series of preliminary +ourneys to meet the various well nown Celtic deities to introduce yourself! ,et to now them and find out which one9s: will agree to mentor you in this wor ! Once you have a mentor% they may give you specific training themselves in order to prepare you! Another good preliminary series of +ourneys to do is to as your sidhe gate eeper to ta e you on a tour of Elfland! They may ta e you to the ,ate eepers .all or to see the various Courts or realms and meet some of Elfland/s other inha#itants! This #ac ground is useful to ac6uaint yourself with the different types of sidhe and what their appearance and customs are! " also recommend reading )atherine Brigg/s 'An Encyclopedia of ;aeries( for this purpose as well!

1"M8LE T<8E1 O; ;AE$< -E8O11E11"O= The simplest and easiest types of faery depossessions involve sidhe who inadvertently wander into the human world through a thin place or are deli#erately invited or called to come into the middle world! Because humans have the strength and a#ility to open up energetic vortexes at will% it is not uncommon for individuals who are +ust playing around to summon faeries and then not now what to do with them! ;or example% " once owned an investment property that had a long history of #eing rented #y a succession of college students! After " #ought the property% " decided to rent it to a family! One day when " went over to collect the rent% the wife informed me that she had 'a troll attached to her(! 1he said that the troll had latched on to her when she had moved into the house and that she could not get him to go away! "n the course of tal ing to the troll% " discovered that he had #een called out of Elfland #y college students who were having a .alloween party a few years #efore! .e had come out of Elfland at their summons% and en+oyed himself at the party! Then to his dismay% he found that the thin place had had come through had closed and he could not get #ac home! 1o he had #een forced to hang around in the house until someone noticed him! Once " opened a vortex down to Elfland and called the gate eepers to come get him% the troll was happy and eager to go! .e came out of my tenant immediately and went home to Elfland with a smile on his face! Another common way people% especially children% get possessed is #y traveling to Elfland in their dreams! They may start playing and dancing with various faeries there% and sometimes in the course of all these festivities% the sidhe get mixed up in the child/s luminous field! They may then come #ac with them into the human world and remain there until someone discovers them! "n this instance% they usually go #ac to Elfland happily as soon as a vortex is opened up for them! " have also seen cases where children play with certain inds of middle world sidhe and get possessed #y them too! One of my former clients had three children who were constantly pic ing up flower devas and other middle world sidhe in their #ac yard! 1ince this event was almost a daily occurrence% " had to teach the children/s mother how to clear them herself> Another interesting case involved a long term client Ted% who is very connected to the faery realm! .e was ta ing a faery depossession training from me% and the word had evidently gone out over the faery grape vine! A horde of faeries who were stuc in the middle world showed up at his apartment and made their presence nown! Ted/s apartment #egan to experience unusual electrical pro#lems! The most amusing incident involved twin le lights that he had put up for the holidays! They started going on and off every time he tried to turn on the stove> Ted came to me laughing over these pro#lems and we were soon a#le to get all the sidhe crossed so that his home could settle #ac down again! COM8LE? T<8E1 O; ;AE$< -E8O11E11"O= "n addition to the simple types of faery depossession "/ve descri#ed% there are other situations which are more complicated! These scenarios fre6uently involve #ound human

souls% fettered animal spirits% magical swords or other o#+ects! ;aery depossessions of this type also can involve sidhe exiles rather than sidhe who are +ust lost or stuc ! "f sidhe exiles are attached to a client% you can usually tell #y how they react to the news that you are going to call the Elfland gate eepers! "f a sidhe is +ust lost or stuc % then this announcement is often greeted #y cheering and clapping! 1idhe exiles% on the other hand% will fre6uently #e scared #y this news! 1o they will try to hide or 'fog( the client so they cannot thin clearly or concentrate on the depossession process! *nder these circumstances " tell the sidhe exiles that " have wor ed out an amnesty agreement with the Elfland gate eepers% and that they will not #e punished for their past transgressions! 1ome of the sidhe exiles still are wary of revealing themselves! But after " call the gate eepers and they assure the exiles that the amnesty agreement is true% then there is usually relief and happiness that they can go home! At this point they will come out of the client easily! There are three exceptions to this rule! The first occurs when the sidhe exile is caught up in a curse or some enchantment! *sually the curse has to #e released #efore they can come out of the client! "n these cases " usually as Brighid or the Lady of the La e to unravel the enchantment% or the Morrigan to cut the chains or other #indings off the individual! Once these impediments are removed% the sidhe generally moves out easily! The second situation involves sidhe sorcerers who are very powerful and have often done unsavory things #oth in Elfland and the human world! This type of sidhe exile is reluctant to ac nowledge the authority of the gate eepers% and they may also have human or animal souls with them that they have trapped and #ound! ;or example% " recently wor ed with a client named Michael who had #een sexually a#used #y his grandfather when he was a child! Michael/s grandfather and father were also prone to flying into violent rages and he had felt terrori@ed #y them growing up! 4hen he #ecame an adult% Michael #egan to experience extreme mood swings that reminded him of his father and grandfather! .orrified #y this discovery% Michael made an effort to wall this part of himself away! But when he came to wor with me% he was starting to have increasing difficulty eeping the feelings of unexplained rage from overwhelming him! " suspected a curse passed down on the male ancestral line2and since he came from a ,erman family2" suspected =orse #erser ers could #e involved! Once we got into it% we found a host of human #erser ers inside Michael who had a variety of fettered animals trapped with them! 1ince the #erser er method is to trap and torture animals into a violent rage #efore illing them and fettering their souls% the animal spirits were savagely attac ing the human #erser ers who had fettered them! *nfortunately% all this drama was ta ing place inside of Michael! "n order to get the situation straightened out% we had to call in the compassionate ancestor spirits of the various animal species that were trapped! They arrived and surrounded the animals spirits and helped to calm down! 4hile this was #eing done% Odin% ;rey+a and the Aal eyries were called in to assist the human #erser ers remove the fetters from the animals! Then Odin and the others helped the #erser ers cross! After that we got to the heart of the pro#lem! "t turned out to #e a powerful sidhe #erser er who had #een hiding #ehind the others! .e was not pleased that " had released all the human #erser ers and

their animals and called in the Elfland gate eepers! The sidhe #erser er seemed to #e the one #ehind the sexual a#use in Michael/s family! "t too some time to negotiate with him #efore he would agree to leave Michael/s #ody and go with the gate eeper/s peacefully! After this clearing% Michael felt much more at peace with his childhood a#use and no longer experienced violent mood swings! The third instance involves depossession situations where #oth sidhe exiles and maras are involved! Maras are dar #eings% also referred to as demons or devils% who create pro#lems for individuals in the human world or in Elfland! 1ome maras have assignments which involve creating havoc in #oth the human and faery worlds! This type of mara fre6uently latches on to lost or exiled sidhe! Then they either convert them to their cause% or #ind them in various ways into their service! )nowing this% one of the first 6uestions " as sidhe exiles " whether they have mara #osses overseeing them! "f there are maras involved% then this 6uestion usually provo es a fear response in the sidhe exiles! The protocol " have found effective is to go straight to the top and as the maras to come forward and negotiate! "n most cases they have #igger mara #osses of their own! 1o they may #e reluctant to let the sidhe exiles go for fear of getting in trou#le themselves! At this point " as who their #oss is and that often leads us to a god7demon or some other extremely powerful #eing from the shadow realms! One god7demon in particular seems to #e at the end of various chains of maras who are involved in humanBsidhe interactions! 1o over time " have developed a relationship with him as an ally! 4hen " find that it is some of his minions involved% then " can call him in and he will release the maras from their posts! 4e have also made an agreement that " can cross the maras that he releases and that these maras can call all the other maras #elow them in the hierarchy to +oin in the same transition! " can also as this god7demon to come in and tal to other mara #osses on my #ehalf if " encounter maras who #elong to a different hierarchy! This situation usually wor s out well unless the maras involved happen to #elong to a god7demon who is a rival of his! *nder these circumstances " have to call in 8ra+naparamita the Ti#etan Buddhist deity who is the primordial mother of all form to help with the negotiations! Once the negotiations are complete% then the maras who have #een released from their posts can #e crossed! 4hen that happens% then the sidhe exiles are usually relieved and ready to go home to Elfland! The gate eepers ta e charge of them and things tend to go smoothly after that! ;aery depossessions involving maras are #est dealt with #y shamanic practitioners who have a great deal of deposession experience! At minimum% the practitioner should #e well rooted in unity consciousness and a sense of fierce compassion! Otherwise it can #e dangerous to wor with maras2especially god7demons2in an allied relationship! " have #een deli#erately cryptic in not revealing the name of the god7demon " usually wor with for this reason! 1o for practitioners who are not experience enough or comforta#le wor ing with god7demons% " recommend referring clients with maras to someone else! <ou may also #enefit from ta ing specific trainings in faery depossession in order to expand your nowledge and level of comfort with the more advanced procedures! Tal to your regular allies and the sidhe gate eeper who is mentoring you to see if this sort of training would #enefit you!

One of the more complicated mara related faery depossessions " have done so far% involved a client named 5ane who lives in England! 1ince we live far apart% 5ane and " do a great deal of our wor #y email! 5ane is a s illed shamanic practitioner in her own right! 1o she is usually a#le to wor with her allies to do a lot of her own clearing wor ! Last summer% however% " traveled to England to visit her and teach a psycho7pomp wor shop! "t provided us with an opportunity to wor in person together and 6uic ly everything that had #een waiting for me started to come up! One of the more memora#le depossessions " did during my stay involved two armies of 8icts and $omans! They had died on a #attlefield close to 5ane/s house and she had pic ed them up during a wal with her dog! The two armies were still fighting each other fiercely 9accounting for the eruptions of unexplained rage she had #een struggling with:% and they were 6uite ama@ed to find out that they were all dead! Behind them were a group of -ruids who had #een energetically involved in the #attle! The -ruids were holding on to soul parts of the 8ict army for safe eeping 9Celtic custom often prescri#ed soul hiding as a procedure #efore going into #attle:! 1ince the two armies had massacred each other% the -ruids had also #een caught up in the #lood #ath! Mixed up with them were a group of Christians who had sought to undermine the -ruid/s activities! Behind #oth of them were sidhe exiles% and over them% maras! Once this interconnected we# of relationships weas all uncovered% then it was possi#le to start unraveling things one #y one! The maras were sent on their way first! Then the Elfland gate eepers came for the sidhe exiles! The -ruids too #ac the curses they had thrown on the $omans% and released the soul parts of the 8ict warriors they had #een holding! 5esus% Mother Mary and the angels were called to help the Christians ta e #ac the things they had cast at the -ruids! Then the Christians transitioned into the upper world% while the -ruids re+oined their families in the Celtic afterlife! The 8ict army then went off happily in the company of their ancestors% while the $oman army re6uested the god Mars to come lead them away! They marched off #ris ly in formation and in 6uite a contrast to the mass unorgani@ed exit of the 8icts> 5ane and " were #oth amused and ama@ed when it was all over! 4e agreed that this wor was not for the impatient or faint hearted! 4hile not all faery depossessions are this complex% it is wise to #e aware that cases li e this one can come up! A good way of handling them is to wor with a circle of experienced people% or at least have the support of one other practitioner! ;aery depossession is a fascinating area of shamanic practice! "t is my hope that this article may inspire more practitioners to focus on this form of depossession! Even +ust the simple act of cultivating sidhe allies can do a great deal to #ridge the gap #etween the human and faery worlds! 4e are currently in a transition time when the old nowledge is coming #ac out of the earth in many traditions! "ndigenous shamans and core shamanic practitioners are in a uni6ue position to help #ring this wisdom #ac to help heal human society! .elping lost or exiled sidhe find their way #ac home is an important way to help restore the #alance #etween the human and sidhe worlds!

$eferences Cited: C! The Ballad of Thomas $hymer from The Living 4orld of ;aery #y $!5! 1tewart! Mercury 8u#lications! CDDD:ED! 3! Afterward #y 5ohn Matthews in The 1ecret Lives of Elves and ;aeries from the 8rivate 5ournal of the $ev! $o#ert )ir ! Edited #y 5ohn Matthews! Element! 3FFG:C3H!