by valerie walker

Theory
Everything You Know is Wrong:
a personal vision of the Craft
A personal vision of the Craft: Over the last thirty years, whenever I have spoken about
"the Craft," I have frequently used the term as a shorthand description of Witchcraft in
general. More recently, however, I have come to think of it specifically in reference to the
Faery/Feri Tradition. This is due to the influence of Cora Anderson, widow of its founder,
Victor Anderson, and retired Grandmaster. I was Cora's weekend caregiver for five of the
nine years she has been disabled physically by a stroke, and have found her to be not only
a delightful person, but also a mine of information about the Tradition. She has been the
primary influence on me in both writing about Feri, and in my progress in the Craft.
There are those who think of Feri primarily as a faith or an art; but Feri to me is a tool-kit
for dealing with paradox... and I am doing my best to deal with the paradoxes that come
with the tool-kit. It is not easy to express much of what I have learned, because most of
the secrets of Feri are secrets in that they are inexpressible. However, there are enough
pieces of lore that can be passed on in words and pictures that I do not simply shrug and
give up trying to pass them on to the interested student or inquirer. I think that honest
questions deserve answers, as much as it is within my ability to give them. And, as Serge
Kahili King said, "Knowledge held secret is about as useful as money under a miser's
mattress."
What do Feris believe? is often the first question I hear, and the answer is not at all simple.
We human beings get too hung up in our metaphors, forgetting that the map is not the
territory. Reality and belief also have their own gradations:
Ultimate reality: unknowable. You just have to trust that things are. This is the area of
Mystery. I don't talk much about this, because it's really not a subject that the English
language is constructed to talk about.
Memetic/consensus reality: there are memes which have become very powerful over time
and with increased numbers of believers, so that they have assumed an almost physical
reality (this level of reality is where I see the gods living; Neil Gaiman's novel American
Gods takes this view and expresses it very well).
Physical reality: If I bang my head into the wall, I will get a headache and establish that
the wall exists. However, for a quantum physicist that wall is made up of teeny little
packets of something which may or may not be there, so in theory it might be possible to
walk through the wall. Perhaps physical reality is also faith-based.
Personal reality: my own particular mishmash of beliefs in memes, things, objects, states
of being, and so on. I can't communicate it to anyone else except through metaphor. And I
can never be quite sure that they are getting it in the same way I get it. As Buddha said in
the Shurangama Sutra, "a person pointing his finger at the moon... should see the moon. If

he looks at the finger instead and mistakes it for the moon, he loses not only the moon but
the finger also."
This is where we all run into trouble, because it's so easy to forget that personal reality is
not necessarily physical reality is not necessarily memetic reality, even though all are
subsumed under ultimate reality. It's all true. It's all lies. It's all sacred. It's all bullshit. It's
all based on where you stand. "Your doubt is your faith if necessary in your particular case
perhaps," as the Morgan Tarot puts it.
And since it's all based on where you stand, you can take that hypothetical wall of
physical reality and paint it, decorate it, knock it down, find windows and doors in it, sit
in its shade, jump over it, tunnel under it, go around it, walk along the top of it if your
balance is good and you happen to be headed in that direction... or even walk right
through it. So. Here's my take on the core Feri beliefs.

What is the Feri Tradition? In the (nonexistent until some fortunate future date)
Encyclopedia of Paganism, my entry for Feri would read something like this:
Feri (also spelled Faery, and occasionally Fairy) is a non-Gardnerian tradition of
Witchcraft which derives some of its tone and teachings from such widely-scattered
origins as Hawaiian Huna, Haitian Voudon, Qabala, and British Traditional Witchcraft,
among others; there are also some apparent Thelemic influences as well. Victor Anderson
(1917-2001) is credited with being the main advocate of a Feri approach, but he
apparently did not admit to being the creator of the tradition, but rather the transmitter
of knowledge that he'd received himself.
Victor was an autodidact, a shaman and a charismatic teacher whose influence is still felt.
His private library contains many books on occult subjects by authors ranging from Max
Freedom Long to R. J. Stewart, Aleister Crowley, Anton LaVey, and Robert Graves (just to
name a few), with several of whom he corresponded, and whose influence can be seen in
his teachings. In an open letter that he wrote to Llewellyn publishers over 10 years ago,
Victor Anderson stated [his spellings and punctuation are retained]:

August 21, 1991...

I don't consider myself the founder of the "fairy" tradition, but I am a Grand Master and a
fairy chief. I am the founder of the chapter of my faith on the West Coast of the United
States.... I was initiated in 1926... by a priestess from Africa.... The worship of the Goddess
was the very heart of our religion and magic....
I am a Kahuna. This is a fact of my racial heritage, personal experience and training. The
word Kahuna means "the secret," and is the same in the fairy tradition and the Polynesian
religion and magic. Although we were willing to learn new things, we already had a
definite and coherent body of knowledge and tradition of our own.
So we were not mainly eclectic. The fairy tradition has much in common with Voudon
and Santeria.
.... Ashe....

Oathbound material: Remarkably little is actually oathbound material, according to

Cora Anderson, Victor's earliest initiate: the Names of the Feri deities and Guardians, and
the inexpressible current of energy which is passed from teacher to student at initiation.
However, as Victor's initiates initiated others, and these others initiated still others, the
practices, lore, theology, and viewpoints of the various branches departed farther and
farther from Victor's original teachings, although his pronouncements were still taken
very seriously. (And, of course, as Victor's own way of thinking evolved, it changed
somewhat -- although not in the essentials.)
As in other religious groups, the interpretations and reinterpretations of the founder's
statements became more and more baroque, giving rise to a veritable Midrash of
often-conflicting views. Adding to this trend was the habit of most initiators to regard the
proprietary lore of their particular line as "oathbound material," i.e., not to be passed to
anyone except initiates into that particular line of initiation descended from Victor
Anderson. And since the lines talked to each other less and less as the years passed, the
result was a tendency in recent years to regard more and more information as oathbound.
Ironically, some material which was originally quite secret, such as the Iron Pentacle, is
now widely disseminated.
Naturally, in such a secretive, brilliant, cranky group of people, the revealing of
information was looked on as a supreme evil, even in cases where this information had
been spread all over the Internet for years. The politics of Feri is much like the politics of
any occult group; one has only to look at the squabbles among Aleister Crowley and his
fellow-Thelemics to get a sense of the intensity of the fireworks which greeted the
appearance of every piece of writing from an acknowledged Feri.

What I am trying to do in Feri: I have been attempting to take the incredibly baroque
version of ritual and lore given to me by my second Feri initiators and others, and
simplify it, while still keeping the flavor, the important things, and not denying the truths
that I have painstakingly garnered in the years since my first Faery initiation. I think it's
possible, like reducing a sauce in cooking -- you don't have to add a lot of ingredients, but
you have to cook it slowly and with care and patient attention for a long time. And given
that time and care, there's a transformation of what may have been simple ingredients
into something wonderful. It's like inner alchemy, or any of the really important bits from
the Western magickal tradition. You don't need to keep adding and adding. And that's the
mistake I think people have been making with it. Cora Anderson has told me repeatedly
that "it's really simple."
The reader should understand that my version of Feri is not quite like anyone else's...
which makes me just like every other Feri. We are all cranky, highly individual, fiercely
devoted to our own personal vision; the difference is merely that I don't claim to have all
the truth, and have never stopped asking embarrassing questions at "inappropriate"
moments.

Feri FAQs
compiled and answered by veedub (valerie walker)
[Valerie Walker, initiate of Starhawk (1976), initiate of Niklas Gander and Willow Moon
(2001), informal student of Cora Anderson (2001-2008); founder, DustBunny line]
N.B.: This material has been processed through my personal filter, and reflects my own take
on the Feri Faith. If anyone should have major substantive disagreements with any of this
material, have alternate observations to make on any of the topics, or have suggestions for
topics not covered here, feel free to email me at v.weatherwax@gmail.com. This is a work in
progress, as is Feri itself. My sources include archives of several Feri e-lists, personal
conversations with a number of Feri elders including Grandmaster Cora Anderson, the
training materials developed by Niklas Gander and Willow Moon for NightHares, a great deal
of Internet research, and online discussions with Corvia Blackthorn and many other Feri
initiates, students, and friendly observers. Many thanks to all of you.
What is the Feri tradition?
All Feris are part of the same initiatory lineage and share knowledge of certain secret Names
after initiation. ... I think we probably share an emphasis on direct personal interaction with
deities/spirits/powers and other realms of being; an emphasis on the development of the Self;
an emphasis on ecstasy and the fluidly sexual nature of, well...everything! There's often a
high level of creativity and a love of things wild, beautiful, and poetic. I think there's a shared
willingness to face the darkness along with the light within ourselves and our gods. Also a
comfort-zone with Lucifer not found among most neo-Pagans and Wiccans.
--Corvia Blackthorn (CB), email
[I am told that this comfort-zone is not universal among Feris.--vw]
The Feri Tradition reveres the Goddess and the Divine Twins (who are Her son, brother and
lover) as the primary Creative forces. The Gods are seen as real spirit beings like ourselves,
not merely aspects of our psyche.
--Soul Fire(SF)
For more of the Vicia point of view as represented by Soul Fire, Corvia Blackthorn, and their
associates, see their website at http://www.lilithslantern.com
It is an ecstatic, rather than fertility tradition, emphasizing polytheism, practical magic,
self-development and theurgy. Strong emphasis is placed on sensual experience and
awareness, including sexual mysticism, which is not limited to heterosexual expression. This
is a mystery tradition of power, mystery, danger, ecstasy, and direct communication with
divinity
--Anna Korn, http://www.cog.org/wicca/trads/faery.html.

Who created Feri?

Victor Anderson (1917-2001) is credited with being the main advocate of a Feri approach, but
I don't think he'd admit to being the creator, but rather the transmitter of knowledge that he'd
received himself. Victor was perpetuating an approach, but was not dogmatic about specific
lore he was taught.
-- Niklas Gander (NG), phone conversation
There has been much discussion about where Feri originated. Several versions of the story
have been circulated:
1. that Victor was initiated individually by an old woman of either Gypsy or African stock.
This happened in 1926 or 1927 when Victor was living in either New Mexico, Ashland,
Oregon or Bend, Oregon (accounts differ);
2. that Victor was initiated and given the Mysteries in 1929 by Harpy Coven in Oregon, and
that this coven was formed by migrants from Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Accounts of Victor's original teachers differ. Gwydion Pendderwen describes some of Victor's
teachers in the first (hardback) edition of Thorns of the Bloodrose: In the Oregon of his youth
were many strange and wonderful persons who became his teachers. An Indian who barely
spoke English, a band of gypsies who seemed never to grow old, and the ever-present crone
who lived in a decrepit hovel on the edge of town....
Cora Anderson mentioned that Victor had a Hawaiian girlfriend when he was in his early
teens (to whom one of the poems in Thorns was dedicated), and was presumably exposed to
Huna at that time.
In an open letter that Victor wrote to Llewellyn publishers over 10 years ago, Victor Anderson
stated [his spellings and punctuation are retained]:
(letter courtesy of SF)
August 21, 1991...
I don't consider myself the founder of the "fairy" tradition, but I am a Grand Master and a
fairy chief. I am the founder of the chapter of my faith on the West Coast of the United
States....
I was initiated in 1926, not 1932, by a priestess from Africa. The names of the members of
Harpy Coven were not to be made public. The name of our coven should have revealed ...
something of the nature of our religion and practice: Harpy is a Greek word for a kind of
feminine nature spirit that appears like a bird with a woman's head and a woman's arms and
hands for its legs and feet. The name means "snatcher."...
The worship of the Goddess was the very heart of our religion and magic. Lilith was one of
the names used in our ritual worship of the Lady. Her name is derived from Lilitu, meaning a

storm or tornado. We did not think of her as merely the Goddess, but as God Herself.
We worshipped the Consort of the Goddess. We did not worship him because it was necessary
but because she brought him forth out of her divine lust. Our worship of him was an act of
love. Although the Goddess tells us that away from the sweet influence of her love, he is the
most terrible of all spirits, he is not the fallen angel or "Satan" of Christianity or Islam. The
name Setan (the vowels pronounced as in Italian) is one of his names but has nothing to do
with the Christians' name of their fallen angel: It means soul fire. He is the same God as Ja or
El.
The statement that "the coven was quite eclectic, mixing Huna with folk magic" is incorrect
for the following reasons: I am a Kahuna. This is a fact of my racial heritage, personal
experience and training. The word Kahuna means "the secret," and is the same in the fairy
tradition and the Polynesian religion and magic. Although we were willing to learn new things,
we already had a definite and coherent body of knowledge and tradition of our own.
So we were not mainly eclectic. The fairy tradition has much in common with Voudon and
Santeria.
Our celebrations of the Sabat, moons and other rituals, and seasonal observations were much
the same as in other traditions. We were ritualistic and devotional, and we were concerned
with theology, worship and ethics. Our simple meal of bread and wine occurred only after
completing the work and worship in the circle. Ashe.
It is not my purpose to lift up self righteous skirts and kick Satanist, but for reasons I believe
to be quite obvious I resent [being linked] with Satanism. I could care less what a religion
calls their God, so long as they adhere to constructive and ethical beliefs and practices.
Phoenix Willow says:
Victor taught that that Feri was a religion/magical science dating back to a primordial "small
slender dark people" who came out of Africa many thousands of years ago. These are the
original "fairies" and they turn up in the legends of many cultures under different names.
What's the history of Feri? What are some of the lineages?
Victor Anderson started creating the Feri trad more-or-less as we know it in the 1940s. He
began initiating people on an individual basis into the tradition before the 1950's. According
to Cora, Victor received a letter in 1960 [other accounts say it was a phone call] from several
witches in Italy, among them Leo Martello, asking him to form a coven in California.
Gwydion Pendderwen/Watchmaker - During the 1950's and 60's, Victor's Craft
"foster-son," Gwydion Pendderwen (Tom deLong) worked with him, and helped to edit and
publish Victor's book, Thorns of the Blood Rose. Gwydion emphasized Celtic origins almost
exclusively in his own practice, with a smattering of Voudoun; other teachers have
emphasized the Hawaiian, the African-diaspora, or even traced the lineage back to the

Attacotti, who were small dark possibly southern European settlers in Scotland thousands of
years ago. Gwydion later moved north to Annwfn (Witch-owned land in Mendocino county),
and worked psychedelic group shamanic and Voudon rituals. Gwydion produced a large
number of articles, rituals, poems, and songs before his death in 1982. There is a line of Feri
descended from Gwydion, known as Watchmaker. Not much is known about this line, as its
practitioners are quite reclusive.
Vanthi - The late Alison Harlow, initiated by Victor Anderson and Gwydion Pendderwen in
the early 1970s, brought in a taste of Gardnerianism to her coven/lineage, Vanthi. She was
made 3rd degree Gardnerian many years after her Feri initiation and training. Some
descendants of Vanthi still teach as a coven. Other descendants teach as individuals. Some of
the Vanthi line lore is quite different from the lines of Feri that descend from the Bloodrose
line. --J'te, August 2008
Bloodrose - Eldri Littlewolf met Victor and Cora in 1969 but didn't get initiated into Feri until
five years later; she, Gabriel Carillo, Tony Spurlock, and Stephen Hewell were the basis of
coven Silver Wheel, [later Korythalia, and finally Bloodrose]. Silver Wheel was formed in the
Winter of 1975-76, and ceased in 1980. ...Gabriel taught his first classes under the name of
Bloodrose.... (Stephen Hewell, email) Gabriel's line became known as Bloodrose, and has
many descendants who are still teaching, as is Gabriel.
Compost Feri - Compost Coven was formed in the early 1970s.... The founding High
Priestess, Starhawk, had been initiated into the Faery tradition; but strands of many traditions,
learned both from personal contact with Witches and from books, added to the archetypal
materials which arose from dreams and group trancework, were woven by the original
Composters to form a web of unique design, unlike that of any other group.
(Note that the teachings on the compostcoven site range from Feri to purest Eclectic,
depending on the author.)
The Compost Tradition lives on in the DustBunny group, my ongoing class, and in the
newly-formed coven of its Feri initiates, GoldenThread. Over the years, I had passed the
Faery Mysteries to several Composters, Willow Moon among them. Willow (with his partner
Niklas Gander) later adopted me into their NightHares line, downline from BloodRose, while
still considering my earlier initiation to be valid. At first highly influenced by NightHares
practice and lore, I have gradually departed from their way of doing Feri, seeking a more
streamlined version of ritual practice. Under the influence of Cora Anderson, the people of
her Vicia line, and my own researches into Feri, I am developing a set of my own teaching
and devotional materials, and teach them both online and in person to the DustBunnies
group and its initiates. Thus the Feri stream in Compost resurfaces as a Feri lineage.
Mandorla/Vicia - Mandorla Coven, to which Corvia Blackthorn belongs, was founded by
initiates of Victor and Cora Anderson, and practices a form of Feri known as Vicia. This line
uses material taught by the Andersons in the 1980s and '90s and differs somewhat from the
majority of Feri being taught today. They trace their lineage directly to Victor and Cora. They

tend to initiate first and teach afterward, and are more improvisational and less scripted than
Bloodrose-descended lines. Their website and bookstore, through which works by Victor and
Cora can be ordered, is at http://www.lilithslantern.com.
Phoenix says, My primary teachers are initiates of Victor and Cora. What I'm learning are
initiatory teachings from Victor and Cora, plus my teachers' personal experiences and
approaches. When asked what makes Vicia different from the other Feri lineages, she said: I'd
say that we're more improvisational and less scripted. Definitely more kitchenwitchy and less
high church in ritual than folks downline from Bloodrose..... We don't work with a closed
pantheon. If anything, I'd say the emphasis is probably on the Star Goddess and the Twins
(different from the Twins found in other branches)... We don't do Empowerment/Quickening.
Instead there's a single initiation that includes a passing of power. We don't do the 'demon
work' that originated with Bloodrose, nor do we use their Lead pentacle. ... Initiation usually
comes near the beginning of training, rather than after many years of study. We don't charge
money for Feri training, just as the Andersons never did. On the other hand, training is
normally in a coven/apprenticeship setting--so there's a lot less opportunity for folks to do it.
We tend to be very reclusive.
Which other Pagan traditions seem most compatible with Feri? Which don't seem to
mix well?
Many Feris hold dual membership in both Feri and other religions such as Unitarian
Universalist, Buddhist, Vodoun, Hindu, Santeria, Subud, Ifa, and many others. There are Feris
who have no problem being both Feri and Gardnerian, Feri and Eclectic, Feri and Sabbatic,
Feri and Thelemic, and so on. Each individual Feri is responsible for hir own path, since Feri
is not merely a set of doctrines, but a way of being. Traditions that don't mix well would be
any tradition which does not allow the practitioner the freedom to disagree. I suppose there
are Pagan trads like this, but the worst examples are generally found among the
fundamentalist branches of the Judeo-Christian-Muslim religions. However, there is still some
overlap possible even in these sects. For example, Cora's family was quite Christian, but she
was able to remain a sincere churchgoer and still be a vital force in Feri, or "the Craft", as she
calls it.
Why is it called Feri rather than Faery or Fairy?
According to Corvia Blackthorn:
Cora says the name Faerie became attached to the tradition "by accident." Later on, Victor
began using the spelling Feri in order to distinguish our tradition from other groups using the
terms fairy or faerie (R.J. Stewart, Kisma Stepanich, etc.). Various other names were used
over time--including Vicia and possibly Pictish. FWIW, I've never heard either Victor or Cora
using the word Feri in casual conversation, it's always just "the Craft."
According to Niklas Gander, Victor explained the word "Feri" as "Fe-Ri", meaning "workers
of the Fey (power)."

How is Feri different from other forms of the Craft?

Niklas Gander wrote an article for Witch Eyemagazine that summed it up pretty neatly, at
least from the point of view of the Bloodrose lines. Salient points, with my comments:
-- A number of variously sexual gods as opposed to a divine male-female dyad.
-- Non-subscription to the Wiccan Rede and Law of Threefold Return; instead, individual
responsibility for the consequences of one's actions is accepted.
-- "the essence of Feri is not found in a shared liturgy as much as in a shared approach to
magic and the Craft" [although some lines are much more "high-church" than others, with
more set liturgy--vw].
-- Emphasis on spiritosexual ecstasy leading to personal development rather thanmale-female
sexual polarity leading to fertility or healing. [also, there is an emphasis on bringing energy
used in magickal workings back into the practitioner,rather than "grounding"--vw]
-- Oral tradition rather than dependent on a written tradition kept in a Book of Shadows.
[Each practitioner is expected to add hir own material, so a practitioner downline from any
particular teacher will have branched out into new directions.--vw]
-- Single initiation rather than two- or three-degree system. [This, however, has been
somewhat diluted in some lines by the addition of empowerment/quickening ceremonies at
the beginning of training. Different lines vary widely in the timenecessary before an
individual can be initiated, some lines initiating first and training later, and other taking years
to train before initiation.--vw].
-- "Feri initiations vary widely... as long as certain core lore is passed during the course of
initiation. In this way, rites of initiation are often tailored to the specific individual being
initiated."
Another view is available in which Leah Samul interviewed Anna Korn and which appeared
in the Compost NewsLetter.
Is Feri a Wiccan tradition?
Feri does not subscribe to the Wiccan Rede, which is an important criterion for inclusion
under the Wiccan classification. The word "Wiccan" has become a pejorative in recent years,
mainly because of the proliferation of "fluff-bunny" groups who are self-taught from such
watered-down sources as the Llewellyn books. However, these groups do not comprise the
entirety of Wicca: aside from eclectic/inclusive groups such as Compost, there are many other
traditions in the greater Craft community which share beliefs, lore, and even practice with
Feri, among them 1734 (Robert Cochrane), Church and School of Wicca (Gavin and Yvonne
Frost), sabbatic witchcraft (Andrew Chumbley), and others.
Does Feri tie to an ethnic heritage? Or focus on a specific cultural identity?
Victor, who saw Feri as a universal current and borrowed shamelessly from here, there and
everywhere, was in the habit of emphasizing the cultural connections of each individual

student, and having them "ask their ancestors." But he wasn't hidebound about it; although he
felt that Magick is in the blood, and one must follow one's own genetic heritage, he was
realistic enough to know that many people either may not know much about their blood
ancestors or may want nothing to do with them; so he sensibly went with the student's
individual leanings.
What do Feris believe?
According to an article by Anna Korn: The Faery Tradition, in common with initiatory
lineages of the Craft which practice possession, is a mystery tradition of power, mystery,
danger, ecstasy, and direct communication with divinity. This is in contrast to traditions which
practicepsychodrama or psychotherapy through ritual. [The complete article is at
http://www.cog.org/wicca/trads/faery.html, and it answers many of the questions asked
here.--vw][This article is no longer available.]
Feri is distinguished by some specific beliefs and practices; some of the core concepts are the
Black Heart of Innocence, the warrior ethic, the Three Souls (derived from Huna), and the
Feri deities. There are particular deities, who are each regarded as discrete individuals who
are not interchangeable with similar deities from other pantheons; simultaneously, the Star
Goddess, the source of all, is all of these, and all of us. (Anna did say it's a mystery
religion!!;)
What deities do Feris worship?
The Star Goddess
The lemniscate gods (not all lines)
The Guardians
Other deities
What are the basic Feri practices?
Some specifically Feri tools used to accomplish self-development work are:
a.) Alignment of the Three Souls
b.) The Pentacles
c.) Elemental Balancing
d.) Energy Work (Blue Fire in some lines)
e.) Kala Rite
f.) Deity work
g.) Shadow Lover/Frevachi (Demon work in some lines, not used in all lines)

The Three Souls

We are a trinity. We have a soul that stores the life-force and speaks in symbols and through
play. We have a soul that communicates through speech and listening, through words and
energy. We have a soul that is Divine, that is ancestor and teacher.
--Thorn Coyle
In Feri, each of the three souls is thought to use a different type of energy. (This is pretty
much identical to traditional Huna teachings.) The Fetch/Unihipili uses a basic form of energy
called mana. In Sanskrit this energy is referred to as prana, in Chinese it's called chi. Both
Feri and Huna agree that mana is the fundamental energy of life present in everything. Our
Fetch gathers mana from food, air, etc. to create and maintain our material existence. The
Talker/Uhane amplifies mana into mana-mana. Mana-mana is used to create and maintain our
conscious thought and ability to reason. The God-Self/ Aumakua uses an exponentially more
powerful form of energy known as mana-loa. Through practices like the Ha Prayer, we can
gather up and send mana to our God-Self through the Fetch. The God-Self then converts it
into mana-loa and uses it to create/heal/etc. on our behalf. In Huna it is said that the kahunas
could instantly heal major injuries and perform other miraculous feats through the power of
mana-loa. --Corvia Blackthorn
The Pentacles of Feri: are a set of meditational devices which are characteristic of, but not
exclusively confined to, Feri. All pentacles below are listed in order deosil from the top
around the points, though they can all be worked through the pentacle (i.e., Sex, Pride, Self,
Power, Passion for the IP). There are many different ways of running the Pentacles. Starhawk
taught the roundways method, but many Feris use the throughway method primarily.
Some good links to further study include: http://www.faerywolf.com/essay_ironpentacle.htm,
an article by Storm Faerywolf
http://www.reclaiming.org/newsletter/67/pentacle.html The Iron Pentacle as a meditative tool,
by Hilary Valentine of Reclaiming
http://www.tejasweb.org/html/writings/epistepentacle.html Epistemology and the Pentacles of
Feri, an article by Mike Rock. [This article is no longer available.]
Energy Work
About the use of Blue Fire in Feri.
Many years ago, Gabriel introduced a series of exercises for working with "Blue Fire" into
Feri. These exercises were based on prana yoga techniques. This form of Blue Fire is
synonymous with mana. So when someone of Bloodrose-derived lineage talks about "Blue
Fire," they are usually referring to prana/mana/chi. The same is true of Reclaiming, as many
Reclaiming folks have trained off-and-on in Bloodrose-derived Feri. These groups have many
excellent exercises for perceiving and working with this energy.

Victor, however, used the term "Blue Fire" to refer to mana-loa, the "fire of the gods." This is
how the term is used in Cora's book (Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition, pages 39- 40). The
Bloodrose lineages usually recognize a mana-loa type of energy as well, but refer to it as
"White Fire" or sometimes "Baraka"--an Arabic term of roughly similar meaning to mana-loa.
(There may be other terms in use as well.) --Phoenix Willow
There are many ways of raising energy; some specifically Feri methods are the Ka-Ba-Za
meditation of Nighthares and the Ladder of Hestia in my own practice, in both of which the
energy of each soul is envisioned while chanting; the Ha Prayer, which sends energy to the
Godself by way of the Fetch; energy purifications such as the Kala rite, and others. The
Pentacles are another category of energy work.

The Kala Rite

This is a method using a cup of water for purifying energy and reclaiming bound-up life force.
Kala is Hawaiian for "to loosen, untie, free; to forgive, pardon, excuse; to proclaim," and to
be kala is to be pure, clean, focused, and clear in intent.
What does it take to be a Feri?
-- Black Heart of Innocence: "the innocent, sexual state found in the child before her force
was constrained and perverted, and in the animal still roaming in the wild"--Thorn Coyle.
-- Warrior ethic: since Feris do not subscribe to the Wiccan Rede, they each have to work out
a code of ethics for themselves, one which takes personal responsibility for every act and
judges what is correct action by each situation individually. A lot of discipline is necessary in
order to overcome the temptation to regard one's wants and needs as paramount, superceding
those of anyone else.
-- Ability to face one's own personal demons and come to terms with them
-- Ability to "cross over" into the Faerie realm
-- Ability to work with the Feri "current"
-- Psychological strength and flexibility
-- Initiation by a Feri initiate during which the Mysteries are passed
-- Ability to develop actual personal relationships with the Gods, up to and
occasionally including actual possession -- Courage enough to go into the wild places of the
heart

A dialogue about distance training

and some student questions
by valerie walker and students
Q.: Would you work with me as a distance teacher? From what I understand, there are two
Feri initiates in [my country] but neither is likely to teach for quite a time because they are
fairly new. I also want to work through Thorn's book. Is there likely to be problems doing
both?
My online classes are for beginners in Feri, but students should have some knowledge (and
conversation) with other forms of the craft or other areas of the western mystical tradition.
Graduates of other distance classes such as Thorn's or Storm's are welcome. (I'm not
prejudiced against complete n00bs, but it might be difficult for them to follow without some
background.)
There is a private Yahoo list in existence for file-swapping and student discussion, and I plan
to email lessons to students once a month. These will be the exact same lessons I teach in
MeatSpace. If you have a hard time keeping up, that's no reason to be
discouraged--everyone's in a different place when it comes to previous studies, emotional and
spiritual readiness, and ability to contribute to the online discussions, I would hope that each
student will be active on the e-list (to which invitations will be sent out once you sign up), and
actually do the work of each lesson (yes, there are assignments for reading, discussion, and
solitary work).
Text (required): The Dustbunnies' Big Damn Handout Book by Valerie Walker, available on
lulu.com (free pdf also available for download) Cost is, as always, free. Duration is eighteen
months, and after that, we'll see. I think that after the first eleven lessons, different students
may choose to stick around for more advanced work, or find another teacher, or... It's up to the
individual. And I am fine with students in this class taking classes from other Feri teachers; in
fact I encourage it.
I believe that the more views a student gets of the Feri tradition, and the more ways s/he has
to work the energy, the better. I never met Victor Anderson, but I'm told by people close to
him that he'd give people the things he felt they needed, and this was different in each case.
Plus, Cora Anderson (who I take care of on weekends and have for several years) once told
me "there are a thousand ways to do Feri." When I asked if I could quote her on that she said
with an impish smile, "well, a hundred."
Let me know if you are interested in the next iteration of the class (they begin each March).
You can reach me by sendfing me a personal message at my Facebook page here or on
LiveJournal here.
Q: I am reading through Thorn's book and then intend on working through some exercises.
Can you suggest some other useful reading? Also, what would you recommend as a beginning
practice? The one on your website or something simpler?

A.: I'd say start working with Thorn's book exercises, and also with my web pages. It's about
as simple as you will find, I'm afraid. Begin with the Daily practice I page, adding a new item
every few days or so. Use the circle script as a framework. Save the complicated things, like
the Ladder of Hestia or the full Daily Practice, for a little later. In fact, why don't you try
going by the curriculum I have set out?
Also, check out the Vicia site at http://www.lilithslantern.com. You will find some interesting
essays, good links, and a bookstore for Feri-related writings. (Caveat: everyone is all enthused
about Thorns of the Blood Rose and 50 Years in the Feri Tradition, but if you are a linear
thinker they will just drive you nuts. You have to read them with a poetic eye. 50 Years was
written by Cora, and she used the same style that Victor did, which is leaping wildly from
subject to subject, answering questions which were not asked, etc. Maddening. But there is a
wealth of lore in 50 Years, if you can take the time to read and re-read it.)
Q.: Am I right in saying there isn't a lot of ritual as such in Feri since I don't really see much
mention of it on Feri sites or in Thorn's book? Also, does the same go for festivals?
A.: No, there is a ton of ritual, but most Feris are loath to make it public. If you begin with the
basic circle, which is a much-simplified version of one I was given by my second initiators,
you can add on and elaborate as you discover new things which excite you. The main thing is
to be excited about what you are doing. A rule of thumb I use for myself: if I find that (after a
good try) I am incapable of memorizing a ritual or some other work, that means that deep
down I don't want to remember it, and I should listen to that feeling and substitute something
which does grab me. I don't mean you should indulge in gratuitous importation of bits and
pieces from all over the place; you will get a feel for the Feri "taste" and will be able to find
other exercises, chants, specific ritual practices, etc. that match that "taste". Sorry to be so
vague, but Feri is a very non-linear study. What Victor used to do, according to all the
accounts I've heard, was to tell the individual to look at the practices of his/her ancestors. So
if an African-American person came to him, he'd give her a lot of things about the African
heritage to study. If the person was Jewish, he'd turn him toward the Kabalah, and so on. This
was because he felt that Feri is in the blood, literally, and that we should each be looking
toward what our ancestors did for clues. Your ancestral heritage might be a good place for you
to begin looking.
Festivals are celebrated pretty much as other Wiccan- and Pagan-based trads do. The
Andersons themselves only celebrated things like Xmas, Easter, and Samhain, the holidays
that made it into the general American secular calendar; but you can feel free to celebrate all
or none of the eight wheel-of-the-year holidays. I have attended a Brigid celebration put on by
Feris, and the main differences from anyone else's Brigid rite were the particular beginning
invocations and endings.
There was an all-Feri ritual organized by Thorn at Pantheacon 2006, for which I opened and
closed the circle, and Feris from a lot of different lines took different parts. The program blurb

read: A Feri Ritual of Love and Creation: Journey into ritual space, floating in darkness with
the Star Goddess. Make love to yourself, giving birth to paradox, the Divine Twins who are
brothers and lovers. Together they - and you - form something new and beautiful, neither
earth nor air, light nor shadow. This being is the Peacock, beautiful and proud. Dance, shake
your tail, and fill the seven heavens with thunder! Dress in your finest garb and come ready to
journey. It was the high point of the Con for plenty of people. One participant described it as
"a pivotal moment in Feri," when it all came together.
Q.: Sorry to ask such a lot of questions but witchcraft in [my country] is very different in that
it is very traditional Wiccan based.
A.: Well, there aren't that many Feris here in the US either, most being on the West Coast in
the San Francisco Bay area, where I live. Lots of students are learning through Thorn's
traveling teaching, but many people aren't anywhere near a live teacher.
If you want to communicate with other Feris, I have an email list on Yahoo. The freeformcraft
e-list is an open list, and Witch Eye has a Yahoo list as well.
Q.: I had a look through the curriculum you put up. I presume this is based on weekly
lessons?
A.: As if ;) No, the way I've been teaching it is as monthly lessons. I think weekly is a little
too often. One lunation is a nice significant chunk of time in which to digest each bite and
make it part of you.
Q.: I suppose my question would be if I worked through the curriculum and supplemented that
with other material, what would be next?
A.: Coming up with your own stuff. The curriculum should give you the basic toolkit. And
that's really what Feri is in my view, a toolkit. The things you decide to build with it are your
own personal choices, based on your own individual needs and insights. I wouldn't presume
to tell anyone what to build with the toolkit; I simply show examples of things I've come up
with and hope the example rubs off.
Q.: I get the feeling from reading around that Feri seems to be a process that culminates in
initiation after a few years but initiation is not necessarily the aim of it.
A.: Since the following things are true:
a) there are very few Feri teachers available for students in far-flung areas;
b) there is no self-initiation in this trad;
c) there are many many MANY ways to "do" Feri;
d) not everyone is called to marriage with the gods (which is what initiation is);
therefore, not everyone who studies Feri ends up initiated. However, you should never rule
anything out. It might happen some day, if you want it to. And I don't consider initiates a

higher class of being than students, so I can't see that anyone really NEEDS to be initiated
into Feri unless they sincerely feel called to it. I've initiated several people myself, and it's
been very interesting to see how it "took" in the various cases. Some were the better and
stronger for it, and some weren't.
Q.: I spent a bit of time this afternoon working through some of Thorn's exercises and the
Flower Prayer. I did a water cleansing as Thorn suggested followed by the Flower Prayer
and then practiced Expanding Attention and then what she calls the Aligning Prayer, which
seems like a yogic breathing exercise. I have to admit I felt very at ease afterwards but also
full of energy. Would this seem a good collection of exercises to start with?
A.: Sure. Try doing them in different order and see what the effects are. Try also doing some
of them one day and others the next. Record your reactions and thoughts in a journal (or blog
if you feel like letting others in on your thoughts). Try skipping a day after you've been doing
these exercises for a while. How does that feel? Keep tinkering with the exercises, trying new
ways to do them, new places to do them in, new times of day, new words to use. Elaborate.
Simplify. Play with them. You might find that you feel better doing a lot more or a lot fewer
things as daily practice. Everyone's different. Make whatever you decide to do your own,
however you can. One person made a sort of magickal rosary with sets of beads of different
kinds that stand for the various exercises and prayers she uses. I thought that was particularly
clever. I myself made an altar and various magickal implements. If there's an art form you
favor, definitely do some work in it. Even if you aren't particularly gifted in the visual arts, it's
a good way of involving Fetch as well as Talker and Godself. And you might want to read
Anaar's little booklet, The White Wand. She's very right-brained in her approach to Feri. You
can get her book through her website.
Q.: I wasn't sure what to do with the flower prayer, I can understand what it means but is it
meant as a meditation or a chant or just a statement?
A.: It's the opening statement of the practice as well as the first bit of the meditation; it can be
a chant, and it's also a conundrum to puzzle over. Just who IS this flower above us? and what
IS the work of this god? The rest of the practice is, or should be (I think), dedicated to finding
the answers to these questions. That's why I do the flower prayer at the beginning and the
Kala exercise a little further along in the process.
Q.: I was reading Thorn's book ahead of the exercises I am practicing and came across the
section about consecrating the wand. I wouldn't describe myself as being particularly
repressed sexually but I found the idea of using my own "juice" to empower a wand difficult to
deal with. Is this a regular part of Feri or is it Thorn's particular take on it? Is this something
that I should just learn to deal with or could it present a problem in the future?
A.: You can use any "juice" you like. Saliva works. I think it's just using some DNA-bearing
substance to establish a powerful connection / aka thread with the wand or whatever tool
you're empowering.

There is a recurrent theme in Feri online communications and writings about how
transgressive and out there it is to be Feri, and this is usually taken to mean sexually. However,
if you look at the truly transgressive nature of the Andersons, they were actually quite
restrained in terms of physical sex. I think the "transgressive" element came in when lots of
gay and lesbian people were attracted to Feri, and the attempt was made in some quarters to
define Feri as being primarily "queer craft", which was not Victor's idea. Victor's genius was
more in combining so very many ritual and mythic elements into a reasonably coherent whole,
in claiming racial kinship with just about anyone, in making amazing blanket statements
which couldn't be proven or denied, and in giving a much larger meaning to sexual terms than
merely physical actions. The Andersons insist that, for example, they had met and had sex for
years on the astral plane before they ever met physically; when they met in person, they
recognized each other instantly and were married three days later. Now that's transgressive....
Q.: Should I be casting a circle each time I do a practice?
A.: Not unless you feel like it. I don't usually for my daily practice. That way, casting a circle,
while familiar, becomes more of a special thing that I share with other people.
Q.: Do you know of any rituals that would work well as a solitary for the full moon that rely
on visualization or trance?
A.: Solitary work is best done by either adapting things you like from group work or making
up your own. (At least, this has been true for me. YMMV.) There are so many variations of
visualization or trance -- here's a pdf of a Chaos magickian's take on the subject. that ought to
keep you busy for a while!
Q.: What I don't really understand is how these exercises really work. I can sense a change in
vibration but don't understand why visualization and breathwork has this effect. I find I work
better chanting the KA ZA BA mentally rather than aloud, mainly because I don't want to
alarm the neighbors. Will this still have the same effect?
A.: Breathwork and visualization are mysterious things. They definitely work, otherwise they
wouldn't be spread all around the world in zillions of different cultures' spiritual practices they
way they are. I think they're hardwired into the human body/brain. It's more fun to do things
aloud, but a good intense whisper can rock too. I usually do my daily practice in a whisper so
as not to disturb my housemate; but when nobody's there I do it out loud. Different but cool in
both circumstances.
Q.: In my daily life I try to be conscious of my Three Selves and do HA prayers. I have a
pretty good idea of the Three Selves and have done quite a bit of work already. Anything in
particular or in addition I need to focus on?
A.: Look at the functions of the Three Souls AND the body. Four is the number of completion,

and the HA prayer is four breaths, not three. So when you do the HA prayer, bring one out of
the body and one out of each soul, thus:
(breath from feet) HA from the roots: my feet are on the earth
(breath from genitals) HA from the stem: my loins are in the moon
(breath from heart) HA from the leaves: my heart is in the sun
(breath from entire body to above the head, looking up) HA to the flower: my head is in the
stars
[The plant analogy is mine, the epigraphs are ganked from R. J. Stewart]
Also, look at the way each number generates the next. One (the Star Goddess) generates Two
(the Twins). Two generates Three (the Three Souls). Three generates Four (the four planar
directions). Four generates Five (the Pentacle). Five generates six (the six directions with
Above and Below) which generates Seven (adding the Center). This is reminiscent of the
formation of the Sephiroth in Qabala, or Pythagorean number theory. Go as far with this as
you care to, if you are mathematically inclined. Everything is connected to everything, as Lon
Milo Duquette proclaimed in his Chicken Qabala.
Q.: On the Feri Circle: are we to simply read over this or actually do it? I haven't done work
with the Guardians yet, and am unsure about the setup, as with the candles. Elemental
candles, I'm assuming. As for the Star Goddess one, would white work?
A.: Do it. Refer to the script as long as you need to until you have it memorized. Then start
adding your own little touches. About candles: for the SG I use either white (contains all
colors) or purple (contains red, white and blue, one color system Victor used for the Three
Souls), or black (contains no colors, the black of the space between the stars). Your choice, or
whichever is easiest to find. But white is default for any candle for which you don't have the
"correct" color. These rules are simply more methods to get your psyche attuned to the
concepts behind them. If you have more of a SG association with, say, puce, use that.
Personal correspondences trump traditional, in my view.
Q.: On the KA-BA-ZA exercise: I love this! Did you come up with this? It's especially effective
for me. Why the x9, though? I mean, I know that repetitions are no new thing, but how
important is it to do it that many times? I don't know if I'd be able to handle it. Just doing it
once leaves me reeling for a good while.
A.: The KA-BA-ZA is not my original creation, but was passed to me by my second initiators,
who also recommended the 1-3-6-9 repetitions (probably because 3 is the number of the
Maiden, 6 the Mother, and 9 the Crone, I'm guessing). For myself, I do it once to awaken the
Fetch, focus the Talker, and ask the aid of the Godself, then (usually, unless I am particularly
rushed and need to do a quick-n-dirty practice) follow up with the Ladder of Hestia. But
doing the KA-BA-ZA full-out nine times is a great way of running energy through the system.
Q.: Something that's bothered me for some time now: I tend to get really sexually aroused
during practice for no reason and my energy gets "stuck" there and doesn't flow evenly

throughout my body. I've learned to ground, which helps, but at times it becomes really
intense and then painful when I'm stuck on edge for hours when I'm at work.
A.: An interesting reaction, and not uncommon. All energy originating in the root chakra
manifests as sexual. Rather than grounding it see if you can return it upward, modulating it as
you go into healing, creative force, courage, openheartedness, truth, clarity, understanding,
and stillness (the steps of the Ladder of Hestia). This is where a chakra working such as the
Ladder can be useful, because the modulations are more gradual than those of a simple
three-step KA-BA-ZA. Follow up with a prayer to the Star Goddess to take the energy and
then a four-breath release (HA prayer). Then reverse directions, use the Kala rite to take in
purified energy from the Star Goddess from above to below, purifying spirit, thought, feeling,
and action, thus replacing the volatile energy you just released to the Goddess with the HA
prayer with workable energy which you can keep in your body without knocking yourself for
a loop. You feed Her and She'll feed you.