BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


Underground > Temple >

Reclaiming & Feri

  
 
*
20:14 / 25.05.07
So I've been studying Reclaiming lately. I got involved in the group because my partner is, and it's a convenient avenue to get back into regular practice. (For those keeping score at home, the fluff quotient is highly variable, and I'm getting a lot out of what I'm doing right now.)

I know something about Reclaiming practice now, but I keep hearing about all the things they've borrowed from Feri, and I don't know anything much about Feri other than what I can read on the Feri website.

I understand that Feri and Reclaiming have some tensions, but I don't know anything about that. Since Reclaiming has "reclaimed" a lot of Feri practice, I could see that being a contributing factor. I also know of a few Feri folk who do stuff in Reclaiming as well, so I guess it's not MOOJIKAL WAREFAR or anything.

Some resources to get started:

Feri tradition practices
A description of Reclaiming
 
 
Essential Dazzler
20:26 / 25.05.07
Barbelith Feri topic.

Haloquin may be along shortly.
 
 
*
20:44 / 25.05.07
Hey, thanks... think there's still a use for this thread or should I move it all over there?
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
20:53 / 25.05.07
I'd like to see people using this new thread. The last one got off to a bit of a rocky start.
 
 
Haloquin
21:13 / 25.05.07
I've been involved in Reclaiming and Feri for about 5 years now, I have co-taught workshops in Reclaiming and have trained with 2 Feri practitioners in Feri, currently (and more successfully) Thorn T. Coyle. I am in Britain.

Question; Which country are you in? Many of the prominent members of British reclaiming are heavily influenced by Wicca, but strictly speaking neither Reclaiming nor Feri are Wiccan. Feri, at heart, definitely isn't, although some strands have adopted Wiccan material, and a few consider themselves to be Wiccan.

Key Differences Here

The main reason I highlight this is because in the UK Wicca is a branch of Witchcraft, a specific variation/religion. Witchcraft is much broader, and while Wicca doesn't cover Reclaiming or Feri, Witchcraft does.

Feri was originally created by Victor Anderson and his wife, Cora Anderson, and then as more people studied with them it grew. Gwydion Pendderwen (their foster son, i.e. a friend of their son) formed a branch with a very celtic feel, Thorn T. Coyle is a modern practisioner with a very hands on, experiencial, body working bias. Deborah Oak is developing 'Reclaiming Feri', combining the bits she most loves and expanding, adding other things she feels is important.

Major differences between Reclaiming and Feri include;
Feri is initiatory, when the initiation is in relation to training differs between branches and individuals, but it is there.
Reclaiming is not. There is an initiation, but its not necessary and is purely a personal dedication type thing.

Feri works with a specific current of energy.
Reclaiming is very eclectic and tends to be more open to inexperienced magic workers as it is more open in general.

Feri has 'secret/oathbound' material.
Reclaiming does not.

Feri has a lineage.
Reclaiming has history.

Reclaiming grew out of a group of Feri practitioners' desires to share the magic with other activists and take it into the world with more people, so some of the more heavy-duty stuff from Feri was filtered out... this has crept back in over time, especially in heavily Feri influenced Reclaiming groups, like the British groups.


Other interesting articles on/by Feri/s can be found here

These are excellent FAQs on Feri from one Practitioner's point of view Veedub compiled these from various people and her own experience.

Go here for the main Reclaiming webpages The Principles of Unity are considered to be the only thing that you have to agree with to be part of Reclaiming. Its very open.


Lilith's Lantern Good site on a branch of Feri

A Queer Faery's webpage I enjoy this site, lots of information and essays and art from a Queer Feri perspective.


Feri Gold This is a very famous site, so named because it is mostly plagerism of Gabriel Carillo's Bloodrose material. Most of it is apparently old material, but I've found most of it elsewhere online so while it is plagerised and not credited it does have a lot of useful information on specific practices and some of the beliefs. Its also one of the first sites to come up on a google search for Feri tradition.
 
 
Haloquin
21:45 / 25.05.07
Looking over that post, there is less meat than I intended, but I'm not sure quite what you're after Id?

In terms of relation between the two branches, British Reclaiming is a strand heavily influenced and involved with Feri, but other branches, such as in Minnesota where they have very little Feri and are very into Nordic-type traditions/workings/mythology.

I haven't come across major animosity on either side towards the other, although some members of Reclaiming dislike the sercretive/initiatory aspects of Feri, and appreciate the more obvious non-hierarchical tendancies of Reclaiming. I'd normally agree with this, except Feri, while having lineage etc., puts emphasis on being the most you you can be, becoming yourself and living as yourself, so at its heart it is very anarchistic and ultimately non-hierarchical. I guess its the desire to do it all oneself; you cannot self-initiate into feri as the lineage needs passing on, (although the initiation itself is purely between you and the Gods) but Reclaiming doesn't ask for initiation at any point.

Reclaiming also tends to put more of an emphasis on playing nice with others, it is very community based.... Feri, being very individualistic, tends to lead to very strong, outspoken individuals, who often disagree with each other. Can end up quite solitary, really. Part of the work in Feri is learning to get on with others while being completely yourself, but you have to be yourself first.

I'm rambling now, sorry. Happy to go down specific paths on this topic, just point the way.
 
 
Ticker
00:29 / 26.05.07
*listening with rapt attention*

fascinating!
 
 
gravitybitch
00:40 / 26.05.07
Here in the Bay Area (Northern California), Reclaiming has a more overtly political feel to it, which seems not to sit too well with some of the more anarchic Feri folk. Beyond that, I don't have too much to add, as I've only recently started practicing with some Bloodrose people.
 
 
*
05:43 / 26.05.07
I'm in the Bay Area too, and, yeah, this is lots of what I wanted. Specifically, I was interested in hearing if my sense of Feri as a highly initiatory tradition was accurate, or if it was just "closed" in comparison to Reclaiming (which could be open to a fault I suppose).

I find it interesting that Feri is/can be anarchic at heart. One of the things I've been told about the Reclaiming community is that it's not all as free and democratic as it would perhaps like to appear; I've been told that at Witch Camps there can be some irritating social dominance games with certain people. (This is what I hear from someone whose assessment I trust, otherwise I would discount it as harmful gossip.)

Tangent: Anyone who has done work both with Iron and/or Pearl Pentacles and psychotherapy—do they get along? clash? If someone has already done a high degree of successful self-work with a number of spiritual and therapeutic practices, is going back into that with the Pentacles likely to create problems or be a waste of time, or could they still get a lot out of it?
 
 
Haloquin
10:47 / 26.05.07
Reclaiming communities generally try hard to work on consensus... but unfortunately whenever you get a bunch of humans in the same place politics become an issue. There is an issue about idolisation, especially in Witchcamps around teachers and people like Starhawk, but there are people trying to bring this to light to help combat it, and while it tries to be non-hierarchical the fact is that there are 'teachers' and 'organisers' and they get looked up to by some groups, and the usual cliques and regulars groups... some Witchcamps are better than others on this count, or so I've been told, but this is less a fault of Reclaiming as it tries to deal with these problems, and more an issue that arises when humans get together.

Reclaiming did grow out of a group of magical activists, and there are groups that focus heavily on this area. But then other Feri practitioners, like Thorn and Oak, are very politically involved.
Given that Feri puts emphasis on developing your own ethical code it depends entirely on the individual how politically involved they want to be.

Specifically, I was interested in hearing if my sense of Feri as a highly initiatory tradition was accurate, or if it was just "closed" in comparison to Reclaiming (which could be open to a fault I suppose). - Id Feri is, really. There are branches which are more open and you can learn about it and parts of it without being initiated. Thorn's book is very good, practical and detailed, although it is her style, not Feri as a whole. You can buy books of Victor's poetry and a book written by Cora, which gives you a feel for who they were.
 
 
Haloquin
11:00 / 26.05.07
Anyone who has done work both with Iron and/or Pearl Pentacles and psychotherapy—do they get along? clash? If someone has already done a high degree of successful self-work with a number of spiritual and therapeutic practices, is going back into that with the Pentacles likely to create problems or be a waste of time, or could they still get a lot out of it?

I haven't done psychotherapy, although I did do some self-work before I started on the Pentacles I'm not the best qualified to answer this... but having said that, the way it works is to reveal issues that are out of balance, if you have balanced them then they shouldn't be knocked out of whack by it... its not designed to undo work you've already done! Iron Pentacle is generally considered to be irritating because it brings up things you still have buried. Working with it myself, and watching others work through it, people seem to respond irritably to the points only if they have problems with that area. Of course, there are still the joyous 'of course' responses when the points are balanced and happy.

Iron is said to be 'the work of a lifetime'... as far as I'm concerned working with the pentacles, if they work for you, won't be a waste of time regardless of how much work you've already done. Its a way of making sure you keep balanced, theres no point putting all the work into cleaning yourself up if you then let it get dirty again, and as we're still alive and interacting with life we're bound to pick up more interesting issues!

Pearl is about taking the foundation you build up with Iron out into the world, expressing yourself basically. So work with this is more about interaction that the self-work in Iron. Although if you find something unbalanced in Pearl, best to look at its foundation in Iron and work on that. When Iron balances, Pearl works smoothly, kinks in Pearl show problams in Iron. Generally speaking.
 
 
*
17:37 / 26.05.07
Is there any exclusivity to Feri initiation? (I think there is none to Reclaiming initiation, at least from what I've heard. the major thing that would make me shy away from following an initiatory path would be if there are restrictions to following other paths, teachers, or gods as well.)
 
 
illmatic
17:51 / 26.05.07
I'm really impressed by the second of your links, Id. It makes Reclaiming sound awesome. I particularly like the personalised initiation and the emphasis on social and political work. Great stuff.
 
 
Ticker
18:04 / 26.05.07
I agree with Apophenia. Very inspiring stuffs.
 
 
Haloquin
18:28 / 26.05.07
No exclusivity at all. Its considered to be a marriage to the Feri Gods and Feri current, and passes on lineage and oathbound material. As far as I'm aware, the only restrictions are any agreements between you and the gods.

Feri was formed originally by Victor weaving strands of native magical systems together, someone expressed it as him trying to get to the core of the old magical/religious systems such as Huna and Voudoun, which he knew well, and large doses of Cora's folk magic. When he taught it he heavily tailored what he taught to the student's personality and encouraged them to research their ancestral/culturally specific magical lines, so not restricting oneself to one 'way' and developing the best practices for oneself is actively embraced. Because of that, most Feri paths around now are based on the style of the practitioner/s who spawned it, often mixing other magical paths and Gods into the branch.
 
 
*
07:10 / 27.05.07
Huh, nifty! Well, I'm newly excited about both Reclaiming and Feri, and I look forward to learning more at least about Reclaiming. I don't know for sure that I'll ever have the opportunity to study Feri, but I hope I do.
 
 
NyteMuse
14:24 / 27.05.07
ID: If you're in the Bay Area, you're a lot closer to being able to study Feri than many people in the world, as you're pretty much tripping over Initiates and practitioners here *chuckle* I'll admit, it did take me some time between discovering Feri existed and actually finding a teacher to study with, but 1, I'm kind of picky about what I wanted and 2, the Deities had a big old hand in deciding about that (which was fine with me).

There are 3 local teachers who advertise fairly open classes for pay: Thorn Coyle, Storm Faerywolf, and Anaar. If you are interested in any of those teachers but low in financial resources, I have heard rumors from their students that they will sometimes work out scholarships or work trade. Almost anyone can take their classes, but Initiation is not guaranteed (it's not totally off the table, just not a "for sure" thing). The other option is that Valerie Walker (Veedub) holds an open Feri circle/study group the first Friday of the month in San Francisco, and there is no tuition cost, other than that you bring a potluck dish to share
 
 
Haloquin
17:21 / 27.05.07
I'm always quite jealous of the concentration of Feri people in that area!
There are also a few people who run correspondence only courses, but I don't really recommend it, especially given the opportunities you have in that area! Close to Cora as well, perhaps you'll get a chance to meet her, if you want. Apparently she loves visitors.
 
 
NyteMuse
17:28 / 27.05.07
Halo: That she does, so any interested folk in the Bay Area should definitely try and make a point to go out to see her ASAP. She is getting on in years, so her time is limited.
(Speaking of...I should go see her next week *ducks head, embarrassed*)
 
 
*
23:14 / 27.05.07
wow, thanks folks... I'm doing my background reading now, mostly online until I gather the books (which I will do after I move). from the homework I'll see if this feels like home.
 
  
Add Your Reply