Fith-Fath or Shapeshifting

by Niklas Gander

7/07/97

Begin with a relaxation and open-eye trance induction exercise (Feel your body relax, grow warm and heavy, etc.) which leads into an awareness of the Circle, see it with your eyes open.

Close your eyes. The light of the candles dims as your eyes close. Once closed, the light behind your eyelids continues to dim. Gradually, the light slowly brightens again, and although your eyes are closed you see the room around you, clearly and in every detail, as if your eyes were open.

You see at once your surroundings as they were, but also now you perceive the subtle energies swirling in and throughout and all around the circle. With eyes closed, you slowly disengage yourself from your body, head from head, shoulders from shoulders, hips from hips, and rise. As you move about, physical objects are no barrier to your movement, and you are able to move freely and easily, even through walls, and beyond. Physical space also holds no distance to you, and you can, by merely thinking of a destination, arrive or appear there safely and instantaneously.

Now, let’s think of a place, a place we remember in which we’ve met the Faerie Queene, the Mistress of Shapeshifting. If we’ve not yet encountered her in our dreams, then perhaps she has let you know by your own desires that place where she seems more real than in others. It may be under a tree in a forest, it may be on the top of a mountain, it can even be under the surface of the ocean or under the mounds of earth. Wherever it is, think about being there, and be there now! As I continue to lead you with the drum, you look around at the place of power, and notice the details of its composition. You may find, in this powerful place that there is something not quite right or something out of place such as a tree under the ocean, a bird flying underground, iridescent fish swimming through air or snakes flying through the clouds. This tells you that you are in the realm of the Faerie Queen. Take time now to see with your ethereal eyes, and see how the Goddess chooses to present her realm to you, to you and you alone. What are its colors, its patterns? Take some time now to explore.

At last, You see before you the Lady, the Faerie Queen, She who holds the mysteries of flight for the landlocked, of breath for the seabound, of sight for the subterranean. She has upon her shoulders the feathered cloak of the shamaness, and holds in her hand the staff of guidance. Her face is indistinct, and seems to have a number of different features, that coalesce and dissolve as you gaze at her in wonderment.

You approach, and think of the absolutely best sort of gift you’d ideally like to give her, to offer her. No gift is too ornate, or too simple. Miraculously, as soon as it appears to your mind’s eye, the gift manifests in your hands in this wonderful realm. You present your offering to the Wondrous Queen, and she nods to you in thanks as it leaves your hands. You think to her that you’ve come to ask her for guidance in the process of learning the art of Fith-Fath, or Shape-changing. She smiles knowingly, and leads you with her arm about your shoulder. You are enveloped in the feather cloak, warm and expansive, and all becomes dark.

As light begins to appear to your sight, you look down at your hands. Are they paws, claws, talons, fins, hooves? Your body, how does it feel in this ethereal realm? How has your vision changed? Your thought processes? You move yourself through your environment in whatever way feels appropriate, knowing that the Queen is guiding, and showing you things only you can see, only you need to see. Wander, experience, as all around you participates in your reverie.

Gradually, slowly, your experiences slow down as the light around you dims again, as the Lady enfolds you in her arms once again, covering you with her feather cloak. Your body, if grown tense, then relaxes. If your mind was becoming unfocused, then it once again becomes focused and concentration is easy. If your vision seemed distorted, it now clears and sharpens. The light grows, and you are standing alone in what looks now like an environment very like our own. All is once again normal and you return now to this room, to this place, and to your more corporeal bodies. The drum calls you back. The drum calls you back. The drum seats you back into your body. The drum now seats you back into your self.

Your eyes are closed, but you are aware of the physical sensations around you. The cushions upon which you sit or lay, the walls around us, the flickering firelight of the candles. Before you open your eyes, you remember your experience, and the feelings that accompanied it. You can do this again whenever and wherever you will. The Ways of the Shamaness are to learn in the forms of the Other, to become the Other. You will do this again.

Open your eyes.