Who is the Sidhe Lady?

Greetings to all who seek the Old Ways, the Faery Ways, and the doors to the Shining Lands and a hearty "Geanail Cum Codhail!" (Merry Meet in the Welsh Gaelic)

Well, it's here now that I'll be telling you some history about meself. I am a Grand'mam/Crone of 60 earth years, this walk. I have been a practitioner of the Old Ways for over 40 years now, and first came to the Ways as a wee child at the side of my own Grand'mam. Grandma learnt her ways from her own Mam, also as a wee child. I first came to the Knowing as a child in California where I lived until age 7 (when we returned to the homestead in Missouri). In California we went to the beaches up and down the coast North of San Francisco, where I was first drawn to the Music of the Sea. Mamma Ocean began to sing to me, even then, in a voice that called so deeply and strongly that I was mesmerized by the sounds. Even then Grandma was weaving the tales of the Sea folk and how they loved us and would always try to get us to come visit their beautiful underwater palaces, tho' we couldn't stay long because we had forgot how to breathe under water. They didn't understand why we couldn't play longer! At the time, I just thought she was telling me these stories to keep me out of the ocean. Now I know she was telling the legends as she had heard them from her mother. So, my fascination began with the Otherworld and has never ceased. The Folk called me early on and knew me as their own, long before I knew them as my own, distant kin.

And so, as in the Old Ways, much was taught by story telling and just listening to my Grand'mam as she worked with her herbs and medicines at her kitchen table. There was a pattern, even then, to things she did, tho' I was too young to understand the depth of her knowledge then. It was so exciting when she would announce we were going to the woods for "yarbs" for her "vermifuge" which was used to worm the cats, kids, and all the farm animals she could get it into. I surely wish today I had her "recipes" intact -- I can only vaguely remember a few of the ingredients. She never wrote anything down that I ever saw, so she was truly practicing the old oral tradition. During these loevely rambles in the woods, it was part of the quest to keep and eye out for the "folk" such as rings of mushrooms, or circular areas where no grass grew, or great gatherings of acorn cups that were used by the Folk at their revels. All this and more would fill the time as we strolled about picking various plants, nuts, and leaves for her basket.

Ther were long Summer evenings on the farm in Missouri, listening to the song of the woods, and singing old songs she knew, and the telling of the stories of "back when" of which I never tired. My Grand'dad loved the earth and would sit quietly with us and smoke his pipe of fragrant tobacco, joining in too. Sometimes all those tales and memories were rich with what I now know were the gifts of the Sidhe to their Daughters and Sons in the New World.

I began my own Walk Between the Worlds at my first self-dedication at age 17. This was after I went away to college and found books about the Faery Faith and the Craft in the Library. I knew, even then, I had come Home, tho' I had not idea where the path would lead. I have followed the Ways ever since. I have 2 grown children, a Daughter who is 41, a Son who is 40, and 2 Grand-daughters ages 17 and 12. The 12-year-old has shown the most interest in the Ways by her questions, tho' I believe the eldest is a "natural", but untrained. My Daughter is a child of the Middle Earth if ever there was such a thing, and my Son is very psychically attuned to me and whatever I happen to be doing, tho' is not currently studying anything of the Craft. It's just easier to go ask "Mom". My family all know of my path and tho' they do not currently walk it with me, it is in their blood and I believe one of them will receive the "Gifts" when it is time. As for me, the Sight assists me in my professional work as a Counselor (soul-healer), a kitchen herbalist and perfumer, a stitch-witch of Faery Finery, a Lover of the Tales of Old, and a collector of any kind of harp, whistle, drum and pipe music I can lay my hands on.

Sidhe Lady

Moyra's Web Jewels

sidhelady@clandjop.com