"Geatachan Sìthe"

The Gates of Faerie

or

The Portals of Peace

A Druidic System of Divination/Wisdom

Background

• "The Gates of Faerie" is one variant of three similar divination systems that are both a marking point along my Druidic path and a "practice" for me along the way (and into the future). Twenty years ago I began the journey of creating a system of wisdom/divination and I am grateful as much for the process as for the result. This online version due to practical necessities has been adapted to function efficiently in this media.

Introduction

• Faerie is an otherworld (or better, all Otherworlds) that today most people do not perceive, or ignore, or perceive in a limited manner. The term "otherworld" refers more to the different perceptual qualities than to any lack of tangible reality, for ultimately there is One reality - although we perceive but parts. By compartmentalizing "reality" we have assigned what we do not easily perceive to "Other" worlds - but those Otherworlds are right here, right now, and are home to many wonderous creatures, people, beings, and energies all of which to varying extents affect us and our "normal" world.
• One of the qualities of the beings and energies in "other" worlds is that when we DO perceive and interact with them, we assemble or understand their nature in a fluid, personal way. One person's Angel is another's Nature Sprit. They are one being, perceived differently, understood differently, and perhaps named differently as well.
• As you may have concluded from the above, traveling the gates of the Otherworld is a perceptual kaleidescope of meaning, sensation, subtlety, and information. All cultures warn of the dangers of such travel - for good reason. To wander the pathways of Faerie is to deliberately acknowledge (or quickly learn!) that reality is FLUID - it is neither Objective nor Subjective. It is Mystery.
• To travel the Gates of Faerie is to learn, one way or another, to find your Center, your Spritual Roots, the foundation of Wisdom. Without a Center in a maelstrom of new information, none of which follows the black and white logic of the world we are used to assembling, the traveler soon finds himself lost, or mad, or ill.
• The Gates of Faerie is a tool for traveling the pathways between worlds, a tool for finding ones Center and Spritual Roots, and a tool for caring for one's spiritual foundation and growth. It is unique in that while it is Druidic in its creation, it is non-denominational in terms of use. In fact, the more you personalize they system the more potent it becomes.

Information

• The basis for "The Gates of Faerie" is a dancing fusion between a black and white logical "yes or no" divination and the full color interpretive/intuitive/contextual divination. This is achieved through color symbolism - the Gates of Faerie uses 5 "sticks" each with 4 faces, and 5 colors total. In this web based implementation there are a total of 121 possible combinations or results - with a twist.
• There are 5 sticks of 4 faces each. The 5 colors used on the faces and their individual meanings are:
  • Black - Freedom, Wisdom
  • White - Limitation, Knowledge
  • Red - Power, Will, Work
  • Green - Love, Attraction, Devotion
  • Blue - Beauty, Elegance, Contemplation
• The twist - whereas in the normal world all things move towards equilibrium, in the Otherworld equilibrium is static and dead, without vital movement and meaning. To this end, The Gates of Faerie acknowledges this in certain combinations of colors, or rules of interaction - very simple ones:
  • Any result that has BOTH BLCK and WHITE faces showing must CHANGE by flipping the black or white sticks - flip the color appearing the least.
  • Any result containing RED, GREEN AND BLUE showing must CHANGE by flipping the Red, Green, or Blue stick(s) - flip the colors appearing the least
  • If once flipped the 5 sticks still contain the combinations above, keep flipping. If it becomes clear that there is no result that isnt unacceptable with these rules, the reading ends there.
• Example:
  • The sticks are thrown and the result is:
  • black, red, red, green, blue - flip the green and blue sticks.
• Example:
  • The sticks are thrown and the result is:
  • black, red, red, green, white - flip the black and white sticks.
• Example:
  • The sticks are thrown and the result is:
  • black, black, red, blue, white - flip the white stick.
• Gatekeepers - whenever a result has to be flipped the pattern before flipping refers to one of the Gatekeepers of Faerie. Interpretations of readings in this case are considered to be guidance from specific gatekeepers.
• In this web based implementation there are 121 possible combinations of colors possible in any throw - 48 Gates with Gatekeepers (active results), 72 destination (passibe) results, and 1 central gate (black, white, red, green, blue). Also, everytime a gatekeeper is met, all sticks are retossed, not just the out of balance ones. This is a web based modification.