Faeries Oracle

Card 8 - The Singer of Courage

Bravery. Sublimation of fear. Moral strength.

Someone once said that courage is not the absence of fear but that which enables us to experience fear and not be stopped by it. It is also what enables us to do what we believe to be right even when there is pressure from others around us to do otherwise. It is what enables us to go ahead into the unknown or the perilous, where there are no guarantees of safety or security.

In our lives we are often, even constantly, confronted with a new world, a new way of being in the world, a new way of seeing and of being seen. Ordinary living takes courage, and to rise above the ordinary into the extraordinary takes even more courage. One of the keys to courage is to consider the fear and find a way to let the energy of the fear itself power the action. That is true courage.

Often people think of courage as being part of high heroism. It is, but it also has its quiet, hidden side as well - and that may require greater courage because we cannot expect the rewards of praise and approval for it. For example, no courage is needed to be unhappy and self-pitying. We do not need to be self-disciplined or wise for that. However, to open our heart to the risks and vulnerability of joy and trust requires all of those things, especially courage.

Within each of us, there is the terrified inner mouse, and there is the brave inner hero. Either part of us can take over from the other. We get to choose which is in charge. The mouse is a magician with only one trick. It can cast an illusion that it is as big as an elephant. Then fear nearly overwhelms us - but we still have choice. Learning to live with and manage the reactive animal within involves transforming emotions like rage and fear into courage through selfdiscipline and the help of the Singer of Courage.

Starter Reading

Most people have decided by the age of three or four what they must do in order to survive. From this decision, this belief about how the world is, most of our fears and self-limitations grow. Have we the courage to discover and break through these limiting beliefs, awaken to greater possibilities, and go for our objectives?

We need to transcend our fears and accept the gift of courage.

Reversed

When the Song of Courage has grown faint, and we feel overcome by fear and self-doubt, the questions we need to ask ourselves begin with "What am I really afraid of?" Quite often deep soul-searching enables us to discover that our true fears are hidden behind our false fears. It is impossible to face false fears because they are merely shape-shifters and shadows without substance, continually changing form. Facing a real fear is much easier because it doesn't keep changing the rules and moving the goalposts. The question then becomes "What can I do to open my heart to courage so when l feel fear, I can follow through on what I want and need to do?"

As an Oracle group member wisely suggests, another question to ask is "What else is present?" She notes, when fear of any kind arises in the mind, more space is allowed in the heart if one acknowledges the fear while at the same time looking for whatever else, besides the fear, is also there. Thus one neither ignores nor gives too much focus to the fear itself - and more space opens up within which the fear can be explored and liberated."

"Faery wings, formed of shifting light, emotion, and energy, are the manifestation of the power of those beings that transcend the mundane world."
---Brian

The Singers of the Realms