Faeries Oracle

The Sidhe

The Sidhe (pronounced shee) are the People of the Hills, the lords and ladies of Faery. They are the Old Ones (even when they are as "young"). All faeries dance, but the Sidhe do so to mediate the powerful energies of the Singers and to bring them into manifestation throughout the worlds. And, of course, for the pure joy of it. Their great alchemical art is the dance of life itself. They are the ones who create, nurture, and build the worlds and their inhabitants, yet they are also available to us individually as guardians, teachers, and comforters. They seem to enjoy creating frequent miracles as well.

The Sidhe have sometimes been called gods and goddesses, but that isn't how they think of themselves. They are the elder race, the fore-runners, the ancient ones. Once, in the early mists of time, they were as undeveloped as we are now, and we shall eventually, far in the future, be as they are now. Part of our contact with them is to teach us to be more like them and to give us role models for our far future.

In Faery, the concept of lords and ladies is different from what it is for humans. It is not a matter of authority. Imagine telling individual faeries what to do; it would be like trying to herd cats or butterflies - or wasps. Nor is it a matter of having privileges that other faeries don't have. Instead, faery lords and ladies are the most respected of Faery, for what they do. They set examples through their work and the way they live. They do not give orders, knowing how important it is to respect the free will of others. Instead. they make suggestions and, more rarely, requests, but there is no force. Therefore we are never punished for disobedience to ungiven instructions, although we may punish ourselves for not cooperating with them by missing out on the wonders we'd have gained if we had been more cooperative.

Each of the Sidhe has his or her own potent magic power that acts through all life. The Sidhe themselves are profoundly wise, and their actions are for the highest good of all involved. However, we, too, have those powers in embryo. These abilities are something we gradually earn by using wisely.

These magics sing very powerfully in our lives, and, like the little girl with the curl in the nursery rhyme, when they are good they are very, very good, and when they are bad they are horrid. With these energies, it is important to remember that the flip side of powerful creativity is formidable destruction. The energies channeled by the Singers can only be used by humans creativily for good: Otherwise these energies can be blocked, but never misused. On the other hand, the powers used for good by the Sidhe can be employed by humans either for good or for ill. Such a misuse by humans of the Sidhe's energies always rebounds upon the doer in one way or another. This is just another way of defining karma.

When we humans exercise these powers, we can use them appropriately and compassionately or we can misuse them. The patterns of misuse usually fall into three categories: blocking, twisting, and negating. As we look at each card in the section on the reversed meaning, we will briefly consider each of those difficulties and what we may do about them.

Lastly, although the Sidhe are so powerful and so wise, please do not assume that they are formal or stuffy or pompous. Look at their pictures and consider the company they keep! I have never encountered faeries whose sense of humor didn't sparkle and fizz around them.

In one sense, Faery-is a land of the past,
where the spirit world and the human
world once worked in closer harmony.
In the faeries' presence, we experience
a nostalgic yearning for that time...
and for all the lost hopes and all the lost
dreams, all that once was or might have
been, and may someday be again."

- Brian