The Faeries’ Oracle: Working With the Faeries to Find Wisdom, Insight, and Joy

by Brian Froud and Jessica Macbeth

Simon & Schuster, $25

Faery artist Brian Froud, with the help of writer Jessica Macbeth, has put together his own set of divining cards, using images of all manner of faeries, from knobby trolls to graceful Sidhe. At first, it’s hard to not take this oracle as something of a joke; after all, Froud is also the man who illustrated the tongue-in-cheek Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Journal. When I first started flipping through Macbeth’s earnest and somewhat breathy guide to Froud’s faery cards, I couldn’t help but smirk a bit, especially when Macbeth reminds us that the difference between a standard Tarot deck and this device is that “we are interacting with living, breathing faery beings. They are just as real as we are.” “If not more so,” she adds. As you read on, through some loose instructions for communicating with the faery world and a description of what each card represents, you realize that what Macbeth is really advocating is more than a belief in faeries. She wants each of us to learn to trust our own intuition. Sure, these marvelous illustrations may help you see what your inner self is already saying, if you’d just be still and listen. Besides, if you happen to catch a glimpse of a faery one day, if nothing else, the cards may help you identify it.

This article appears in January 12 • 2001.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US