To read the book or not to read the book?

Just curious....when is a good time to read the Faerie Oracle book? I try not to look at the interpretations in the back, but occassionally a card will really stump me, or maybe I will see a card come up frequently in readings, and to find out more about it/see another perspective, I will look it up and read about it. Have any of you looked at the book yet? Any thoughts on this?

Well I do read the book, especially when I'm reading for myself. When I'm reading for others, sometimes I'll scan the book meaning, and by that I mean all of the description not just the bit under "starter readings" and different things will jump out at me. For example with Losgunna, the "starter reading" tells us (among other things) to pay attention to our dreams and go and have a hot bath. But sometimes the bit about life being boring for boring people and adventurous for adventurous people sticks out. So I run with that meaning. Other times I hear the bit about kissing frogs to find princes the loudest. Basically the book meanings for me provide jumping off points.

As I don't always have the book with me when I do readings with the Faeries I don't always refer to it. Sometimes, especially when theres a lot of cards in the spread, just the keyword/themes are enough to start me off on tangent. By now I have memorised all the keywords, well pretty much anyway. Er thinking of tangents I seem to have gone off on one.

To answer your question, I think any time is a good time to read the book. I love Jessica Macbeths wisdom and her phrasing. Often she's explained something in a way I understood but didn't have words for. I also like the way she describes the cards reversed. When reversed the energy of the faery becomes either blocked, twisted, or destructive, and of course its up to your intuition to decide which. Admittedly I don't actually use reversed cards but I do use spreads with cards in negative positions and these I read as reversed.

I think because each card has so many meanings, by the book, you still have to use your intuition a great deal in order to hear the 'right' message. I also think it was through reading the different book meanings (and of course here at ATF) that I expanded my original ideas of the Faeries, rather than just my idea based on the art alone. Of course, I am about a million times more verbal than visual so that may be why that worked for me.

So yeah, I vote for read the book.
FGM

Hello Tsukiyono,

Read the book! Yikes, I couldn't have a book in the house and not read it.

It doesn't matter .....you'll read it and then you'll do a reading and the Fae will speak to you in a different voice and after the reading you'll go and read the book again ......somehow the Faeries give their messages in a totally different way then the book describes ....sometimes not.

I don't use the book while I'm reading though. It was one of the hardest things to do ....to just sit and listen and write.

Do what feels right for you!

Thanks for the input! There are times when maybe I've felt a little guilty sneaking peeks at the book...hehe, but your comments made me realize I was being silly.

When I'm reading for others, sometimes I'll scan the book meaning, and by that I mean all of the description not just the bit under "starter readings" and different things will jump out at me.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that really rings true for me. When I am having difficulty getting started with a card or I feel I haven't quite covered everything I will look through the book to find those keywords or phrases that stick out to me in some way. Often times I find they work like springboards to bring forth these new ideas.

Yep, I still have much more learning to do.

I've only just got the Faeries, so I'm learning. I try and get my own reaction to an image, think it through or write it, then - but only if I feel something is lacking - look at the section on that faery in the book. Mind you, it's always been something I do - to write poetry, or stream of consiousness, or tell stories from a picture, so perhaps it's easier for me, I'm practised. But I do get stumped, sometimes!

But I'm reading the first part of the book, a bit every day.

When I got my deck I did the exercises in the first part of the book.
And then I didn't do any more of that...

I do readings without the book.

I read the book when I can, here and there, and find it interesting.

Sometimes when I'm stumped I'll look at an area of the description of the card that has me caught. And the cards only seem to really light up for me when I'm reading with them.

Otherwise, they are just pretty Faery pictures.