getting over some fears:-)

Here's where I am getting to with this deck:

I used to be a bit stressed by "bad" faeries, but lately more and more I am really sure that none of the faeries ever means to harm us. I did the exercises in the book last weekend, where you pick the card that intimidates you the most. And, not surprizingly, I picked the Soul Shrinker, as so many people seem to. So to me that was the hardest card to deal with in the deck. Just his name scared me to bits.

But the more I read about him, you can't help feeling sorry for him for what we have done to him. And he just taught me SO much.

I was brought up in a house of gossipers. My Mom and my sister were big on that. I wasn't as much and they always made fun of me for it. Maybe I did sometimes to feel more accepted and maybe some of it became a habit.

But when I read what this faery was about, and realized I was guilty of doing that, and the cause and reaction of it... That is actually can cause such real harm....I was never more grateful for any advice I had ever gotten in my life. I really felt just sheer gratitude and love for the being who filled me in on who I had become and what needed changing, at such real pain to himself. What a selfless act!

And whenever I see him I just want to hug him and tell him I won't ever do it again, which I totally mean now, and tell him that there's hope for us humans yet and that everything will be alright. Or run my finger over his worried brow to erase the worry wrinkles. Sometimes when I tell him that I can almost see his face become a bit more beautiful again.

To me he is a "Soul Expander". It was me who allowed myself to shrink, unknowingly. It happened way before I heard of the deck of this faery. When he came into my life, he gave me the means to open up my soul again in this area.

I cannot see him as a "shrinker" at all. I told him the other day that I don't feel comfortable calling him the name in the deck, he suggested the name "Jesse", which I realized day or two later had the same initials in it. Which maybe could stand for Soul Saver" for me.

Bar

I think it's wonderful the Soul Shrinker touched you this way. It really is amazing what Shadow work can do. I've been trying to work with the King of Swords that way because I reeeeallly do not like that man. I know he represents an aspect of myself that I reject, so I am trying to find his good qualities.

The Soul Shinker, to me, is like that. It's not that he's SO bad, but, according to the book, he does put those words in our minds to say. Whether we say them or not is our choice, but what's with the tempting? He is a rather "bad" faerie in general and for the purposes of this deck he was shown in a better light. That better light is so we can see those dark places in ourselves. One of the "Bad Faeries" Brian portrays in his book is "The Bigot Bogey" and oh, that fae! But it really graphically portrays the hideousness of bigotry. The Soul Shrinker, in the same way, graphically portrays the damage done by speaking foul things. They are meant to show us to ourselves, but I'm not sure this makes him a "Good" Faerie (as if there can be any good or bad, all are a mixture of both and much more in between), only that he can affect us in a very beneficial way.

At least, that's how I see the "bad" faeries. They don't frighten me because I know that they are only reflecting back a part of myself that I need to confront and deal with. If a faerie is making me feel uncomfortable, all the more I probably need to deal with it, like right now.

~Mercy

MercyMe said:

I think it's wonderful the Soul Shrinker touched you this way. It really is amazing what Shadow work can do. I've been trying to work with the King of Swords that way because I reeeeallly do not like that man. I know he represents an aspect of myself that I reject, so I am trying to find his good qualities.

The Soul Shinker, to me, is like that. It's not that he's SO bad, but, according to the book, he does put those words in our minds to say. Whether we say them or not is our choice, but what's with the tempting? He is a rather "bad" faerie in general and for the purposes of this deck he was shown in a better light. That better light is so we can see those dark places in ourselves. One of the "Bad Faeries" Brian portrays in his book is "The Bigot Bogey" and oh, that fae! But it really graphically portrays the hideousness of bigotry. The Soul Shrinker, in the same way, graphically portrays the damage done by speaking foul things. They are meant to show us to ourselves, but I'm not sure this makes him a "Good" Faerie (as if there can be any good or bad, all are a mixture of both and much more in between), only that he can affect us in a very beneficial way.

At least, that's how I see the "bad" faeries. They don't frighten me because I know that they are only reflecting back a part of myself that I need to confront and deal with. If a faerie is making me feel uncomfortable, all the more I probably need to deal with it, like right now.

~Mercy

Click to expand...

I think you're right now, there are no good or bad faeries, they are all part one thing part another, like people. Even the nicest of people has off days and says or does things that are hurtful and they regret afterwards.

Still the Soul Shrinker is Jesse to me now. I asked him what I could call him and then the name Jesse immediately came to me. I am sure it was he who answered, cause in retrospect it was such a "faery" way of thinking and I did not see any meaning in it at all when I got the answer.

But the more I look at it, there is the SS in the middle (which for me is still soul saver),:--) And if you remove the SS you are left with Jee, which sounds like Gee, as in Gee maybe he's not so bad after all. As he was the first faery to help me see the "bad" faeries are not that bad, I think the name suits him.

Bar