Since very early on, Templefest has been strongly associated with the Faerie Court of Queen Aroxana and King Aubrey, allies of the Temple and its community. A part of Templefest is to honor our faerie allies and they, in turn have offered blessings and insights to us. A part of the planning process for the festival each year is a journey in vision to the Faerie Court to commune and seek guidance on the themes for the year, embodied in the beautiful artwork Leo lead minister Mark Bilokur has created.
Over these past years, and Templefests, many different members of the Temple community have had their own experiences with the Faery Court, including two years ago when priestesses and priests of the Temple offered a Faery Quest ritual, allowing members of the community to visit and commune with representatives of the Court directly. Many of us have precious bits of personal experience and lore, and we would like to offer the opportunity to bring all of it together. Therefore the Temple is pleased to announce the creation of The Book of the Faerie Court, a collaborative community project, headed by our Priestess Dragon, who is a book-binder and has been working in cooperation with the Court for this work.
In essence, we will offer, at Templefest 2016, a collection of pages and various artistic tools, and allow community members who have had experience with the Faerie Court of Aroxana and Aubrey, either previously or at this year’s festival, to record their lore, through the written word (in prose or poetry), through art, or whatever combination they wish. As curator and keeper of the Book, Dragon will select and organize pages and bind them together. Our hope is that The Book of the Faerie Court will be an ongoing project at each Templefest gathering, adding more and more pages each year and expanding our shared collection of lore.
There are, of course, some guidelines:
- First and foremost, this project is limited to experiences and lore involving the fae within the context of the Temple and its rituals, and specifically the Faery Court of Aroxana and Aubrey, not simply the fae as a general concept or outside of this context. If you’re in doubt, you’re welcome to contribute, but be aware that the Book is curated (see below).
- Secondly, contributing to the book is a part of the Templefest experience and may only be done (and must be completed!) at Templefest—no sending things in from afar or taking them home to finish later. We regret that may require some lore to wait to find its way to us in person, but that is a requirement of our allies.
- Dragon, advised by the Temple’s founders and council of ministers, shall be the curator of what pages are included in the Book, and offering pages and lore does not ensure their inclusion. Again, while we hope that all correct offerings made in the spirit of Love, Will, and Wisdom will see inclusion, this is a collaborative effort with the Court, and not everything will necessarily be accepted.
The Book of the Faerie Court will be held in trust for the community by the Temple and housed at the Temple’s home in Salem, New Hampshire, although it will be available for viewing and reading, both at Templefest and by appointment and prior arrangement with the Temple for members. We hope for the Book to be a powerful touchstone and symbol of the prosperous relationship between the Faerie Court and the Temple.
Apart from announcing our plans, the main purpose of this article is to allow time for interested parties to gather their thoughts, notes, and any materials for a possible contribution this year, and to have time and the opportunity to ask questions. Blank pages and writing and art materials will be provided at Templefest. Although you are welcome to bring your own materials, there is no assurance that we can accommodate every form of media. In particular, please do not bring finished pages with the intention of including them, as we need to provide the paper for pages, sized and prepared for the bookbinding process. “Scrapbook” style media for pasting onto pages is acceptable and may be included.
For questions, please email [email protected] and we will do our best to get back to you. Please inquire well before Templefest, as volunteers will be quite busy immediately before, during, and after the festival!