Global Fairy Congress: A World Perspective
By Michael Pilarski, founder of the Fairy & Human Relations Congress.
The Fairy & Human Relations Congress has been around for 20 years now. Thousands of people have participated and contributed their knowledge of the fairy realms. This large body of knowing and experience is not held by any one person. It is held in the collective. In a sense, we are holding/building a body of knowledge for all of humanity. If humanity can be thought of as one being, then we are helping inform the whole.
Through the GFC we are trying to assess where humanity is at in relation to communication with the fairy realms. Of course, it is only a feeble attempt because the topic is so vast and so many people are involved when we look at the world picture. I would venture to say that the vast majority of people who are in touch with the fairy realms do not talk or publish about their experiences. There have been some attempts to catalog fairy sightings/encounters, notably the Fairy Investigation Society in England. Prof. Jim Butler of Calgary, Alberta, Canada has done much compiling for North America but I don’t believe it made it into print.
Historically all indigenous peoples believed in spirit-beings and nature spirits. Their shamans interacted and interceded with the spirit realms. We could call shamans go-betweens. On the spirit realm side there are also go-betweens. Through the efforts of both we carry on conversation and collaboration across the veil. This is the place of magic.
The Fairy & Human Relations Congress is for people who are go-betweens or wish to be.
Every indigenous culture was aware of and communicated with the nature spirits of their landscapes. Many of them still do, but the constant onslaught of modern industrial cultures upon indigenous people remains unabated and this indigenous knowledge and communication skills has been waning in the face of genocide. Hail and salutations to all indigenous people of the world who carry this ancestral knowledge! Please pass it on. May it flourish anew!
These are the shamans – men and women who interceded with the spirits for their people. Of course this knowledge/capacity is not only the purview of the shamans but also of some of the common people. Some cultures still have their shaman lineage intact, but they are increasingly rare. I recently was part of an online experience of Siberian shamans doing a weeklong ceremony for reducing covid in the United States.
In many countries it is dangerous for shamans to operate openly. In some countries it is dangerous to state such views publicly. In the United States it was illegal until the 1950s. Shamans are still killed every year around the world. The killing of shamans has been happening for thousands of years as civilizations conquer/colonize new territories.
Bali is an example of a nature-based culture carrying on traditions in modern times with ceremonies, offerings, art and respect. This can be found widely in Asia, Africa and to a lesser extent on other continents. The carrying on of traditions which include communication with the nature spirit realm of that place.
Fairy belief is still alive in Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, England and Brittany. It was quite strong into the 20th century.
The Western Hermetic traditions have passed along fairy knowledge for thousands of years. This too waned under persecution and was largely underground. One of the GFC presenters, Robert J. Stewart, is carrying forward these Western Hermetic traditions.
Theosophy, started by Annie Besant and Helen Blavatsky in the late 1800s, has been a major source of information about the spirit realms in the English language. Some of our best books on fairies are written by Theosophists, such as Dora Van Gelder and Geoffrey Hodson.
The New Age movement in the Western world (1970s till today) includes many thousands of teachers on a wide array of spiritual topics. Some of them involve various of the fairy realms. This is an ongoing source of information.
The Fairy & Human Relations Congress is just one small player in this grand scheme of things. But we take our task seriously and are always endeavoring to gain a better understanding of the fairy realms and to pass it on to people who are interested. Our annual reunion is quite the hoot! We wish we could share it with all of you in person, but we know that is not possible due to covid, and financial/time restraints.
We are excited that we are bringing Fairy Congress to the world, to reach more like-minded people and enable more communication between us, and ultimately, more communication, respect and love between the realms.
We hope many human/fairy hubs will emerge in many languages, in all countries and in all cultures.
Many/most people will do their fairy work solitary. This is all fine and good. The GFC is for people who want to be part of a community.
Subtle activism is a modern term for magic. Influencing the world. David Spangler, one of the GFC presenters, has been writing about this for decades. You can find David’s books and on-line classes at www.lorian.org
We can all do magic. Politics, big government, big business seem so hard to influence. Magic is something we can do. Prayer can change the world because we can team up with something much bigger than ourselves
The GFC will be live-streamed from the Port Hadlock, Washington office of Friends of the Trees Society and the Global Earth Repair Foundation.
We all have allies in the spirit world. Guardian angels are familiar in most religions. Some people are aware of them. Most are not. We all have higher selves. All aspects of the natural world have nature-spirits connected with them. Animals, trees, rocks, mountains, streams, rivers, winds, earth air, water and fire.
Gaia is a big player in how things are going to turn out on this planet in the coming centuries. Gaia will persevere.
Gaia will win out. Allying yourself with Gaia is good for us individually and for humanity.
There are many kinds of fairy beings. Fairies, nature spirits, devas, elementals, Sidhe, dragons, sasquatch, mer-people. You can believe in which ones you want or none of them or you can hold them in abeyance for the time being.
History of the Fairy & Human Relations Congress
First we have to go back to circa 1954 when Daphne Charter’s fairy friends held the first Fairy & Human Relations Congress in the fairy realm. This was outside of London. Daphne Charters was the only incarnate human in attendance but it brought hundreds of nature fairies from around the world under the direction of some high devas. This Congress was held annually until at least 1985 (this is the date of Daphne’s last report on this fairy realm series). Daphne passed on in 1991 and I am sure they had a big party for her in the fairy realm.
Before Daphne passed she asked me to take charge of her unpublished manuscripts and I have ended up with 3 volumes of material, only one of which is in print; Forty Years with the Fairies, 2008. After Daphne passed I began to think of holding a Fairy & Human Relations Congress in the physical realm. This manifested in 2001 with the first Fairy & Human Relations Congress held at Skalitude Retreat Center, in the Methow Valley, North Cascades, north-central Washington State. 175 humans and oh so many fairies! It was love at first sight.
The Fairy Congress has varied between 225 and 300 people in attendance since that first year. We have reached 300 people three different times. In recent years we have been about 250 people. So many friendships have been formed over the years as people come and go. The number and biodiversity of fairy realm participants has gone up and up over the years. They hold a separate conference in the fairy realm with couriers going back and forth. A lot of the fairies join us for the Saturday evening ritual and parade.
The first three FC (2001, 2002, 2003) were held at Skalitude Retreat Center in the Methow. In those days, I was the only staff. Lindsey Swope, the owner of Skalitude, did a great job of infrastructure development and management.
The 2004 and 2005 FC were held on the banks of Hood River, Oregon. Hood River flowed through the site with all the river beings associated with it. It also had splendid swimming holes. These were two, high-energy events. At one of them we gave special awards to Peter Tompkins, Dorothy McLean, David Spangler and Robert J. Stewart, who were all presenting that year. The band Woodland played on our stage one of the years. Orion Foxwood presented for the first time
From 2006 to 2020, the FC has been back at our beloved Skalitude in the remote North Cascades.
At one point Jan Kinsey and Fanny Porter put together a series of fairy congress meetings at Fanny’s cabin on Whidbey Island, Washington. Out of these meetings emerged the Fairy Congress council. A group of people who planned the annual event. Over the years several dozen people have been on the council for varying amounts of time. 7 or 8 is a usual number on at a time.
Over the years we have hosted more than 100 presenters. Some have presented many times and some only once. Some presenters such as Robert J. Stewart have been with us from the beginning and David Spangler from early on. Every year is special and unique. Always new presenters along with the old. It is always a unique mix of people and always a unique set of weather conditions and a unique mix of fairies. All 20 have been wonderful! We have received so many fairy blessings and we have sent so many blessings into the world.
Join us on January 15-17, 2021 for the first time ever, online version of the Fairy & Human Relations Congress! The latest evolution of a fairy & human tradition since 1954.
In 2021, if covid restrictions allow, the Fairy & Human Relations Congress will meet in person at a venue in western Washington or Western Oregon. Stay tuned.