Feri Wicca is also known as the Feri Faith, or as Faery/Faerie/Fairy Wicca. It is a non-Gardnerian form of Wicca, though to the best of my knowledge it is considered to be a branch of British Traditional Wicca. According to Cora Anderson, the tradition was once known as Vicia ("Vee-chya"), a term related to the Italian La Vecchia.
Feri grew out of the worship of Victor Anderson learned from Harpy Coven (Bend, Oregon) in the 1930's. Other material was added over time. Feri combines skills, myths and tools from shamanic and African diaspora traditions, and from the ancient religions of Mesopotamia and classical Greece. Some teachers use material from Kabbalah, Satanism, Tibetan Buddhism, and even H.P. Lovecraft. When books on Wicca became more available in the 1960's and 1970's, Victor and Cora Anderson incorporated some aspects of Gardnerian and Alexandrian Craft as well.
Feri is an experiential, ecstatic form of Wicca. Although it often puts a strong emphasis on sexuality, it is not necessarily a fertility religion like other branches of Craft. It is sometimes confused with the traditions of people like Kisma Stepanich, whose paths bear the same name. Other paths using the name Faery Wicca include some non-initiatory paths with a Celtic focus or a focus on the fae. These are also distinct from Feri Wicca.
Like other branches of Wicca, Feri is initiatory and Oathbound. Some well known initiates of Feri include Victor and Cora Anderson, the Grand Masters of the tradition; the Faerie Shaman himself, Gwyddion Pendderwen; and Starhawk, who has placed her own emphasis on political activism.
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A Fae Poem
- "When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies."
Sir James M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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