All content and illustrations © Anna Franklin unless otherwise specified | Email Anna

The Fairy Ring Oracle

The fairy hills are calling, and the gateway to the Otherworld stands open. Its denizens are ready to take you by the hand and lead you into the Fairy Ring…

Only a few hundred years ago belief in fairies was absolute in every strata of society. Gradually this notion dwindled among town dwellers and so called 'sophisticated' people, but country folk well into the twentieth century worried about offending the fairies. The Victorian view of fairies was that they were all delicate, miniature, butterfly winged creatures but in older legends they are of human or even giant size. They were the spirits of the land, guardians of individual streams, trees, forests, pools and streams, or sometimes of private houses and particular families.

During the persecutions many witches insisted that their powers were derived from fairies, not devils as their prosecutors insisted. Fairies and witches were on good terms with each other and witches were frequent visitors to the fairy hills; being accused of such visits was enough to secure a conviction as a witch. It was from the fairies that the witch gained her powers of prophecy, healing and her knowledge of herbs.

In the cards of the Fairy Ring you will find beautiful fairies and ugly fairies, good fairies and wicked fairies, helpful creatures and mischievous beings who will try to trick you and lead you astray. We have gathered them all together to form this divination deck where each fairy may work its own particular magic for you.

Written by Anna Franklin and illustrated by Paul Mason

The cards

The cards in the Fairy Ring deck are divided into four suits- Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Many fairies are seasonal creatures, and individual fairies are featured during the period when they are most likely to appear. The thirteen cards in each suit are numbered one to nine, with four court cards: Lady, Knave, Queen, and King. Each card features a different fairy, with fifty-two fairies in all. In addition, there are eight festival cards marking the chief fairy feasts of Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Midsummer, Lughnasa, Herfest, Samhain, and Yule.

Published by Llewellyn