I've been a Neo-Pagan Craft practitioner of one sort or another since my early teen-aged years. A little later, I took up Eastern modes of meditation/spirituality, first oriented towards Zen Buddhism, then towards Hindu Tantrism. I, all unwittingly, called Kali into my life then, and She has stayed.
I practiced more or less solo for quite a while, until I became more fully involved with the Neo-Pagan community through festivals like EarthSpirit, resources like Ancient Ways, taking part in public and private rituals, and affiliating with a few trads--Gardnerian, Reclaiming, Faery, and R.J. Stewart's Underworld work. Stewart came more or less as part of studying Faery.
Faery may guide seekers down many paths. Following opportunity and guidance, I have become a Hawaiian Style practitioner, and as time has gone by, more and more of my magical activity has become suffused with ALOHA. (I make no claims about being authentic to any island tradition or long time lost lore. I've just let the Aloha spirit and some Hawaiian deities and lore help me find my way.)
Even though I think that the Deities and Guardians of the Faery Trad may guide healing work or assist us in healing work, my own experience was different. I found that Faery practice actually led me to a new relationship with a pantheon of deities and a historical culture that--before forging this link--I had very little interest in or magical involvement with.
Some years back, with a couple of years of Faery involvement under my belt, I joined with a number of other practitioners from a variety of trads, including Faery, in a long term healing effort for a friend afflicted with a cancer relapse that required serious surgery.
As I reflected on just what I could do to contribute to this group healing effort, looking for guidance from the Deities and Guardians I was familiar with, I had a dream. In this dream, I went on a journey, discovered a guide had taken my hand, learned some things about healing and magic that I didn't know before. What's more, my outlook on Faery practice changed, just as the character of my practice did.
I found myself taken up by the Hawaiian Goddess Hi'iaka and turned into a Hawaiian Style practitioner.
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