kaodaada: The Faerie Gardens' Culture of Creativity

by Rachel and D. Melcher

Your Family is a series of monthly articles featuring pagan families, like yours. By sharing some of their stories and traditions, we hope to inspire readers to find their own path to a love-filled and magickal family life.

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This month, we had the pleasure of interviewing Diana, a New York teacher and artisan, about her family?s culture of creativity. She met her love, Jacqueline, in 2004 and by the Fall of the next year, had moved in to form the Faerie Gardens? Family with Jacqueline?s four children?Antonio, Lia, JoAnn, and Esme. The family craft a cozy home life in the country together, sharing a small house on three wooded acres, not far from the shores of Lake Ontario. The Faerie Gardens? have developed a family identity of close-knit diversity and powerful creative spirit. Each member of the family is encouraged in their respective creative talents and many contribute items to Diana?s Etsy shop?Faerie Garden Fancies. I chose them for our Imbolc issue because I feel that they embody the light, art, and poetry of the Sabbat. I wanted to know, more than anything, how one woman?s entrance into a family helped to spark and support fierce and independent creative expression in its children.

Q: What does earth-reverent parenting mean to you?
A: We find that our paganism is the foundation of our family structure and relationships, including many of our ?outside of the box? views. In our family, everyone has a say in our daily rhythms and routines, as well as the big decisions. We feel that it is important that each family member is treated as a full and valuable member of the family. We try to avoid coercion and manipulation in our interactions and instead work hard to really see and understand each other. It isn?t always easy, but we strongly believe that you can find solutions to problems that take everyone?s needs into consideration. Jacqueline chose to homeschool the children before they were born, and by the time I came into the picture, it had evolved to unschooling. I could easily see how effective & loving Jacqueline?s methods were.

Q: How does art and creativity play a role within your family life?
A: I?ve been crafty all my life ? coloring then drawing, writing and painting, gluing stuff together? and when Jacqueline and the kids came along, it was only natural to share that with them. I?ll admit, I did (and maybe do) have a hard time sharing supplies, and often have more plans to do things than actual time to do them, but I love spending time creating with the kids. Antonio is a technophile and loves to do crafty things with wire repurposed from old computers. Esme is the true artist, constantly drawing since she first learned she could; she plans to go to Pratt University for animation next fall and has been selling commissions for quite awhile to support her endeavors. JoAnn?s creative talent is in faeriegardens5 the kitchen, baking up cakes & cookies and other tasty treats to please everyone in the house. Lia is quite a seamstress, first sewing doll clothes (which she sells here), then sewing her own clothes. Jacqueline isn?t much for crafting (except for the occasional beading project) but she loves to research and has a wonderful shop of vintage candlesticks and copper molds called Copper Clad Treasures.

Q: Do you have any advice for other earth-reverent families looking to incorporate art and creativity into their homes?
faeriegardens6 A: For other families that want to instill a similar love and self-confidence in art and creative expression in your home and children, I would say trust yourself and trust your kids. Never say you can?t draw or paint, or create something wonderful, whether with clay or beads, wire or fabric, or even cakes and cookies. You?re not going to paint like Van Gogh overnight, any easier than you learn to do anything complex overnight. It takes practice, practice, practice, and as a parent the best thing you can do is validate your child?s frustrations, and encourage them to keep following their passions. It doesn?t necessarily have to be great and wondrous art, if the time you spend doing it, brings you joy, keep doing it!

Q: What spiritual path or tradition does your family follow?
A: We both came to paganism on different paths and even today hold differing views of things, but our core belief ? respect for all ? allows us to joyfully embrace our family?s unconventional way of living and diverse views. Our belief, that all beings ? human & animal, child & adult ? deserve the same care and consideration when it comes to their needs and wants, is what drives us. Although we regularly celebrate the Sabbats & Esbats (as well as many other holidays ? anything for a party here!), JoAnn & Lia identify as Christian and felt they were missing that part of life. So we searched high & low for a local church to support our children?s unorthodox family life and found a wonderful community with a Unitarian Universalist church about 40 minutes away, who were welcoming to children with same-sex parents, as well as to both Christians and pagans!

Q: Do you have a special ritual space within your home?
A: Jacqueline & I continue to celebrate the Sabbats and have a monthly Esbat rituals with festivities that include a family dinner, and whoever wants to participate with us. Antonio usually chooses to refrain from anything resembling religion, while Esme (who identifies as pagan), and even Lia & JoAnn often take part in our rituals that sometimes flow spontaneously, and sometimes are well thought out in advance. We haven?t got a lot of space for a formal altar, but the top of Jacqueline?s dresser serves as a small personal altar for the two of us, and most of our family rituals take place around the dining room table or around a bonfire in the back yard. Sometimes we?ll even head to the lake for our rituals.

Q: As this edition of Nature Nurtured is thematically linked to Imbolc, can you tell us about what this Sabbat means to you?
A: Imbolc is special to me personally. It is the first Sabbat I ever did any ritual for ever, and has always been fun for me since before I found my path to paganism because of Groundhog?s Day. My family has always believed it to be a day when you could truly feel Spring coming, no matter what the other days were telling you. By February 2nd, cabin fever has pretty well set in for the family, and the usual break in the weather means a trip to the lake, or a local park or nature center, to air out our lungs, stretch our limbs, and look for signs of Spring. We make Brigid?s Crosses and seedy braided bread, light lots of candles and contemplate the things we want to grow in our lives in the upcoming year.

Q: Can you tell us more about Faerie Garden Fancies?
A: Our family shop, Faerie Garden Fancies came into being in the summer of 2009 as a way to support the family over the summer when jobs for substitute teaching are suspended for the obvious reasons. It has continued as a way to stretch our budget when the subbing jobs don?t quite make ends meet. We all contribute to it in our own ways. Lia has been making stuffed animals, Esme has a few earlier drawings up, and Jacqueline has beaded some necklaces. JoAnn and Antonio have painted or sculpted a few things, but not very often as their creations don?t tend to travel well. I fill the majority of the shop with whatever strikes my fancy! Mostly I like to paint with acrylics on polymer clay, but also create polymer clay sculptures and paint watercolors.

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Diana?s work, and that of her family, can be found at Faerie Garden Fancies on Etsy.com. She graciously provided all of the beautiful photographs of her home, creations, and loved ones seen throughout the article.