A few weeks ago, a very magickal friend and I were out hiking in the woods when we began to notice faces on the trees and rocks around us. I suddenly remembered a Hippie Witch podcast in which the host, Joanna DeVoe, was talking about a belief she’d heard somewhere that seeing faces in, say, swirling bathroom tile patterns or in tree bark is actually a form of psychic seeing, and in particular, that you might be seeing faeries.
My friend and I started talking about this idea and whether or not it felt true to us, and I swear, it was if the entire woods came alive around us. There were faces everywhere! Smiling, sleepy, kind, curious–the trees, the rocks, the cliffs, the leaves were alive with faces, all of them with distinct personalities.
Can I empirically prove that it’s “true” these are the faces of faeries or other beings? Heck no. Is it more fun to believe that they are? Heck yes.
We sat down with our backs against a sycamore tree, its roots seemingly shaped just right to cradle both of us comfortably, and straight ahead there was a smiling face peering at us from the cliff face; then there was a huge boulder with a sleepy-eyed, gentle expression on his face; and just to our left was a curious, pouty-lipped lady of the tree looking directly at us.
In talking about this more, I realized it was one of those things I had a tendency to discount as less significant because “everyone can see this stuff.” I assumed because my friend and I were here, able to see these faces with ease, that everyone could do it. And you know what? I do believe that everyone can, and at the same time, I am learning to recognize that not everyone will. Or not everyone wants to, and that’s okay, too.
To see these magickal faces, a person had to be out in the woods (we didn’t run into a single (human) soul that day), they would have to be walking slowly enough and with an attentiveness to their surroundings, and they would have to be open to the possibility. Judging by the how few people I see when I hike, or the people who are very busy talking to their human companions, or zipping through the woods on a run–none of which are “bad” or wrong–I can see how the likelihood of encountering these faces is actually slimmer than I initially assumed.
So, how about it–have you seen any faeries today? Look around and you just might be surprised. 🙂