#fernie brae

[sunflower-spirit]

The Fernie Brae gallery in Portland, Oregon. October 2018. ❤︎ Taken by @capturing-earths-beauty

[enchantedbook]

'The Fernie Brae' by Brian Froud

[bogleech]

hey i'm gonna be in Portland, OR in October for the eclipse.

Anything fun/spooky to do?

We have a high concentration of goth, occult, horror, weird science, fantasy and vulture culture businesses! Some of the most famous are:

Paxton Gate, a store with two locations that specializes in biological specimens, ethically sourced as they essentially "rescue" and rehabilitate unwanted taxidermy, laboratory surplus and decommissioned museum specimens. It's basically a museum itself, just one where technically everything is for sale:

The Skeleton Key, a store that's also museum-like and also sells some bones and strange taxidermy but also strange vintage toys and local gothic art, apparently it just moved to a bigger location and became even more of a museum style attraction:

The Peculiarium is a gallery of artwork and a handful of jokey exhibits like Grunkle Stan's Mystery Shack

The Fernie Brae is an all fairy-themed shop and art gallery, which also displays some props and production materials from Labyrinth and the Dark Crystal:

We've still never been to the Portland Puppet Museum because of its odd hours, I think for years you had to actually call and schedule a visit but they might have regular opening times now:

And the Insectarium which has both preserved specimens and a whole live arthropod zoo

[7serendipities]

Song for the Way Opening

For a few years now, Morgan Daimler has been celebrating a liturgical cycle based on the movements of the Pleiades, and sharing their ritual formats (which are also collected in their book Living Fairy). I’ve sort of marked the dates casually, giving offerings but that’s about it, until this year. This year, one of my local allies, who I call the Autumn King, indicated that he would like it if I’d celebrate the entire cycle more intentionally, and so after the strong energy that came through last night (during which I perceived his Rade), I decided I really needed to do something tonight for the acronychal rising, or what Daimler calls The Way Opening.

So, this afternoon I made some fairy cakes (original recipe also by Daimler and available here), but I altered the recipe slightly, doing a full cup of oat flour, and half a cup each of applesauce and honey. (Don’t use steel utensils, though — I unthinkingly picked up a stainless steel measuring cup that I used twice in the previous 24 hours without incident, and this afternoon it cut me nearly bad enough to draw blood. Message heard, whoops!) I then used an unsalted butter to grease a glass dish, and baked a single round cake (approx 40 mins at 350F).

I offered this with a glass of beer, and sat down to read out the prayers from the book, altering them slightly to fit my practice a little better.

And then… and then.

For some reason, one of the prayers reminded me of a stanza from the ballad of True Thomas/Thomas the Rhymer, the one that describes the road to Fairy:

And see not ye that bonny road, Which winds about the fernie brae? That is the road to fair Elfland, Whe[re] you and I this night maun gae. (Traditional Scots)

And then I started hearing the music in my head, and I went to find the song and listen to it, and about ten minutes later, I had a full ritual hymn with seven stanzas, adapted from Daimler’s own prayers but with some of my own flourish… and probably Their own inspiration. Song for the Way Opening

I call to all you goodly wights, My kin and friends whoe’er shall be. All you who’d be my allies true, And come and walk this path with me. I call to all the Queens and Kings, Monarchs and Sov’reigns, all gentry near — If you would celebrate with me Tis time to come and join me here. Tonight the Queens rise in the East — The Seven Sister-Queens so bright. They’ll cross above the horizon As daylight’s falling into night. Their Eldritch light, it brightly glows: A signal fire, burning blue. The Queens will dance at twilight’s edge As their sky gates open anew. Between worlds, and between time, The gates will open fully wide, And then upon that fair broad road, The Queens and noble hosts will ride. As they ride past, may we be blessed, With token or with smile or nod, And may they take our offerings, As their refreshment while they’re abroad. A good word to the Fairy Rade, And may you never do us ill! Ride out along the fairy roads, Bringing with you Autumn’s chill.

I do have a small thing to share from Freyja as well, from my equinox celebration, but that’s going to have to wait another day or two for me to get it worked out and typed up!

[fmp1nicomartin-hahn]

Concept and Comic Art:

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[chirst21]

(via "The Faerie Path" Poster for Sale by Faerieglen)  And see not ye that bonny road, That winds about the fernie brae? That is the road to fair Elfland, Where thou and I this night maun gae

[pants-magic-pants]

My friend Pyro today: oh yeah, remember that cool notebook I got at the David Bowie store?

Me: the what? XD

[happychildhood]

whenever im sad i look at this picture of wendy frouds snail gatherer and it makes me feel better

[rhiannonsteffen]

One of best fairy gallery in Portland.OR The Fernie Brae

[southernhispanics]

Richie, Smokey, Fernie, Sailor, Topo and Droopy from West Side EIGHTEEN STREET Bonnie Brae Locos. Be sure to check the hashtag for more photos of this varrio.

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

Cross-fandom Delights

In the first section of On Fairy-stories Tolkien quotes from Thomas the Rhymer:

“O see ye not yon narrow road,

So thick beset wi’ thorns and briers?

That is the Path of Righteousness,

Though after it but few inquires.

“And see ye not yon braid, braid road

That lies across that lily leven?

That is the Path of Wickedness,

Though some call it the Road to Heaven.

And see ye not yon bonny road

That winds about the fernie brae?

That is the Road to fair Elfland,

Where thou and I this night maun gae.

Of course roads and paths have always had a Tolkienian bent for me, but narrow roads (preferably across single logs in the dark) also have other meanings to me now, as do broad thoroughfares…

[ivy-kissobryos]

O see ye not yon narrow road,  So thick beset wi' thorns and briers? That is the Path of Righteousness,  Though after it but few inquires. And see ye not yon braid, braid road,  That lies across the lily leven? That is the Path of Wickedness,  Though some call it the Road to Heaven. And see ye not yon bonny road  That winds about the fernie brae? That is the Road to fair Elfland,  Where thou and I this night maun gae. — Thomas the Rhymer, Anonymous.

[blackthornwren]

Roses Redux

Earlier this year, the silver maple tree that stands sentinel at the western forefront of my home watched me gather a cauldron of dark moon snow and starlight, a sixpence buried to be blessed in its depths. With the snow melted and the ritual completed, four nights after, I bathed in that water - still freezing cold, somehow - and made an offering. I think I felt my entire life change.

Unknown to me at the time, I had also made a promise and a bargain to a spider-dame who wove me into her web. An exchange of sorts. I don’t think I fully understood the course that this act would set me on. When you claim something as yours, you may also be claimed in return. Sometimes it’s an understanding that from this point on, you will deconstruct, distort, contort, and reconstruct yourself to become better suited for their work, their needs.

I’ve a long way to go. I say all of this with a smile and anticipation because it’s slow and it has its ups and downs but I’m pulling through the fabric to find and follow that single red thread that's calling me. It’s the bonny road that winds about the fernie brae, and there is no other way for me. I wouldn't choose to travel any other path.

You ask me if I've seen - I say yes, I say no. What else can I say? How can I truly be sure that what I’ve seen, what I’ve heard, is more than just a glimpse behind the curtain? What I've seen doesn’t matter, it only matters to me. What have you seen? Can you say, or has your mouth been sewn shut like mine? It’s for the best, I often think I’m saying too much with my purple prose.

I've never accomplished so much before. I’ve never reached such heights before and I have to keep going, because it’s the path I’m on. Because I promised. Because I offered. Because I’m claimed.

I’ve never had so much magic in my life as I have had this year. And it's only right that I’m writing this in December, when the roses will be renewed, revived. Another year, another vow made once more. As always, I’m still living under the roses.

[thegreenwolf]

AS OF FEBRUARY 2019 STILL DEATH IS ON INDEFINITE HIATUS.

It's been an incredible experience the last few years, and I have met so many amazingly talented artists; I also want to give the good folk at the Fernie Brae in Portland a big thank you for being our host.

I apologize for the disappointment this may bring to many of you. However, with your beloved curator spending less time in Portland and having life draw me in new directions, I've had to close some chapters of my life so that I can open fresh ones. This, unfortunately, is one of the activities that I've had to lay to the side for the time being.

You can find out more about what I'm currently up to at my main website, The Green Wolf, and you are welcome to email me with questions or thoughts at lupa(dot)greenwolf(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thank you again to everyone who made Still Death happen these last few years.

[pants-magic-pants]

My friends and I went to Fernie Brae, the shop/gallery in Portland with all the lovely work of the Froud family. Toby wasn't in that day. 😉 I still can't believe we live in the same city. Anyway, it was gorgeous there. I was so enthralled, I forgot to take hardly any pictures. I bought some postcards of Brian's art, though, for inspiration... they sit on the fridge... or next to my sketchbook. 🌿🍂🌺

[gwydionmisha]

Thomas the Rhymer

TRUE THOMAS lay oer yond grassy bank,  And he beheld a ladie gay, A ladie that was brisk and bold,  Come riding oer the fernie brae. 1 Her skirt was of the grass-green silk,        5  Her mantel of the velvet fine, At ilka tett 2 of her horse’s mane  Hung fifty silver bells and nine. True Thomas he took off his hat,  And bowed him low down till his knee:        10 “All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven!  For your peer on earth I never did see.” “O no, O no, True Thomas,” she says,  “That name does not belong to me; I am but the queen of fair Elfland,        15  And I’m come here for to visit thee. “But ye maun go wi me now, Thomas,  True Thomas, ye maun go wi me, For ye maun 3 serve me seven years,  Thro weel or wae as may chance to be.”        20 She turned about her milk-white steed,  And took True Thomas up behind, And aye wheneer her bridle rang,  The steed flew swifter than the wind. For forty days and forty nights        25  He wade thro red blude to the knee, And he saw neither sun nor moon,  But heard the roaring of the sea. O they rade on, and further on,  Until they came to a garden green:        30 “Light down, light down, ye ladie free,  Some of that fruit let me pull to thee.” “O no, O no, True Thomas,” she says,  “That fruit maun not be touched by thee, For a’ the plagues that are in hell        35  Light on the fruit of this countrie. “But I have a loaf here in my lap,  Likewise a bottle of claret wine, And now ere we go farther on,  We ’ll rest a while, and ye may dine.”        40 When he had eaten and drunk his fill,  “Lay down your head upon my knee,” The lady sayd, “ere we climb yon hill,  And I will show you fairlies 4 three. “O see not ye yon narrow road,        45  So thick beset wi thorns and briers? That is the path of righteousness,  Tho after it but few enquires. “And see not ye that braid braid road,  That lies across yon lillie leven 5?        50 That is the path of wickedness,  Tho some call it the road to heaven. “And see not ye that bonnie road,  Which winds about the fernie brae? That is the road to fair Elfland,        55  Whe[re] you and I this night maun gae. “But Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue,  Whatever you may hear or see, For gin ae word you should chance to speak,  You will neer get back to your ain countrie.”        60 He has gotten a coat of the even cloth,  And a pair of shoes of velvet green, And till seven years were past and gone  True Thomas on earth was never seen.