⊹ maddie phillips ⊹ and exploring the fairy archetype

Maddie Phillips is Vancouver and LA-based actress born on the 6th of September. Maddie’s spirit conjures playfulness and an ease of exploration, as a day alongside her is a day of synchronicities, felt freedom, city-loitering, and unknowingly racking up over 8 miles worth of steps while enjoying the endless theatrical playground of the outside world. Whether she’s curled up under the brim of a trucker hat in the darkness of a matinee movie or glitter-eyed in a gold gown at a birthday party, she emits a potent ethereality that flutters fast like wings or adrenaline. The kind of wide-eyed involvement that makes people ask if you’re on molly, but also makes you one of the most open receivers in any given room.

Maddie sits with knees-up and zipper-hoodie and one-earbud-dangling at the close of an adventure, Maddie hands over a bundle of lavender flowers and psychedelic-mushroom tea, Maddie leaves 10 minute voice notes at 2am, Maddie always has a story she never told you before, Maddie follows her impulses, Maddie passes you a joint on a bench behind the back building, Maddie’s voice coasts across the ozone layer as she attempts to land her latest download lightly, softy, gracefully; as the more higher of state in which an intel is gathered, the more heavy it tends to land.

Think of when you learned about the laws of momentum - when you were first told that a penny thrown off a table does near nothing, but a penny thrown from a skyscraper could dent metal, dig a crater, cause death. Ether sensations are no different from the warnings of this tale. Their length of travel increases the frenetic intensity in which they land in the body, causing felt shifts in the nervous system and a lust for movement. The churning of this unique-silent-fuel is involuntary; something to be managed, observed, walked through. Maddie is full of this unique-silent-fuel. At first gaze, this is obvious, and by the third gaze you may even start to be able to make out the shape of her wings. Maddie is a channeler of the fairy archetype, and has been doing so with great commitment since childhood.

What does following the fairy archetype entail? What occurs when one is guided by the essence of the fairy throughout a lifetime, eventually embodying its symbols and meanings?

It is in childhood when the concept of fairies first finds us, and in many ways, they become specialized entities that offer a sense of autonomy, communion with the inner-self, and an invitation for more rule-breaking play. A fairy is not presented to the child as an authority or even a protector, but a moody, seductive trickster that one may encounter when out in the wild. A fairy is not in cahoots with the adults or with any doctrine, they are free agents, and it is implied that communing with these creatures comes with a risk. For a child, this risk may manifest in wandering to the deeper, more unknown corners of a garden, crossing the street to explore a neighbor’s yard, or pulling away from a group to observe an off-path mushroom patch.

Whether a winged sprite waits on the other end or not, the quest into the unknown was taken, adrenaline and pride has filled the heart, new terrain was mapped, and hunger for more adventure has been conjured. It is in this heightened state of sensitivity where we may also feel the veil become thinner than ever, finding that the state in which we seek fairies is also that which angels, spirit guides, God, and ancestors may visit us as well. The offering of the fairy to the child brings both the possibility for communion with a strange being and the vital experience of embarking on a magically-intentioned path; a path coated with conditions that welcome alternate states and dimensions. To pursue fairies is to also create elaborate offerings to draw them closer. This can be a tiny house of popsicle sticks and moss, doll furniture, mushroom figurines, decorations, tea, small feasts, songs, letters, prayers - often presented near a tree’s base. This act directly affirms a primary law of any mystical, otherworldly dealing: the more interested you are in spirit, the more interested they will be in you.

・゜゜・・ .・゜ ✧・゜゜・・ﾟ☆・゜゜・・ ✧・゜゜・・ﾟ・゜゜✧・゜゜・

・゜゜・・ .・゜ ✧・゜゜・・ﾟ☆・゜゜・・ ✧・゜゜・・ﾟ・゜゜✧・゜゜・

The second time that the fairy enters our psyche and essence is often in teen years when we are grappling with our newfound powers, intense emotions, and rebellious desires for independence. The fairy returns with her meanings that were first offered in childhood: the invitation to embark on a quest, to separate from the crowd, and to understand the responsibilities of the unknown and outer world. In this teenage iteration, however, there is a more sexual and social classification to the fairy’s familiar lessons.

At the early stages of understanding our sexuality, we may be surprised by the influence it has over other people - the weight we now feel in sharing a smile, a gaze, a laugh, a choice of clothing. We are communing with a brand new energy swimming in our aura - a seductive, moody, serpent-like siren song that cannot be trusted by both the self and those surrounding. Our blood pumps us into extremes as we reckon with our powers and our consistent misunderstanding of it. We find that the fairies we sought out in overgrown gardens at golden hour now conspire within us. We become the unknown, we become the quest, we are now the tantalizing mystical creature that may bite or bless a visitor.

Another notable feature of the fairy is her humor. The fairy giggles as she baits you into wandering off the playground in your five-year-old body, the fairy cheers and snickers when your sixteen-year-old self ditches class for the first time, yearning for freedom again. The fairy winks when you break a heart or break your own, and the fairy somehow affirms that every new experience is a worthy one, always light if you allow it to be. When we struggle, the fairy pauses her riddles to offer us tea and flowers, soup and a smoke; the fairy is a master at cleaning up any mess with laughter and treats.

In greater adulthood, the fairy serves as a steady reminder of innate truths that never waver, but instead play out on a loop throughout a lifetime. The fairy shares the same messages again, and asks that you remind yourself frequently: there is a power within us and around us that will always mystify and surprise, that the unknown beckons, that every quest holds value in both its path and promise, and that maintaining a sense of playfulness and delight through it all is a vital practice. The fairies are with you when you take a new route on your walk, when you arrange flowers, when you serve tea, when you stop and squint closer at a stray note on the ground for a possible clue, when you giggle with a friend in a shared bed, when you loiter at the bookstore, when you smile at a stranger, when you risk, when you regret, when you actively participate in the sneaky revelations of the day-to-day.

Maddie has communed with the fairy essence closely, which is likely why they feel so close when you are around her. An archetype often begins as a guide then quickly becomes the body we move into and inhabit; its values and aesthetics merging with our own. Maddie’s body and face and hair and style and mannerisms and philosophy all fit the mold of the fairy archetype, so much so that one could conclude that Maddie is simply just a fairy herself, a winged spirit who exited the woods one day and decided to experience life as a human. ⊹

⊹ what’s on your altar right now ?
⊹ I’ve had an actual altar on my windowsill for over a month that I’ve been meaning to take down now that it’s served its purpose. It’s an altar for Persephone with some specific offerings like lavender, pomegranate tea, honey, a drawing I did of her etc. I’ve only made an altar for specific deities twice. Praying to specific entities has never really been it for me but I always have meaningful objects intentionally placed in my room and always end up making altars whenever I’m in a hotel or my trailer on a set. I don’t really think “I am making an altar right now”, I more just find it really comforting, energizing and amplifying to make and have an intentional collection of things that have meaning to me. Right now my altar would have a note to myself, a tarot card, a piece of jewelry, a white candle and a bedazzled trucker hat I bought on a magical day with my best friend, Eddie Chacon and John Carol Kirby lol. I asked them all to bless it too and we huddled and put our hands on it like we were about to go play football.

⊹ when do you feel closest to spirit ,
or , the essence of things ?
⊹ When I’m by myself on a really long walk. And when everyone I talk to is asleep and I’m awake in my room.

⊹ when do you feel most in your body ?
⊹ Sweating in hot yoga

⊹ who or what has been most influential
to your spirit , your way of seeing and being ?
⊹ Being an only child has been extremely influential to my spirit and way of being. I had a lot of friends growing up but I spent so so much time being by myself and engrossed in my internal world. I truly never felt alone either, I always felt like I was in company. Sometimes it felt like fairies, sometimes it felt like a the presence of another me and sometimes it felt like I had my very own protective audience. Everything felt magical and spiritual to me as a kid, in a really intense way and I think it helped that I didn’t have someone else around me all the time who could potentially influence me to believe something was dumb. Like I had no big brother teasing me about fairies living in the flowers across the street.

⊹ what song should have been played at your birth?
⊹ Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Elton John
⊹ your death?
⊹ ‘The Prayer’ SPECIFICALLY the andrea bocelli celine dion version!!!!

⊹ please share an image you’ve taken
that you feel spirit was present for :

・゜゜・・ .・゜ ✧・゜゜・・ﾟ☆・゜゜・・ ✧・゜゜・・ﾟ・゜゜✧・゜゜・

Thank you for reading The Infinity Mirror, a digital zine devoted to our favorite spirits and the existential tangents they inspire. This one was written by Gabi Abrão in Los Angeles.