We had a tradition now that Saturdays in January were candle making days. Michael and I did most of the candle making while Penny gazed at the Tarot card layout, the same one that had scared us weeks before. We talked about and thought about each part of it, and came up with more things we could learn from it. Michael thought the Grimoire was great for finished ideas, but we needed a place we could just scribble things down. We agreed, and the next Saturday he brought a little spiral notebook.
“We should keep that safe and hidden with the Grimoire,” Penny asserted.
“And let’s keep all the pages in it so we can go back to them if we need to,”
I said, finishing another tall white candle.
“My candle has a Wart!” Michael said, showing us the lump on the side of it. We all laughed.
I got out some cookies I had made, and then read a new page I was adding to the study book.
The anthropologist has always had a difficult time defining Magic, mainly because it overlaps so completely with its first cousin, Religion.
When no grounds for a distinction can be made, the term religio-magical is used. All religions in the world today contain elements that can be called purely magical, and most magical systems include many purely religious concepts. The great body of religio-magical theory and practice, however, belongs to both terms. Ceremony, symbol, priesthood, creed, myth,
initiation: all these things can be found equally in religions and magical societies. The only clear distinction can be made from within an institution (and therefore non-scientifically): what we do is Religion, what they do is Magic (or vice verse). Perhaps this is just a variation on the age-old thesis: My gods are real, your gods are false . . .
Everybody thought about it.
“Is that why it doesn’t matter which church we go to?” Michael asked.
“Yeah. Truth is truth. If God is real, and He doesn’t change color just because you step into a different building.”
“What about when we make up different Spirit names?” Penny asked.
“It doesn’t matter what name you use. God doesn’t care what you call Him or his Spirits. As long as it’s something nice!”
“But wouldn’t it be kind of weird to say Spirit of Aardvarks?” Michael asked.
“Why? God must care about aardvarks too. And He probably has some Angel or something who watches over them.”
“Wow. I never thought about it that way,” he said.
The Sunday before Candlemas, we all went to church with Penny’s mom, and then gathered in my room. We had all our ideas down in the notebook, so we just had to agree on the finished form and do the calligraphy.
How can we help new Sprites find us and join the grove?
6
11
13
Lovers Enchantress Reaper
10
9
17
Wheel
Sage
Star
12
7
14
Martyr
Chariot
Alchemist
We achieved our physical training with great sacrifice, and we were victorious. In the future we must be patient and flexible with new people.
Our ideas were found by chance, but now we must use discretion. In the future, a true Teacher will be needed.
Spiritual love and the choice of white magic began the Grove.
We hold spiritual power, but someday we must go through a death or transformation of something spiritual.
On Candlemas eve, we met at the park after dinner and took a long route into the Grove. It gave Michael more practice in the dark.
“I think I’d like to do my first tests as soon as the weather gets good,” he said as we made our way through the woods. “I just need to get a little better at swimming and alder climbing.”
“Great! Let’s plan some swims in the inlet.”
“Yeah. I need to get used to the cold water. Brrr! ”
Michael brought out his recorder and played as we walked, a simple tune, like shepherds might use. Through the Hedge we crawled. It was so much fun listening to him, I led us around and about the inner woods before we climbed the hill.
“Bring your fire pouch?” Penny asked Michael with a glint in her eye.
“Yeah, but I forgot my tinder, so I’ll use your hair!” he said with a grin.
Everyone
laughed.
It was cold, so Michael quickly built the fire. Penny and I brought him twigs and sticks. As the flames started leaping, we warmed ourselves and Michael played.
“Do we have to do everything in the Magic Circle?” Penny asked. “It’s cold over there!”
“Just the blessing of the candles.”
“What’s the lesson tonight?” Michael asked.
“Penny’s going to tell us what happened with some spells we cast last year.”
She warmed her hands. “You guys know how the earthworms came, and my mom’s garden did really well. But there’s more. A strange plant came up.
My mom didn’t pull it, she said, just because it kind of looked nice where it was. I asked her what it was, but she didn’t know. Just a couple of weeks ago she remembered to tell me that she had found out. It was Vervain, Enchanter’s Plant, a magical herb of protection!”
“Neat! I hope we can learn more about herbs someday,” I said.
“Then there’s the part about my mom. She grew all that food, so then she had to can it and freeze it and stuff. I helped a little. Since she had all that food stored away, she decided to do more cooking. We used to just eat microwaved stuff or go out for hamburgers. So since she’s been cooking, and inviting her boyfriend over to eat with us, he and I have been getting along better, and he and my mom are happier. I think my mom’s starting to feel like we’re a family again. And she’s even starting to compliment me about things I do, like Search and Rescue and stuff.”
“Fantastic!” I said, remembering our spells.
“AND, she wants you two to come over more often, because she knows how close we all are.”
We lit lots of candles around the Magic Circle and asked a blessing for the new ones. We returned to the fire pit to share bread, and then talked more about Michael’s tests. There was a special warm feeling there that night, and we all held hands and laughed and talked on the way home.