Rites and Rituals
The day after Persephone Adams turned 13, she was brought before the coven elders to unleash her magic. Hopefully, or the plan at least, would be to let loose her powers to discover what shape they would take and who would be best to train her. Seph had always been the strange child in the coven; she preferred to read or draw than socialise and didn’t really have any close friends. She was thin, and most other girls had started to develop physically and magically by now; Seph had done neither. She didn’t shun the humans at school, and Seph was generally left alone and often laughed about. Seph was considered a bit weird; she clearly wasn’t like the other girls and didn’t fit in with them. Even the adults in the coven thought her odd.
Seph had to admit she was nervous. The elders held classes weekly for young witches from around the age of 12, where they would teach you what you would need for the welcoming ceremony. How to open a book, stop a bell ringing and light a candle. These were simple spells that a witch of that age with no training should be capable of mastering. They also taught you about casting the spell to release your power and find its shape.
Seph was a disaster in these classes. She was like a real-life Mildred Hubble, the fictional character from the worst witch who turned everything into a nightmare and never got anything right. While trying to learn to set a candle on fire, she burnt several books, set a desk on fire, lit another student’s hair alight, burnt the teacher’s tie from around his neck and somehow broke a window; those are just her more spectacular feats. She sent books flying around the room, brained many people with them, and broke many vases and picture frames. Seph refused to talk about the lessons on the bell. Those were days that she wished she could remove from her mind forever. The incessant ringing would never stop. The teachers looks of hopelessness. They didn’t know how to get her to do the spells right and even thought she was getting it all wrong on purpose.
The day had finally come to do the unleashing ritual. She would be alone before the whole coven while her powers were released. What on earth were they about to experience? Who would she hurt today? Seph didn’t want to be like this; she didn’t want to risk hurting people with the simplest spell. Seph wanted to be accepted by the coven; this was her home.
Walking into the middle of the circle slowly on shaking legs, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her dress. Seph hated having to wear a dress or a skirt. But her school uniform only allowed skirts for girls, and the coven expected females to wear skirts or dresses to rituals and ceremonies; she had gotten away with pants up to now, but since she was the subject of this ritual, she had no choice. Her long blonde hair was loose over her shoulders and down her back; the dress was a long maxi, summer dress, loose and flowy. She was cold and shivery; it was the woods in the middle of November in Yorkshire, not the time for a summer dress, she thought, but her mum had insisted. They had a hoodie for her, and she had some pants in the car. The circle was laid with stones and rocks; there was also a herb circle just inside the stone one, Sky knew, but she wasn’t sure what herbs they were. The inside of the circle had a pentagram marked out in stones. She knew they were primarily grey, but it was hard to make out more than just the shape on such a dull day and in such a thick tree cover. Still, she made her way to the middle of the pentagram. The elders took up places on the 5 points of the pentagram with the rest of the coven, making a complete circle around them all.
As the coven filed into place, they began to circle around, making 3 passes of the circle, chanting as they went, “Darksome night and shining mood; hearten to our joyous tune. North, East, South, and West; we call ye forth, to this circle blest! Earth, Air, Fire and Water; come and join your sons and daughters. Body, Mind, Spirit and Heart; Make sacred this space, a world apart. Gentle Mother of Earth, awesome Father of Sky; Join with our hearts, the time is nigh.” As they completed their 3rd pass, they ended the chant with, “The Circle is cast, the light unbroken; So mote it be - Our magic has spoken.” There was a faint glow under their feet; Seph could feel the magic being built around her. Her mother gave her an encouraging smile, and her father nodded in a way that seemed to say he thought she was doing well. Seph could feel the strange hot, tingly feeling that had been building in her stomach since shortly before her birthday reacting to something. She presumed this was her magic but didn’t know for sure. (None of her peers who would talk to her seemed to understand what she was talking about. Clearly, they didn’t have the same reaction.)
As the outer circle was complete, the 5 elders nodded to each other. Gaia stood at the south point of the pentagram and began to welcome the elements “To the winds of the south, Great serpent, Wrap your coils of lights around up, Teach us to shed the past the way you shed your skin, To walk softly on the Earth, Teach us the beauty way.” “Spirits and guardians of the south, we welcome you”, everyone else replied. Next was Conan, who Stood in the west position “To the winds of the west, Mother Jaguar, Protect our sacred learning space, Teach us the way of peace, to live impeccably, Show us the way beyond death” “Spirits and guardians of the west we welcome you” the coven replied. Jane, who was standing. Towards the north said, “To the winds of the north, Hummingbird, Grandmothers and Grandfathers, Ancient Ones, Come and warm your hands by our fires, Whisper to us in the wind, We honour you who have come before us, And you who will come after us, Our children’s children.” “Spirits and Guardians of the North, we welcome you.” The magic was rising more and more. Seph was struggling to stay still; her chest now had an odd sensation. Almost like her heart had come loose in her chest, attempting an escape from her body. Constance was up next, stood at the east point, “To the winds of the East, Great Eagle, Condor, Come to us from the place of the rising sun, Keep us under your wing, Show us the mountains we only dare to dream of, teach us to fly wing to wing with the Great Spirit.” Then “Spirits and Guardians of the East, we welcome you.” And finally, Peter spoke, from the final point of the pentagram, “Mother Earth, we’ve gathered for the education and teaching of all your children, The Stone People, the Plant People, The four-legged, the two-legged, the creepy crawlers, The finned, the furred, and the winged ones. All our relations. Father Sun, Grandmother Moon, the star Nations, Great Spirit, You who are known by a thousand names, And you who are the unnamable one, Thank you for bringing us together, And allowing us to sing the Song of Life.”
The magic reached its climax as the circle completed, and Seph couldn’t restrain hers. Her hands burned bright red, a fire ring sprouting in the ground around her. Seph heard the coven gasp; there were whispers of surprise, “a fire witch?” “Persephone Adams? Never” and some slightly more enthusiastic “we needed a new fire witch to complete the elders” and “she must be”
Try as she might, Seph couldn’t put the fire out. “Settle, child; you can’t control this spell. Let it go,” Gaia shouted to her over the noise of the crowd and the roaring fires “we won’t let it hurt anyone” Gaia was half a fire witch and an earth witch. Her stronger affinity was for earth, but the last fire witch had passed away the year after Seph was born.
Seph nodded a little and tried to relax. She felt drawn to sit, so she did, legs crossed and hands on her knee. Her eyes closed, trying to block out the noise or ignore it. She didn’t know how much time had passed, 10 seconds. 10 minutes? An hour? However long it was, the next thing Seph knew, there was a wind building around her; it grew ever stronger until it was a cyclone around her body, and it was still growing.
Seph tried to pull it back in; the leaves were being thrown around, as were tiny stones and rocks. She was beginning to panic; she even saw some small animals, mice and hedgehogs thrown about by the gale. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. She could see Gaia and Constance trying to talk to her, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying to her at all. It felt like an hour later, but logically, Seph knew it was only a few minutes before the wind started to die. She didn’t know if she had done it herself or if the elders had helped or even done it for her. Her body sagged with relief either way. Her eyes closed again, her arms wrapping around her middle; Seph felt wet all over. There was no rain, no water anywhere, though it was a bit chilly.
Before she could say ‘goddess save me’, there was water pooling in her hands; in a split second, it was overflowing; she turned to Conan to ask for help, him being the water witch of the elders. However, her magic seemed to have other ideas and the instant she opened her mouth, water poured from it too. She snapped her mouth shut to stop the water from coming from there. “Use it, girl, use it!” Conan called to her. Sky looked around; the fire, of course, the fire needs putting out. She directed the water towards the ring of flames that were somehow still burning. Only once the last flame had stopped flickering, the smoke dissipated the fire well and truly dead, did Seph finally close her hands. The water, at last, stopped. Seph fell forwards, the pain in her chest still building, panting softly.