Cate Tiernan - A Chalice of Wind

I sank down onto the closed toilet lid, my head in my hands. What a way to start a Sunday, I needed to get out of here. After all the emotion last night with Luc, I felt self-conscious about going to the garden to find him, like I needed to give us both a little time and space, I was also still burning to see Clio and Petra, get some more questions answered, spend time with them, I got up and headed for the phone.

“Out where does the magick come from?"

I tried to summon up patience-never my strong point. When Racey and I had gotten home, there'd been a message from Thais, wanting to come over. Well, we were having a party, the more the merrier, and after all, she was my sister.

We'd gotten a pizza for dinner, and she'd started asking about magick.

To hide my resigned sigh, I got up and went to the fridge. '’Want a beer?"

Thais paused in mid-bite. "But-we're only seventeen," she said, her mouth full,

I looked at her blankly. "And… “

"Oh, No thanks," she mumbled, and I could swear a faint pink tinge flushed her cheeks,

Racey and I exchanged a look over Thais's head, I sat back down and Racey and I popped the tops on our bottles. This was like a science experiment: the whole nature versus nurture thing. Thais had grown up with our dad, who, even though I so wished I could have met him, seemed to have raised her to be a straight-arrow weenie. Then there was me. Even though Nan was strict about some things, she was pretty cool about others, and I had grown up blessedly free of most hang-ups and willing to experience life to the fullest,

"But where does the magick come from; 1" Thais asked again,

"Everything" Racey said, Q-Tip jumped up on the table, and she gave him a piece of her pizza cheese,

"Like Nan said, there's a bit of power, or energy, or magick in everything in the natural world," I said, "In rocks, trees, water, the earth itself. The art and craft of magick is all about learning to tap into that power,"

"For what?" Thais asked. "Can I have some iced tea?"

"In the fridge," I told her, "For what? Because you can. Using magick ties you into the earth, into nature more powerfully than anything else. Its incredible,"

"It's also useful" Racey pointed out, "Magick can help us make decisions, figure things out. Or be used for healing, fixing things. Or people,"

"Hmm," Thais poured herself some iced tea, looking thoughtful,

"Look, I’ll show you," I said, taking my plate to the sink.

"I think I'll run out and get some last-minute stuff," said Racey, getting up, "And I’ll swing by my house and get some more CDs,"

"Good idea," I said.

Thais looked hesitant-she'd been spooked the last time, when I'd rearranged the salt, which I had thought

was so funny. But magick was one of those things that was better to experience than to hear about.

"Come on" I said briskly, looking at the clock, "We have a little bit of time before we have to get ready for the party."

Our workroom was bare except for the wooden altar and bookcases, A small cupboard stood beneath the window. I took out a piece of chalk and our four pewter rite cups. They'd been made for Nan by a friend of hers and had zodiac symbols around the edges.

First I drew most of a circle on the wooden floor but left: it open. Then I got the four cups ready. "These four cups will represent the four elements," I explained.

"Four cups " said Thais, in an "ohhh" kind of way.

"What?" I asked.

"Axelle has four cups too," she said briefly, and I nodded.

"Well, she's a witch. Now, this one, in the north position, is for water, or l'eau. In the south, this cup holds a candle." I lit it, "Which stands for fire, or le feu. This incense, with its trail of smoke, represents air, or as we say in French, l'air" I grinned and looked over at Thais. She still looked wary, as if deciding whether she should bolt now before the naughty magick got her.

I kept on. This stuff was all so familiar and basic: Bonne Magie's ABCs. "And lastly, this cup holds literal dirt, to represent la terre, but it could also be sand, pebbles, stuff like that. Now, step into the circle."

Thais stepped in, and I drew the circle closed, Q-Tip wandered into the room and sat right outside the circle. He never crossed a circle line.

"Okay, now it's closed, and you cant break it until we open it again. I'm going to lead you through a basic visualization exercise" I explained. Nan had first started doing this with me when I was three years old, "Don't worry, you're not going to freak out and start tripping. Here, sit down across from me,"

I set a white candle between us and gave Thais a box of matches. "Conjure fire. Just strike the match like you normally would, but say"-I did a quick translation in my head rather than start trying to teach Thais Old French- "Fire, fire, hot and light, help me have the second sight." I was pleased with myself for making it rhyme.

Thais murmured the words and struck the match as if she thought it might explode. It went out before the candle caught. She did it again and lit the candle, and then I took her hands in mine.

"Now, we both just look at the candle and sort of let our minds go," I said. "And magick will show us what we need to see,"

"Is this like self-hypnosis?" Thais asked.

"Well, with self-hypnosis you're putting yourself into kind of a magickal state," I said. "You're releasing outside influences and concentrating on your inner knowledge, your subconscious. It's your subconscious that's attuned to magick."

"Oh."

"Just let your boundaries dissolve," I told Thais in a soft, slow voice. "Become one with the fire, with me, with your surroundings. Open your mind to anything and everything. Trust la magie to show you what you need to know Focus on your breathing, on slowing it down, making it so shallow and smooth you can hardly feel it."

It was interesting-when you're little and learning this, you often practice in front of a mirror. I'd spent countless hours in front of a mirror with a candle, working on being able to sink quickly and easily into the trance state that makes magick possible. Looking at Thais, holding her hands, it was eerily like those days, only this time, Thais was the mirror.

I felt myself sinking and drew Thais along with me. This was working well, despite the slight distance I felt because I'd drunk half a beer. I really had to remember the negative effect alcohol had on magick. It was a bummer.

Then, with no warning, Thais and I were standing in a cypricre -a swamp. It happened suddenly and abruptly, which is not usually how a vision works. And this was utterly complete-there was no sign of my workroom. I started to get a bad feeling.

Thais looked at me, startled, and I tried not to let her see my concern. "This is a swamp," I whispered, figuring they didn't have too many back in Connecticut. It was dark all around us, nighttime, and I felt a heavy, oppressive weight in the air.

Thais nodded, not looking thrilled. "I've been in a swamp," she said.

Then we saw a group of witches through the trees.

Thais gripped my hand, and I realized we hadn't let go of each other.

With dismay I recognized the huge cypress tree and the dark water bubbling up between its roots from my vision with Nan. Deesse. No way did I want to go through this again, and no way did I want this to be Thais's first experience with visions.

I literally backed away from the tree, starting to murmur words that would take us out of here. Nothing happened. I said the words again, sure I was remembering correctly, but still nothing happened.

"Who are they? What are they doing?" Thais whispered.