Deborah J. Martin's Blog, page 9

A Familiar’s Tale – Part XII

I had another visit to the ether, then opened my eyes to find a teat in my mouth – I was nursing. A quick glance around told me I probably was a dog and had five siblings. The sound of small children squealing, laughing, playing, whatever small children do, assaulted my ears.

As soon as I’d released the nipple I was sucking on, small hands picked me up and I was crushed against a chest. “This one is mine,” a voice chirped.

“You’ll have to speak with your Da about that,” an older, female voice...

Witchcraft & Technology

Something I’ve been thinking about for some time. This post brought the subject to the forefront.

I hear (well, read) a lot of folks saying they practice their magic as did their ancestors. Right underneath that statement is a photo of a dutch oven/cauldron sitting on a stove. And an electric stove, at that. (Okay, no specific instance but you get my drift.)

If someone truly practiced as their ancestors did, I would expect to see either an outdoor firepit or a large indoor fireplace with that...

A Familiar’s Tale – Part XI

Our trip was, as you say, smooth sailing. The ship skimmed along the water, even after leaving a port on the northern end of Sardinia, when it had to zig-zag to travel in a more southerly direction.

However, as I had pointed out earlier to Korbis, I was a land bird. The captain kept a clean ship and there was little in the way of bugs for me to eat. Korbis kept me alive by feeding me offal from the fish caught for the sailors’ food but my digestive system was not happy. Thankfully, we were on...

A Familiar’s Tale – Part X

How different the ocean air than that next to a river! I found it heavier and had to adjust my flight to compensate. Then there was the salt that accumulated on my feathers. I was not meant to live in such an environment and told Korbis so by projecting images of the Ebro valley we had left.

My needs, however, did not factor into his decision. Korbis wandered the area next to the docks, discreetly inquiring of this mystical northern island where the Romans did not hold sway. Although more tha...

A Familiar’s Tale – Part IX

For over forty years, Tal and Korbis traveled the province of Aragon, settling for about ten years in any one place before Tal got the itch to move on once again. At each town, Tal would start a garden with seeds he’d saved of the healing herbs he knew best: thyme, rosemary, parsley, mint, lavender and lemon balm. This garden announced to the neighbors that a healer was amongst them and the two magicians did not lack for business.

Although the Roman influence was felt nearly everywhere, they...

Today in the Garden

Got out today for the first time in almost 2 weeks. It rained, then I sprained a toe, then it rained…

I’d like to say I was playing in the dirt but in reality, kids and I could have made some marvelous mud pies with the dirt in the beds. Over two inches of rain in three days will do that. The skies are still mostly overcast today and there’s a good chance of even more rain over the weekend. And mowing needs to be done…

I thought I’d share what I saw today – besides mud and weeds:

A spot of su...

The Alphabet of Galen – A Review

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know I love reading historical herbals and other medicinal texts. I find comparing what “they” knew “then” to what we know today an interesting (and sometimes mind-boggling) exercise. You’d be surprised at how accurate some entries are, without scientific evidence.

The Alphabet of Galen wasn’t written by the Galen (c. 129-217 CE) but predates him by probably one or two hundred years. Someone a few centuries down the line gave it that name – w...

A Familiar’s Tale – Part VIII

This is where Korbis shined. He learned from Tal which herbs were used for what, how to blend them to make medicinal wine, how to use mechanical methods as well as magic to set a broken bone…all the tools of a physician of the time. Several times a year, a legion or more of the Roman army passed through the area and both Tal and Korbis assisted their medicos, learning from one another, although Tal and Korbis were careful to hide their magical nature. The Romans did not take kindly to magic u...

A Familiar’s Tale – Part VII

We found ourselves outside the manor wall and looking down the hill at the rows upon rows of grapevines. “There’s plenty of room for you to fly around and I’ll wager a lot of bugs, too,” Korbis pulled me off his shoulder and threw me up into the air. I was growing stronger and managed a brief flight before I saw a snack – a juicy looking grasshopper on the edge of the grape fields. Two more and I was full for the moment, so flew back to Korbis, who was wandering around, looking at the compoun...

A Familiar’s Tale – Part VI

For your edification, the ether is like being in thick, gray smoke. Your spirit would be lost forever but we always know where we are, even if we cannot actually see anything. From somewhere, I heard a deep voice say, “You have done well, youngling, although you have much to learn. There are ways to block your human from drawing too much energy.”

Images crowded my head on ways to block parts of the human brain to prevent a human from causing harm to him or herself. “Remember what I have show...