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September 25 - September 29, 2024
With heron’s bone and owl’s wing, Through vulture’s silence, the ravens sing. Through absence and desire, blood and fear, A discovery of witches will carry them here. Four drops of blood on an altar stone, Foretold this moment before you were born. Three families joined in joy and in struggle, Will each bear witness to the black bird oracle. Two children, bright as Moon and Sun, Will Darkness, Light, and Shadow make one.
Messengers between the dead and the living, ravens often symbolized the first step in the alchemical transformation that led to the philosopher’s stone.
“You may not have noticed, Matthew, but there are a lot of smart, observant humans in New Haven. They know you and Diana are different, even if they can’t articulate how. Pip grew an inch in the past month, and Becca is well on her way to mastering trigonometry. You can’t keep the twins inside the Addams family mansion until they’re eighteen, hoping nobody picks up on their advanced development.”
“Pip and Rebecca go to school,” I pointed out, defensive at the notion that the twins were housebound. “You think Maria Montessori is going to make them appear like average folk?” Chris snorted.
“Pip has a pet griffin, D,” Chris said. “And Becca is turning into some combination of Alan Turing and Dr. Doolittle. I don’t think you have to worry about their imaginations.”
“There are three levels of mastery in higher magic,” Gwyneth explained. “Novitiates, who are taking their first steps on the Dark Path. Initiates, who have been tested at the Crossroads and chosen to continue on the Dark Path. The top rank is reserved for adepts, who have passed through the witches’ Labyrinth and been recognized by the Congregation as skilled practitioners of higher magic.”
“Light isn’t a weapon, Diana. It’s a resource.” Gwyneth cupped her palm as though she held a baby chick. “You want to hold it gently, not turn it into a missile.”
“Curiosity and wonder are often all it takes to keep Darkness at bay. They, too, reside in Shadow, where promise and potential disaster can be found in equal measure. It was that ambiguity that really terrified your father.”
Often the queries we don’t utter are the most important, and the most profound.”
“They’re the key to greater knowledge, as well as greater mysteries. The cards open the doors to new possibilities and provide fresh solutions to old problems. They will grant me freedom but carry with them the weight of responsibility.” I was amazed by the words tumbling out of my mouth. “The cards help to differentiate between truth and deception.”
“I always wonder, when I am grieving and cannot find peace, if Lieutenant Proctor could have succeeded where Matthew and Baldwin failed.” Ysabeau’s voice sounded far away, carried on the tenuous strands of memory. “We shall never know, but I have struggled with my decision, especially after you and Matthew were mated, and the children were born.”
Look after your own desires and needs. All de Clermont women must do so. If we left it to the men, we’d be ruined.”
“Never forget the feeling of being aligned with your purpose. It will steer you through Shadow and illuminate your path no matter where it leads.”
we are the daughters of the witches you didn’t hang!
1692—they missed one!
“Through absence and desire, blood and fear, A discovery of witches will carry them here. Four drops of blood on an altar stone, Foretold this moment before you were born. Three families joined in joy and in struggle, Will each bear witness to the black bird oracle. Two children, bright as Moon and Sun, Will Darkness, Light, and Shadow make one.”
“Deus ex machina,” I murmured. God from a machine. It was as good a description of Philippe as I’d ever heard. I touched the golden arrowhead and felt the goddess’s hand. Four drops of blood on an altar stone…
And I wouldn’t want Uncle Baldwin’s memories kept in a jar, either. He tells the best stories, and they always start with ‘I remember when.’
