Why are you doing it, granny? You dont even know her, my sister said while she was making Kiki play with a small ball.
It doesnt matter if I dont know that woman, Sarah, I know shes feeling bad and I want to help her with the tools I have at my disposal.
But she hasnt asked you for help.
Good remark, Anne! By the way, dont you think its evident that she wants to live, since she underwent an operation and such invading treatments, like chemotherapy? Whats more, you told me shes keeping some stones next to herself, so she believes in the same energy as I do. She doesnt need to ask for my help, I know in the bottom of my heart thats the right thing to do. My grannys argument wasnt wrong. Lets go back to ourselves, girls, make yourselves comfortable and take some paper and a pen, if you like.
She sat down on an armchair and Kiki climbed on her legs, purring.
Oh granny, Ive been looking forward to this moment for so long. Look what a nice notebook Ive kept just for this occasion. Im going to write everything youll teach us, my sister got excited.
I couldnt believe it, my sister had just taken out a pink and glittered notebook.
Sarah, youre ridiculous. How old are you, five?
Anne, stop making fun of her, I think its wonderful.
Yes, its wonderful for a girl on her first year at primary school!
Im going to keep here my notes about magic, Sarah exclaimed satisfied.
We arent at the pink Witches congregation. Youre ridiculousthats enough, Ill leave!
I got up and I ran upstairs. They were both completely crazy: the one with her ideas about energy, stones and candles; the other who was playing the fairy. I could understand by now why my mum had left home when she was just twenty! I preferred staying alone and listening to music.
After a while, however, I was lurking on the stairs. I didnt care about what they were saying, I just wanted to understand if granny would tell Sarah any important secret.
Im sorry for Anne, granny, she is always so nervous lately, I heard her say.
Dont worry, my dear, its normal to feel like that at her age. Ill make a good St. Johns Wort tea for her tonight and youll see she will calm down; your mother was just like her when she was elevenshes still like that in fact.
Our grandmother never got upset, my sister had certainly taken after her.
Granny
Yes?
Can you tell about the candles just to me, or Anne needs to be here too?
Oh, of course my dear! If she doesnt care at the moment, I cant see a reason to prevent you from learning. Well, wellwhere am I going to star from?
From Monday?
Thats right, from Monday: the day of the Moon, associated with white; its the time to tidy the house, the garden and to make our intuition grow. She was talking slowly, to give Sarah time to write.
Then we have Tuesday: Marss day, the colour is red, its perfect to solve tangled situations and to overcome clashes. Wednesday: its Mercurys day, associated with yellow; on this day you can work on communication, on writing, on reading, to get a deeper inspiration and better possibilities of success, its the perfect day to instil enthusiasm. Ah, Thursday, my favourite! Its linked to Jupiter, the colours are green and light blue, its devoted to finances, fortune, plenty and wealth. Friday is Venuss day, the colours are pink and green; on Friday you can try to improve the sentimental sphere, love, friendship, but also beauty and body care. Try to have a manicure on this day, and youll see how nice, healthy and strong your nails will get. Saturday: Saturns day, the colour is black, excellent to move away and exorcize negative forces or to increase our wisdom. And finally Sunday: the day of the Sun, the colour is orange, its the day of the family, of BBQs with friends, lightness and will get stronger. After that, according to the colours I have listed, we can light a colourful candle on corresponding days. If we dont have colourful candles, we can use the white ones, theyre always good for that! Candles are the symbols of thought, idea, desire and hope. The four elements are contained into them: the Earth is the wax; the Water is the melted wax; the Fire is the flame and the Air is the smoke. Ive recently discovered floating candles: you put some water into a bowl, with some grains of kitchen salt to represent the Earth element, you put a candle on it and you light it. They are very beautiful and safe. Its always a good rule to oil the candle before you light it; you can use an essential oil from our production to do that, Ill show you how to make them, its not difficult. Of course, you need to concentrate when you oil and light it, to instil our will to the candle. Now tell me: on which days can we help Sheila and which candles shall we use in your opinion?
To give her strength, a waxing Moon Tuesday, because you said that during this phase energy gets stronger, the colour of the candle will be red. To move away bad cells and the remains of remedies, a waning Moon Saturday instead, the colour will be black.
Excellent Sarah, really excellent!, our granny clapped her hands satisfied.
Ill add two very important colours: magenta and purple red. The first one works on our psyche fast, because it has the ability of awakening the magical power of our mind. The second one instead, is the symbol of Wisdom and it is used to move bad luck away. Its enough for today, Sarah, lets go and find your sister now.
I sprang up and went back into my bedroom without being noticed.
Ok. Granny, do you really think well be able to help Stella?
You see my child, I could never replace traditional medicine; treatments are important, but doctors and science have left behind some other sides in time. Theres always a reason behind an illness. The power of positive thoughts helps us to feel better; some people go to church, they say the rosary, they go on pilgrimage or something like that, they firmly believe in what they are doing. You cant realize the power of our mind at all and the consequences of our words. Youll see, your friends mum will get better, you mustnt stop believing it.
Thanks granny. Lets go to Anne now, if I know her well, she must be starving.
Old Mal came to the cottage the next morning.
Here you are, the best pumpkins in all Marlow, directly from Sainsburys. Our girls are too grown up to play treat or trick along the road, but carving pumpkins is compulsory at all ages. We have to keep away the bad souls going around on that nightand dont forget to leave some gifts for them! Talking about gifts, I almost forgot, Ive got just two strawberry candies for you.
He was always cheerful, he conveyed happiness just being close to him.
Thanks Mal, youre always spoiling us.
You are my favourite girls, its normal I want to spoil you. Susan, I dont have any candies for you, but an invitation. You are going to be my plus one at Christmas dinner, to christen the new town gym.
Oh, MalIm left wordless! Thanks, I havent gone out for dinner for ages. I dont even know if I have suitable clothes, our granny admitted pretending to be shy.
Oh, MalIm left wordless! Thanks, I havent gone out for dinner for ages. I dont even know if I have suitable clothes, our granny admitted pretending to be shy.
Mum will lend you something!, I suggested.
Our granny out for dinner with Mal, that was really something new!
Yes, Rebecca will lend you something. You are going to be very beautiful as usual. And then, the rebuilding of the gym was made thanks to you too, with all the violet potholders you sold at the last May Fayre. It took three years to raise the money we needed, but we managed at last, and what event could be better than Christmas to inaugurate it? The dinner will be on 21st December, isnt that great?
For Yule, thats wonderful! I hope there will be also a nice decorated log.
My grandmother had taught us since we were very young the importance of seasons, equinoxes, solstices and of certain days such as Halloween or May Day.
Halloween was for her Samhain, the Celtic New Years Eve; it stood for the end of the period of light and the entrance into the darkness of winter. Nature seems to die, it withdraws into itself, animals go into hibernation and also men withdraw into the warmth of their houses. Its a magic moment, when the curtain between the world of the living and the one of the dead gets thinner; for that reason its a good habit to honour our dear dead, leaving gifts for them and lighting candles to help them find the light.
Our granny also explained to us that the pumpkins left outside are used to scare the damned souls who cant find their peace and want to annoy the living.
Wearing fancy dresses and going around asking for some sweets is just a parody of these dead souls, who ask for gifts and threaten to play bad tricks. I remember that, every time we emptied a pumpkin, she kept three seeds and put them into her purse.
So money will never miss, she said.
Mal and granny called Christmas Yule and they celebrated it on 21st December, the day of the winter solstice, the period when days are really short and the cold is biting. She told us that solstice meant literally Still- Sun.
Do you remember, girls, when you get on the panoramic wheel and it stops at the highest point, and then at the lowest? Well, the Sun does the same thing. In winter the Sun is in the lower part of the wheel, its more hidden, but its there. During the solstice it stops for a while and then it starts to rise again. Christmas stands for the rebirth of the Child Sun, exactly like Jesus who was born in the darkness of a cave.
From that moment, days get longer again slowly; every year the same magic takes place with exactness. We decorated the house together with our granny with evergreens, which represented life going on, we lit candles, we put some mistletoe here and there, and it was compulsory to kiss each other under it.
The wooden log taken from our oak couldnt be missing in our fireplace, it was kept lighted during the whole period of the Christmas holidays, then granny gathered the ashes and spread them around the house, keeping telling: May negative powers keep away from here!
I couldnt understand very well what she meant by negative powers, I thought she was referring to unpleasant people.
When February started, the snow fell heavily and the wind blew freezing from the north, Mal punctually arrived at the cottage, with a new broom.
A present for the wisest woman in the whole county, he claimed smiling and granny thanked him with a strange word. Happy Imbolc to you!
Granny told us that Nature was slowly waking up in that period, so we had to clean and purify the house. It was quite impossible for me to think already about spring, but I always started to notice some changes after a heavy snowfall or a winter illness: days were beginning to get clearly longer and some shy snowdrop was peeping out in the fields.
Children, you must always remember that its sometimes good to have fever, fire burns and purify. Shall Goddess Brigid protect and bless you.
We knew how much our granny was devoted to Brigid, she often tried to justify herself by laughing and saying: Maybe thats because she has got red hair like mine!
Everyone took her for an Irish woman. I think she had never been to Ireland; but to make up for it she always went to the Irish pub with Mal on St. Patricks day. She didnt like particularly Saint Patrick, I was sure about that, she used to say that every year, but she could never refuse a beer in good company.
Soon after, Ostara finally arrived, on 21st March, the spring equinox: it was a period of perfect balance, with the same hours of light and of darkness. Nature had awakened at last! We used to spend those days painting eggs, which were a symbol of rebirth, and we got the garden ready going to the plant nursery.
Our new family tradition was taking with us our neighbour, who had shown signs of great improvements in the care of her plants in the previous three years.
Thats surely thanks to the gardener she has hired, our granny had claimed naughtily.
May was my favourite month: there was our birthday, Marlows fair and Nature was at its best, with all those flowers blossoming, a delicious smell of jasmine in the air and the Sun warming us at last. Celebrations started with May Day, the first day of the month, which was also called Beltane. For that celebration granny used to give us some delicious flower wreaths she made herself and we hang coloured ribbons to our oak.
The 1st May was the only day when we could pick flowers from the hawthorn and we later left some presents for the fairies, like little crumbs or a bit of milk, because people said that those tiny beings were the guardians of the tree and so it was right to thank them somehow.
Granny asked Mal to add a big bonfire to the village fair, just like people used to do in the past at Beltane.
Thats quite dangerous, Susan, but well see what we can do
As foreseen, authorities never let them light a bonfire, but they replaced it with wonderful fireworks and with a tall pole around which people could dance braiding ribbons; they told us that was a very old tradition as well.
Its not exactly the same, granny had said, but itll be alright too. Whats more, children love that!
Towards the end of school, when we were tired at last and it was hot in England too, it was Lithas time, the summer solstice, the longest day of the year! The Sun never set.
You see, the Sun is high on the panoramic wheel, but its going to start its descend slowly by now. Isnt that incredible, girls? Thats all so perfect.
We put grannys stones outside at night and we spread a cloth on the grass; we took it back the next morning, before the Sun rose completely, soaking with dew.
Thats my beauty secret!, granny told us laughing and putting some drops on her face. The summer solstice dew. You cant imagine what is this nights power!
It was simply dew for me, but I must admit that I was particularly happy in those days when summer began and that was a real magic for someone grumpy like me.
As soon as we finished school, at the end of July, we left for Palma de Maiorca. The Baleares heat and sun was really something strange for us. We spent whole days into at the swimming pool during that period.
Rebecca, bring the girls to the seaside on 31st July at least, its Lughnasadh! Im not asking you to make bread with them at dawn as I do, but let them stay in the sun as long as possible at least. Thats good. With a cap and sun cream, of course. Remember that, Ill warn you! I cant understand why youre always at the swimming pool, isnt the sea beautiful there?