A Modern Witch

Chapter 15

Lauren: Moira, are you there?
Moira: I am, child. I hear Jennie would like us to have a wee chat about witching circles.
Lauren: She said you know a lot about them, all the history and tradition involved. I’m hoping you could tell me a little bit about what to expect on Monday night.
Moira: I’m assuming you will be doing a little circle work before then? I can’t believe Jennie would throw you into a full circle with no idea of what will happen.
Lauren: No, we’re going to do a training circle later today, I think.
Moira: Good. That will give you a sense of what a circle does, just on a smaller scale.
Lauren: Everyone talks about full circles with a lot of respect. They must be a really big deal.
Moira: Respect is one piece—both respect for the tradition of the circle, and for the power a circle, particularly a full one, can generate. History’s most spectacular spells have almost always been worked by a circle, although history doesn’t often acknowledge it.
Lauren: Really? Like what?
Moira: Well, a full circle is usually cast by fourteen witches. There’s a trio at each of the cardinal directions, and then the channeler and spellcaster. The spellcaster weaves the power of the circle into its final form, so often outsiders see only the spellcaster and miss the circle supporting him or her. Merlin’s most powerful magic was done by a circle. He was a very talented spellcaster.
Lauren: Merlin was real?
Moira: He was. A lot of the stories about him are a long way from truth, but he existed, and he had strong magic.
Lauren: That is so cool.
Moira: During the Salem witch hunts in your country, many innocents were sentenced to burn at the stake, as well as a number of our sisters.
Lauren: I’m not sure what to say. That suddenly feels disturbingly personal.
Moira: Indeed. Circles were not able to save everyone, but many of the bonfires burned very effective illusions. Several of our most powerful spellcasters and channelers died from the sheer effort.
Lauren: I had no idea it could be so dangerous. Will Aervyn be okay on Monday?
Moira: I’m sure every possible precaution will be taken, but big magic always carries risk. The entire circle is vulnerable, but for channeler and spellcaster, the risk is larger. Jennie tells me you may be a channeler, so it’s important for you to understand this.
Lauren: Hearing it loud and clear.
Moira: Don’t hear only fear, child. With great power also comes great opportunity. Sometimes big magics are badly needed in our world.
Lauren: What will the circle be doing on Monday?
Moira: I’m not certain. That is a decision that will be made in the end by Aervyn, although I’m sure others will have input. With a first-time spellcaster at the helm, the final magic will likely be kept relatively simple. Like with many full circles, the primary purposes will be practice and community.
Lauren: Community?
Moira: My witching talents are small. In circle, I get to share the combined power of thirteen others. It is an experience like no other. The fourteen in Aervyn’s first full circle as spellcaster may well earn a place in history, if the boy grows into the power we expect of him. It will be your welcome into the wider witching community as well.
Lauren: Can I be honest? I’m still not really sure how I feel about being part of a community of witches. I have a pretty happy life in Chicago, and I’m not sure how any of this fits.
Moira: Give yourself time, my dear. You’ve only had a few days to think about all this. Your heart will know the way—just give it time. Go into this circle experience with an open mind. There are no demands placed on you, just invitation. One day you may step into the inner circle, but for now, just enjoy the chance to be a part of something bigger for a few hours. The outer circle is a very special place.
Lauren: Now you’ve made me cry. Thank you. I think the pressure has been getting to me a bit.
Moira: You’ve strong powers, and that comes with responsibility. The witching community will have hopes and even expectations of you eventually, but not today. Today we ask only that you learn, and you are doing that exceedingly well.
Lauren: Help me to learn a little more then. Tell me more about circles.
Moira: I told you of the fourteen that form the circle. Each circle will follow slightly different traditions, depending on witching family and the preferences of the participants, but many elements always remain the same.
Lauren: So how many witching families are there? Nell and Jamie’s family here is obviously one, and yours in Nova Scotia another.
Moira: After the disaster in Salem, most witches began to gravitate together and settle in a few areas. The two largest gatherings are here in Nova Scotia, and where you are in Berkeley. There are others in New Orleans, Appalachia, and the islands off the west coast. The witching family moves beyond blood ties, so anyone is welcome. We have several witches here in Nova Scotia who are not related by blood.
Lauren: But not all witches do that, right? Sophie hasn’t.
Moira: There are many witches who choose to live elsewhere, but most travel to one of the witching centers to join full circles, solstice celebrations, and the like. Sophie often joins Nell, or comes here to Nova Scotia. She spent many summers here as a child. We welcome her with open arms—I don’t see her often enough.
Lauren: I’m looking forward to meeting her. I hope some day I have a chance to meet you as well.
Moira: Child, if it’s meant, that would make me very happy.
Lauren: And I’m sorry to keep asking so many questions. I know you’re supposed to be telling me about circles.
Moira: It’s because you’re American. In Ireland, where I grew up, the best conversations wandered and twisted around. Sometimes you learn more that way than traveling in straight lines. However, you’ve the right of it—Jennie will scold if I don’t at least tell you a bit more. There will be some rituals to form the outer circle, and I won’t spoil your fun by telling you of them. Just know that their purpose is to cleanse the space and the participants, and help minds to clear and channels to open.
Lauren: Sounds like one of Nat’s yoga classes.
Moira: There may well be some similarities. Then the inner circle forms, and the trio at each of the four directions will call up the elements. Once the circle has tapped into elemental powers, any other power sources can also be called. Most often, it will just be the elementals.
Lauren: So mind magic isn’t used in circles?
Moira: Not usually. Most mind witches act as monitors—outside the circle, but taking care of those inside. Normally you’d be trained to step into that role, but since you appear to have channeling talent, most likely those are the shoes you’ll be asked to fill.
Lauren: And the channeler does what, exactly?
Moira: Once the circle has collected power, the channeler gathers it up and focuses energies toward the spellcaster.
Lauren: And then the spellcaster works the magic. Sounds simple enough.
Moira: You’re quite delightful, Lauren. It is indeed simple, and also very complicated. I’ll be most interested to hear your reactions to your first full circle.
Lauren: I’ll come chat with you again, I promise.
Moira: Please do. This is still a bit odd for me, but I’ve very much enjoyed the chance to know you a little better. Blessed be.
…

Lauren lay on her back in Jamie’s back yard and clutched Sophie’s emerald crystal in her hand. She hoped it would make a difference soon. Her head ached like it had bench-pressed three hundred pounds.
Circle work was clearly difficult for others, too. Aervyn lay beside her on the grass, astonishingly still for a four-year-old boy.
Jennie spoke. “I’m sorry, Lauren; I know that round was hard on you. I feel like we’re not quite getting the connection right, but I’m not sure where we’re going wrong.” She looked to Nell and Jamie for input.
Jamie stuffed the rest of a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth. “I’m wondering if the issue is Lauren’s power source. Normally channelers are elemental witches, so they power their channeling differently than she will. Nell and I know how to do the hook-up with an elemental-witch channeler, but it might work differently with a mind witch.”
“Well, Edric will be at the circle on Monday,” Jennie said. “He’s the only mind-witch channeler in the Western states right now.”
Jamie shook his head. “He has elemental powers too, so he may still connect in differently than what Lauren will need to do.”
Lauren roused herself enough to take the two cookies Jamie offered and passed one to Aervyn. It was hardly reassuring that three experienced witches couldn’t figure out how this was supposed to work.
She knew they were deliberately keeping the power level in the circle very low, but her role as channeler still felt like trying to plug a fire hose into a USB port while the water was on full blast. Aervyn was trying to help, but neither of them was getting the job done, and trying to contain all the leaking power was exhausting both of them.
Lauren tried to think. Jamie was saying she needed to hook people in differently. Or maybe… the problem was the order.
Buoyed by the hope of a new idea, Lauren managed to sit up. “Instead of me connecting to the circle first, and then trying to join with Aervyn, can we try joining him and me first, and then adding the circle? I don’t feel like I can contain the circle’s power on my own. I need a place to send it first. When we did Cat Woman, he was already waiting for whatever it was that I did.”
Nell looked thoughtful. “Totally ass-backward from how it’s usually done, but it makes sense. We’re all funneling you elemental power, and you’re the only channeler I know with absolutely no elemental talent, so it might be that you can’t contain it at all—but maybe you can direct it.”
Jennie nodded slowly. “Piggybacking on that, I’m going suggest something a little different as well. I’ve been drawing on elemental power, but this time I’ll try sharing mind power.”
“That’s a great idea,” Jamie said. “Put a form of power in the mix that we know Lauren can handle. Maybe it will make the whole flow easier for her to guide.”
Everyone returned to a seated circle and clasped hands. This time, Lauren reached a channel out to Aervyn first and felt the already easy familiarity of that connection settle into place. Then she focused for a minute in her center, visualizing what she wanted to do next.
She began to grow rainbow-bright tendrils out from her dome. Working carefully, she wove them together, a beautiful web that stretched over her barrier, all anchored to her connection with Aervyn.
Now it was time to add the circle. She visualized the strands of her web sending shoots outward, questing tendrils in search of a place to root. Gently she stretched a handful of tendrils toward Jennie. Hopefully she would recognize this modification of their mind-magic drills.
Lauren silently cheered when she saw the seeking lights of Jennie’s mind power reaching out. Carefully they wove Jennie’s light together with her rainbow threads. It was like turning on the tree lights at Christmas time. The entire web of threads radiated with the light of Jennie’s power. It flowed smoothly to the connection with Aervyn and into his waiting spellcaster hands. Lauren could see Aervyn’s mind dance with approval. Me next, he sent.
Lauren was confused. In moments, she saw his star-bright elemental power reaching toward her web. She was pretty sure spellcasters weren’t supposed to add energy to the circle, but at this point, they were pretty much flying without a map anyhow. Gently, she warned him. Go slow.
The wattage dimmed on his power, and she extended a couple of threads. There was a jolt on joining, and then she saw his power zoom over her threads, sending the whole web dancing. Power sang, and she was well aware he was connecting with only a fraction of what he had.
Jennie sent a quiet nudge. Gather the others, child. You’re doing very well. Lauren reached tendrils toward Jamie, and then Nell. Both experienced spellcasters, they connected into her web with only tiny ripples.
I’m ready, she sent to everyone. Turn up the power.
Lauren looked up from her mind center in wonder. It felt like sitting in the middle of the sun. Power wove and danced, fiercely bright, coming from the circle and exploding down the tube of her connection with Aervyn. God, he was only four, and that was one hell of a power flow.
Trust him, said Jamie’s mind voice. You’ve just given him the best gift ever. No one’s been able to channel him a fraction of what he’s holding now. Let’s see what he does with it. Hold the web. That’s your job.
Lauren focused on the web of light pouring toward Aervyn. She sensed him directing and shaping it, felt the building of pressure as he brought the spell to readiness.
When Aervyn finished casting and released the spell, her web glowed for a moment with impossible light. Then Lauren felt her soul fly, joined by four others.
Dance of light in a timeless, sky-blue haze. She was seagull and circus airplane, diving eagle and blown leaf.
Go back now, child. Jennie’s mental touch guided Lauren slowly back to her mind center.
Lauren wasn’t sure how long it took her to feel the physical hands clasping hers, the air flowing in and out of her lungs, the breeze on her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Aervyn’s glee was immense, and the power flowing out of him still palpable.
Jamie was the first to find words. “I’m not sure anyone will believe us.”
Lauren was stunned, and more than a little puzzled. “I’m not sure exactly what happened. Aervyn, what spell did you do?”
Apparently she was very funny. Nell, Jamie, and Aervyn exploded with laughter. Jennie hushed them. “Lauren’s new to magic. Look down, child.”
She looked down, and clutched Jamie’s hand much tighter. They were floating about five feet in the air. Holy shit. “Aervyn floated us?”
“I flewed you!” Aervyn shouted.
“Didn’t you feel us fly, Lauren?” Nell asked.
Lauren nodded slowly. “I did, and it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt. But why are our bodies are up in the air?”
“I flewed them.” Aervyn looked ready to lift off again at any moment.
“I thought it was just in my head.” Lauren suddenly had a clearer memory of the sky-blue haze. Still clutching Jamie’s hand, she looked down at the ground. “Wait, our bodies flew? For real? Did we get higher than this?”
Nell, Jamie, and Aervyn all collapsed in laughter again. One more time, Jennie hushed them. “Lauren, you felt us flying, right?”
“Well, yes, but I thought it was our minds flying, or our souls. It was really beautiful.”
Jennie beamed at her. “It was beautiful. Sometimes we witches can separate our souls from our bodies, but that kind of astral travel is difficult and dangerous.”
Oh, holy God. “I think I need ice cream.” Then her very slow brain really computed what Jennie was saying. “Wait a minute. Wasn’t that awfully dangerous? What if we fell?”
Aervyn settled them all gently to the grass and looked very worried. “Lauren, did I scare you? I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought it would be fun to fly together.”
It had been the most amazing moment of her life so far, and the person responsible was getting a quivery lip.
“Oh, sweetie.” Lauren swept Aervyn into her lap and cuddled him. “It was the best thing I’ve ever done. It was just really big, and I don’t know what to think now. But you didn’t scare me. Thank you for flying me—it was the best magic ever.”
Fortunately, small boys are very easy to comfort.
She could see the other three exchanging glances. “What’s going on, guys?”
Jennie spoke first. “Lauren, we wanted to do some circle work today, a much smaller version of what will happen on Monday night.”
“Right,” Lauren said. “So Aervyn could practice, and I could see what a circle does.”
“Yes,” Jennie said. “And so we could test your channeling talents.”
“Isn’t that what we did? If he could fly us, obviously something worked pretty well.”
Nell laughed. “Lauren, that was the most amazing magical experience of my lifetime.”
Jamie nodded in agreement. “We held more power than I’ve ever felt, even in a full circle. A large part of that was from Aervyn. It really juiced the circle to add his power as well.” He rubbed Aervyn’s head. “Buddy, how did you pull that off?”
“I had the power, but I needed her to hold it so I could cast the spell,” Aervyn said. “I didn’t know where else to put it, and Lauren’s web was really pretty.”
Nell looked at Lauren. “Most spellcasters can barely spare enough magic to hold themselves upright, never mind grab a power source to feed the circle.” She lifted Aervyn’s chin. “Nicely done, sweet boy. Just don’t forget to keep what you need to close the spell. Lauren’s right—we don’t want to crash in mid-flight because you ran out of energy.”
Aervyn rolled his eyes. “I know, Mama.”
Jennie tickled his toes. “Judging by how long you kept us in the air after the circle broke, you had plenty of energy left. However, you aren’t the only one who did something pretty impressive.” She looked at Lauren. “That was the most creative bit of channeling I’ve ever seen.”
Something in her tone had Lauren feeling suddenly unsettled.
Jamie nodded. “You had a crazy amount of power to handle there, Lauren. Looking back, we were insane to do that without circle monitors, but none of us expected a fraction of what happened. Only about one in three who have channeling talents can handle a full circle. I’ll eat my shoes if you aren’t one of them.”
Nell jabbed her brother in the ribs. “You’ll eat anything, brother mine. However, I agree with you. Between us, we’ve been spellcasters for hundreds of circles. Lauren, you handled a whopping amount of power, and very cleanly. I’ve never seen it done anything like how you did it.”
“She has very strong and flexible barriers,” Jennie said. “I believe she used them as a surface to transmit the circle’s power.”
Lauren could feel the conversation heading somewhere, but she had no clue where that might be. Her sense of unease was growing, however.
Apparently Aervyn knew what was coming. “Will she be my channeler?”
Jennie nodded slowly. “That’s what we’re all wondering, sweetie. The two of you certainly work well together. You’ll need to learn to work with other channelers as well, but I think we should pair the two of you on Monday. That certainly wasn’t the plan, but I’d say that with today’s little display, you’ve earned the chance to work together.”
Lauren was fervently glad she was back on the ground. “You want me to channel for a full circle?”
“Yay!” Aervyn bounced in her lap. “Lauren, maybe we can turn the whole sky into Cat Woman.”
“Now there’s a spell worthy of history,” Jennie said dryly. She looked at Jamie. “You might want to brainstorm a few options there.”
Jamie shrugged. “What, you don’t like Cat Woman?”
Lauren’s stomach was curling up into knots. She was coming to terms with being a witch. A nice, ordinary, run-of-the-mill witch. Channeling Aervyn’s first full circle wasn’t remotely run-of-the-mill. She’d been around long enough to know that nothing to do with him was ordinary.
Jennie touched her shoulder and spoke quietly. “You’re not at all ordinary, as a woman, or as a witch. You have a strong mind gift, and now we know you also have the makings of a very fine channeler.” She smiled gently. “Of course, we probably should have figured that out with Cat Woman.”
“I wasn’t a witch until last Wednesday,” Lauren said. “I don’t know how to handle this.”
“You’ve always been a witch, sweetheart. You just didn’t know.”