Journey of faith: A witch's memory.

It is the first day of September.
Autumn breeze is gently blowing through the trees, tugging off leaves at random.
In the corner of the autumn scene, a woman walks up to the smallest tree and takes one golden coloured leaf from its branches and disappears.
***
September
Today is September.
If there weren’t anything else going on, I would probably lie under the trees in the valley until dawn.
But there is something going on.
Today, the villagers are executing an old lady, accused of witchcraft.
It’s a shame.
If only someone could stop this cruelty, because I know she isn’t what they say.
Yes, she may be a witch, but not the devils slave, or the black devil as they call her.
Her poor granddaughter is who I fear for the most, because the villagers will turn on her next, and then she would be tried and executed.
Even if she was innocent.
I should know.
They tried me.
It all started when my mother was caught gathering herbs and spices in the nearby woods.
She pleaded innocent many a time, but eventually she was made to take an ordeal.
They tied her to the end of a ducking stool and ducked her in the water.
Unfortunately she could swim and just as she was rising up out of the water they dragged her out and burned her at the stake.
I wasn’t aloud to watch, so I stayed at home and using mother’s herbs mashed them together in a pot.
I had seen her do the same many a time, I was also very angry with the villagers for taking away my mother from me.
But someone caught me mixing up mother’s herbs and thought I was making a potion.
I was 14.


They could make me take a trial by ordeal or other means of ordeal and execute me.
Well, they did just that, this time they searched for a mark of the devil.
I have a small mark on my shoulder, from being born 3 weeks early.
They thought it was the devils mark.
So they were all set to hang me.
But before I was executed, an extraordinary thing happened.
As I was being led to the stage, to be hanged, someone in the crowd lunged forward and cut the ropes that held me captive.
As soon as I had chance I ran as fast as I could.
There’s a lot more to my story, but right now someone needs my help.
Later
She was close to being caught then.
Her names sally.
Yes, I rescued the old lady’s granddaughter.
It was simple really, all I had to do was walk over to the spot where she was standing and I grabbed her arm and led her to my inn room.
The reason she came without struggling was because I had enchanted her.
It wasn’t black magic.
Just my good will and the spirits.
The spirits are my major source of power.
Many of us, believe in many gods or figures as our source of power.
But generally mine is the spirits.
They are:
Eithea-the earth spirit(female)
Wylevien-the water spirit(male)
Arvena-the air spirit(female)
Fervien-the fire spirit(male)
They sound like the elements.
But the elements have spirits and these are just the main ones!
Eithea gives me the powers that the earth provides.
She is a motherly spirit.
Wylevian gives me the powers of water.
He is a wild spirit.
Arvena gives me powers of the air.
She is a free spirit.
Fervien is the fire spirit and gives me fire powers and powers from the centre of the earth.
He is an argumentative, often rebellious spirit, which gets angry very easily, unleashing evil powers from the centre of the earth.
These four spirits are siblings and can be responsible for many disasters as well as rewards.


But getting back to sally now,
She tells me she knows me, “from the fire in the woods”, she says…
Well, I told her.
I am an enchantress, sorceress, witch.
Well, I suppose I could teach her…
She already has the gift, I can sense it.
Well, an apprentice witch.
Or whatever you might call it.
October?!
October, apparently!
Well we really do need to prepare for the day of the hallows!
Our grand day!
Sally is quite a charmer; I do believe she will make the most wonderful witch/sorceress/enchantress.


Well, now, hallows eve, we really need to cast are charm.
Sally says she used to spend hallows eve in the woods with her grandma.
They would talk and sing rhymes and spells, dancing round a fire, eating many wonderful treats together.
I told her that we would take it seriously but have a little fun as well.
So far we are planning an open fire, when we dance of spirits upon the fire, we will cast various spells and enchantments with a woods walk, in which I will show her the environments of the spirits and attempt to teach her more about them.
And finally, and respecting sallys grandma, do as she did on hallows eve.
October, hallows eve.
Well, right now, we are sitting around the fire and chatting whilst eating my hallows eve treats.
What a marvellous hallows it has been!
Oops, sallys spotted me writing again…
She says she wonders what I write in here.
Enchantments, spells, diary…
She says her grandmother used to keep a logbook of dates and events, day after day.
I tell her my book and her grandmothers book are very different but for the same reasons.
She wants to know the reason…
I will tell her…


Well it all started a long time again when the date was about atleast 3 years from present.
A lady called Adriana was sitting under a tree; she had a small leather bound book in her hands.
She was writing.
When suddenly an angry hoard of people came up to her and dragged her off to a to a group of witchunters, who burned her straight away.
They also burned the book with her.
And the next morning, the small book was still there unharmed in a pile of ashen rubble.
Adrianas husband retrieved the book and at midnight buried it in adrianas grave.
All us witches and sorceresses and enchantresses carry a book in which we write diary entries, thoughts, feelings and spells, we carry them with us until we die.
We die with the book, though it remains pristine, and eventually have it buried with us.
Its respect for Adriana and most of all a memory of our lives.
Sally looks shocked to know this, but after a while she asked me if I would give her a book too.
Well, I am glad to give her one.


As I am writing this, sallys just started her memory.
It is quite an emotional journey.
Speaking of journeys, I have heard the villagers are immigrating to some new country: America.
Me and sally will not go though, as lifes happier here.
Well…. here is a cottage in the south woods.
The reason no ones found us yet and accused us of witchcraft is because they can not see us or the cottage.
I cast a charm on the cottage to protect myself and sally from the cruel outside world…