“Got it!” they echoed.
I led them down the wide, winding stone stairs that emptied beside the new stone wall surrounding the grotto.
“Oh, for shit’s sake. Look at that. Talk about morons.” Aphrodite pointed at the wall and we all looked closer. Tucked into small cracks and natural niches in the stone were offerings. I saw everything from coins to crystals and beads, and even several votive candles—not lit at the moment.
“Those need to go,” I said. “After we cast the spell and close the circle, let’s throw all of that crap away. And for a while I’m going to have the Sons of Erebus send a Warrior to stand guard twenty-four-seven.”
“Noted, High Priestess,” Darius said. “Shifts will begin at dawn.”
“The last thing we need is for Neferet to feed off idiotic human worship,” Aphrodite said.
I nodded agreement, and thanked Darius, but shoved the general public’s idiocy from my mind. “Focus, everyone. Remember our intent.” Then I moved several yards from the wall to stand in the center of a nice flat section of ground. “All right, circle around me.”
My friends found their directions easily: air–east, fire–south, water–west, earth–north. All circled around me, personifying spirit, in the center. I carefully put down the tall purple ritual candle at my feet. Spirit was always the last element called to the circle, and the first to close the circle. I pulled the box of extra-long wood matches from where I’d snuggled it inside my awesome black bomber jacket (that had wild feminist printed in bold white letters on the back—I love me some Wild Fang!). I closed my eyes and drew three long, deep breaths—in and out, in and out, in and out, while I focused my thoughts on my intent.
Protection against Neferet.
When I felt ready, I opened my eyes and walked directly to where Aphrodite stood at the east side of the circle. I’d written the calling of the elements and the spell itself with a focus on protection. My words and my voice mirrored the power that I was determined to invoke.
“Oh, winds of storm, I call for you. Cast your mighty blessing upon the magick I work here. Air, come forth!” I touched my match to Aphrodite’s yellow candle. It lit instantly, and Aphrodite’s hair lifted, whirling in a gust of wind so wild that had she not covered her candle, it would have gone out. “Air, what is your offering for this spell of protection?”
Aphrodite pulled the ritual dagger from somewhere inside the fur trimmed cape she’d swathed herself in. “I offer an athame. May it cut through anything that stands in the way of our spellwork tonight.”
I bowed formally to her before taking the athame and tucking it into a belt loop on my jeans. Then I made my way clockwise to the south and fire.
“Oh, fire of lightning, storm bringer, magick worker I call for you. Cast your mighty blessing upon the magick I work here. Fire, come forth!”
I didn’t need to touch a match to Shaunee’s red candle. It blazed into life on its own in a burst of heat so great it made me flinch. “Fire, what is your offering for this spell of protection?”
Shaunee lifted the hand not holding her ritual candle and gave me a perfect pyramid made of crystal. I blinked in surprise.
Shaunee’s grin was fierce, making her facial tattoos, which were twin phoenixes rising from flames, seem to glow from her internal flame. “I offer a tetrahedron—the physical manifestation of the elements that create fire. It is my wish that it burns away anything that stands in the way of our spellwork tonight. I found it in one of the old trophy cases. Perfect, right?”
“Perfect,” I agreed. I bowed and took it. The pyramid rested, cool and smooth, in the palm of my hand before I put it in the pocket of my jacket. I moved to the west, and Shaylin’s personification of water.
“Oh, drowning torrents of storm-wrapped tornado rain, I call for you. Cast your mighty blessing upon the magick I work here. Water, come forth!”
It took Shaylin’s candle an instant longer than necessary to light, but when it finally did I held my breath as, for just a moment, I swear I felt as if I’d been transported to the middle of the ocean. Shaylin giggled gleefully.
“Water, what is your offering for this spell of protection?”
Shaylin handed me the fist-sized stone, water-etched with a heart. “I offer proof of my element’s power. It is my wish that it flood anything that stands in the way of our spellwork tonight.”
I bowed to Shaylin and water, and put the rock in my other pocket. It felt heavy and solid—and I thought how perfect it was, as well.
Moving to the top of the circle, I stood before Stevie Rae, who dimpled at me.
“Oh, earth—solid, mighty survivor of every storm ever created, I call for you. Cast your mighty blessing upon the magick I work here. Earth, come forth!”
Stevie Rae’s green candle lit easily and I was instantly transported to a mighty mountain range. I felt it all around me, and knew earth would support our protection spell with unparalleled power.
“Earth, what is your offering for this spell of protection?”
“I offer this rowan. It’s a magickal gateway as well as a protector. It is my wish that it serves as a doorway for our spellwork tonight.”
Clutching a wand, Stevie Rae lifted her hand. It suddenly reminded me of a scene from Harry Potter, which made me smile as I bowed to my bestie and took the slender, graceful offering. I turned and walked to the center of our circle, kneeling beside my purple spirit candle to complete its opening. “Oh, strong and powerful, all-knowing spirit, I call for you. Cast your mighty blessing upon the magick I work here. Spirit, come forth and complete my circle!”
An exquisitely familiar feeling swallowed me, reminding me how much I’d missed circling. Quickly, I made a silent promise to myself that I wasn’t going to let work keep me from the pleasure of circle casting. Then I reached up and released the braid that held my redbird feather.
“I offer this feather—the spirit of my people—free and strong. It is my wish that it fills our circle and focuses our intent for our spellwork tonight.”
I stood then, and let my eyes follow the glowing silver thread that bound my friends, the personification of the elements, together in a perfect circle of power, shining with intent. Feeling full, happy, powerful, I began emptying my pockets and arranging the items carefully on the soft, snow-sprinkled ground.
I worked backwards. First I held out the rowan wand. Speaking slowly, carefully, I began casting the spell of protection. I’d decided that there hadn’t been time for creating the rhyme and meter that usually went into the words of a spell. Instead, I focused on intention and power—lots of power.
“I begin with earth’s offering, the rowan. I return it to earth, blessed by the elements, and infused with power. May it grow strong and long—so mighty that it can withstand any negative influence.” I pressed the raw end of the wand into the ground, planting it firmly. Then I took Shaylin’s rock and placed it on the west side of the rowan twig, saying, “Next comes water. I place it beside the rowan where it can nurture its growth through life-giving waters, like blood through our bodies.” My hand found the pyramid, which I placed on the opposite side of the twig. “I move to the manifestation of fire, symbolized by the four sides of this pyramid. May its heat warm the rowan, even when the cold breath of Darkness threatens to stunt or destroy it.” Finally, I held the athame high. The light from our joined circle glinted off its blade, and its fierce beauty made me smile. “And now, air! With this athame I will mark a pentacle within our circle, to create a power-filled pentagram, infused with the might of the elements and our combined intent.” I moved deliberately because in order for a pentacle to manifest a circled pentagram fully, it must be drawn by a single line, with the spirit point up.