Elsie

She stared out at the rain falling on the garden beneath. I was green and wet. The ideal forms of big round waxy leaves and wet nearly flowerless of blossoms clover. naked like a used corn bob. She stirred her tea and sipped the Oolong and herbs she had used to made it. She felt power surge through as she connected with the earth or perhaps it was with because of the caffeine. The world is a convulsion of intensities and influences but sometimes a cigar is a cigar. A witch should use her head as much as her heart. She stared out into the garden when shined imbued the world with its energy of the happiness that the plants growing the energy that gave off in this concentration of health and beauty. The plants where no less happy they liked the rain it cooled them down and parched their thirst its was a refreshment. A rejuvenation. The boon in a large of endless cycle of quench and parch. The difference between her and her plants was that it seemed that she was the one that had start and end the cycle on her own volition. With free will comes responsibility. She turned back to the rest of the kitchen. To the uninitiated it would seem innocuous, but she bared the tool of her practice quite clearly. The copper pots, the bundles of herbs drying on the walls the crystals and focus placed delightfully on the mantel. The rumbled rocks and agates present so causally and kitschy about. It’s not that she flung them around so carelessly. Simple that she had them when she needed them. She kept her alter in the pantry closet but not because of any need for secrecy. It was a matter of preference. She had sometime ago heard of the idea of a prayer closet, a closed off secluded space where on e could commune and genuflect.  She liked that Idea.  A place of worship away from distractions. She was not the type of person who cast spells and blessing sitting, watching reruns of the Andy Griffin show but she also didn’t want a spell broken by the mailman or the neighbor’s noisy dog chasing the hens out in the yard. It was also nice for when she had guests. Her grandchildren knew that sometimes grandma spent time in her closet ant that they shouldn’t interrupt her. Her children want ed theirs to be raised areligious so that they could make their own decision when they where of proper reasoning. She wasn’t one to proselytize her family, but it would be nice to show them how to read the cards and to teach them the importance of nature and the consequences of their actions. A bit of folk magic is always useful weather it’s a simple blessing or a ward against negative energy. 

She heard a knock on her door. I was a young woman, mid 20s’. dressed in a business formal blouse, pencil skirt and flats. Though judging from the style, she worked in a, fairly small office. They where a bit department store. But, considering that she was wearing a peasant blouse she bought at the local thrift store she wasn’t on to judge one’s sartorial decisions

“Come in”, she said casually

 “Sorry? Your Elsie right? I wasn’t expecting someone so...”

“Plain? Not everyone you will meet is going to look like a boardwalk gypsie, you know. Though if it will help you feel better I can wear a tea towel as a turban and talk about a stranger ‘Vague, dark, and handsome’ she said dramatically with a smirk.

“I didn’t mean any offen…”

“Don’t worry sweetie” she said putting up her hand, “Everyone has their expectations, we all think that every Christian is a bible-thumper, every Buddhist is sitting in a monastery in Tibet, and every witch is a flamboyant enigmatic foreigner name Madame Zonya. I mean” she said mischievously “either that or I’m going to ‘Get you my pretties’” she said in her best wicked witch of the west voice, which was absolutely terrible.

“Anyway, please, come sit down.” She gestured her in.

“Would you like some tea before we start?

“Um, what’s in it” the woman said timidly.

“Oolong, rosemary, Thyme and a little bit of lemon. You know, nothing, too witchy” she joked.

“Um sure” she said “that sounds nice” she had sat down by then. She had slipped on foot out of her penny loafers and traced a circle in the rug with her hosed foot nervously. She seemed closed off.

“You can relax sweetie this is a reading a blood sacrifice”

“sorry” she muttered embarrassedly.

“She didn’t mean to upset her more “Perhaps, the cards will help ease your mind”

“Would you like to start?” she asked.

“Sure, what do I need to do. “

“Just sit there and think about a question you want to ask about a situation or person that you want to ask about. As she said this the woman touched her lips dragging the back of her knuckle across her mouth and then brushing back a string of hair behind her ears.

“So, a boy” she thought.

“or girl. She shouldn’t assume”

“You want to know if you feel the same way?”

The woman looked unsettled “How did you know?”

“little bit of cold reading, the card are the ones speaking but they’re a bit easier to interpret if I have a bit of context”

“Do you need details, because” She nervously grabbed her arm/

“No, keep the details to yourself if you tell me too much it might influence my reading if only subconsciously.”

Putting on a bit of an air “This is a fairly simple divination for, four cards”

The woman leaned in breathing sharply, curiously.

She shuffled the deck wending with a perfect card dealers bridge.  She was no madame Zonya, but she had her own sense of flair. She closed her eyes.  She placed down the cards one by one. “The Past, The Present, The Future, The eventual outcome. She turned over the first cards “Death, Inverted”

“What does that mean? Am, Am I allowed to talk?

“of course, dear his is a divination not a funeral.

“inverted means the opposite of the usually meaning. This can be good or bad depending on the context.

“Strength inverted is weakness and doubt, the tower inverted is calamity averted. In this case death represents a large change or the end of a cycle.

“Cycle?”

“A lot of things are cyclical in life. Relationships, business opportunities, personal life projects, you start, progress and eventually end learning something in the process. Soon to try again the next day. Like the hero’s journey. You find something and complete it growing as a person.”

“In this case. The card means that you are resistant to change perhaps in the past. You wanted to change the situation but couldn’t or you didn’t know k if you where ready for a change, but this is in the past.

“The present: Temperance. The card of balance and forethought. This is advice for the here and now.  When you with this person try not to rush things, take it slow and be thoughtful and considerate.”

“The future: The Chariot, the chariot symbolizes progression and perseverance. It might mean that your situation will escalate in the future towards the inevitable outcome or it might mean that you need to be steadfast and keep working on the relationship. Either way it leads to the final outcome.” She flipped oven the final card. “The lovers” the woman inhaled sharply. “Now, now, the lovers can represent lots of things. Balance, Harmony, Healthy Relationships of all kinds. However, given the context I think your cam take this one literally. If you continue on this path you will get the outcome that you want. “

“Always remember honey, the cards can explain the situation, but they cannot dictate your actions. They provide advice the future is set in stone. No matter what the cards tell you. You and you alone are responsible for your own actions.

“thank you, Elsie,” the woman said a bit thrilled. “Um, how much do I owe you?”

“If you could leave a couple dollars in the bowl by the door that would be wonderful.

The woman got up from her chair she seemed mooched more relaxed through she couldn’t tell if that was from the good news or simple getting acclimated to the new situation. Smiling she walked toward the kitchen door stopping by the pedestal where she kept the fish bowl. She left what looked like a twenty. Bless her soul. The tea kettle whistled. She got up poured her self another cup and set in front of the window again. She could see the woman closing the garden gate and waved. It was going to be a while till her next customer she should probably do something else for a while. The rain was letting up, so she might put on her Welsh’s and tend the garden for a bit. She took a sip of her tea.