Rosemary's Ghosts (Tess Schafer-Medium) by Hughes Deborah J

Author:Hughes, Deborah J. [Hughes, Deborah J.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2013-10-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

We made our bonfire in the center of Rosemary's small lawn, using a few logs from the woodpile to get it started. Once we had a nice steady burn going, we gathered twigs and branches lying in the vicinity to build it up. There was enough wood debris to get a decent fire going and the build-up of anticipation grew steadily within me. The very idea of conducting an ancient ritual was quite thrilling. Maybe I'd start a tradition from here on out and have a bonfire at my house every Halloween night.

Rosemary and I worked in silence but with a harmony between us that was comfortable and familiar. It seemed like I'd known her forever. Perhaps that was indeed the case. Who is to say Rosemary and I hadn't met in some other lifetime? Smiling at the idea and wondering what Rosemary would think about it, I tossed a small dried-out tree stump onto the pile then glanced over in time to see her snapping off the dying branches of an Elder tree. Given the situation we were in, I did not want us risking the possibility of inviting more trouble so hastened over to stop her.

"That's an Elder tree. You shouldn't use the wood from an Elder tree in a bonfire."

Rosemary swung around and looked at me with surprise. "Why ever not?"

"Elder trees are considered a sacred tree and their presence acts as protection from evil spirits. The fact you even have one on the island is pretty awesome. There is a belief attached to the Elder wood that to burn it brings bad luck."

Rosemary dropped the twigs in her hand. "I have enough of that. I sure don't want anymore." She cast a dubious glance at the tree. "Not that it's stopped the spirits from bothering me or anything."

She had a point, though in all fairness to the spirits, I didn't think they were evil. Then again, they weren't all good either.

I started to turn back toward the bonfire when I spotted some mugwort plants growing along the edge of the clearing. Since Rosemary wanted to get into the spirit of things, I pointed to the plant and dropped to my knees next to it. "You know, Rosemary, the mugwort plant was often used to make garland which was then worn on the head while dancing around a bonfire. At the end of the dance the garland is thrown into the fire and it's supposed to guarantee protection throughout the year ahead." I paused to look up at her, saw that I had her rapt attention and continued on. "I don't think they did this during Halloween though. Probably because the plants have usually gone out of season but since you have some available, I can't imagine it would hurt to give it a try. Besides, when mugwort is burned it is supposed to help with divination. Not only that," Rosemary dropped down next to me and I touched her arm with growing enthusiasm for our coming celebration.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.