Collection of Witchy Stories

The fire under the moonlight

The day Eulàlia was born was raining cats and dogs. Joana gave birth with the help of another woman, wiser and older than her, in a cottage in the middle of the mountains where nobody could listen to the screams. After hours of pain, sweat and lightning the young woman gave birth to a beautiful little creature that because of familiar heritage held something valuable inside of her. Power. But, what's more important, knowledge and a sense of nature. The fact of having a smart mother figure enable the remedies made her a powerful and, at the same time, feared creature.

Joana knew that she should hide the child, above all, from them. The men once kept her captive because they thought she was a witch. Because they thought she was possessed by the devil, Lucifer. Joana raised her child moving from town to town until they found a little one where the ecclesiastic forces did not have that much power. Actually, people from the village started to get curious about Joana's job and they even turned to her when having health problems and when they wanted to know the future. Until the day Joana, María and Eulàlia helped that couple.

That night, the three of them went on a trip to the forest. They used to do it each full moon because on the top of the mountain they could observe the beauty of the moon. They lit some candles that María prepared a few days ago, and they sat down in the moonlight. They ate food, laughed, explained ancient stories of other times and tried to connect with themselves, with their soul, with nature. María and Joana wrote in their diaries and then shared their thoughts with each other. Eulàlia was fascinated by both of them, the kids of the town told her that women did not write, that that was a man thing and not all men knew it, usually men who were part of the church and the monarchy.

" I have an idea, I think you do not do those things here, but from where I come from we set a fire and we do a dance around it on full moon night like this one. I can teach you." María said with enthusiasm.

" It sounds very fun, I want to do it," the girl replied.

"No. We can't attract attention," said Joana solemnly.

" We are in the middle of the forest, nobody is gonna see us"

" María, I want to do it, I want to learn about it, I want you to teach me about your rituals, but as far as I want something I know that this could not be safe. Not after the looks of that man and the one that asked Eulàlia what she was doing. There are voices that tell stories and badmouth us."

María gently took her hand and looked her in the eyes, which were lightened by the moonlight and were brighter than usual. She had a tender gaze in her eyes, a gaze that she did not have with the rest of the people. She knew that she must protect her child and herself from other people, that's why she always had a fierce look. But, that night was different. María stroked Joana's curly hair and tucked a lock behind her ear.

"Maite zaitut" she recited an I love you in Basque and kissed her. A tender and true kiss that Joana returned softly. Eulàlia watched the scene with emotion, those things did not happen between women, but inside her was something telling her that that was beautiful. The problem was that she was not the only one watching that night.

"This is sin!" exclaimed one of the men watching the scene hidden in the woods.

" Joan shut your mouth, we don't want them to hear us unless you want to end up dying horribly. What you should do is look for the cavalry ". Joan frowned; he did not like to receive orders, but he headed towards the town. The cavalry had been warned that they were tracking the witches' movements and that tonight they were likely to intervene. For weeks they had heard stories of the woman who worked miracles with wounds, healed the sick, foretold the future and could speak to the dead. Many rumours haunted the nearby villages and reached the ears of the Inquisition. But, the flame that lit the fuse was the sin that a man denounced to the village church: love between women. Women and sinners, could not go unpunished.

María made mother and daughter stand up. She was well aware that both of them had more or less the same knowledge. They were able to prepare ointments with herbs to make wounds heal faster, they sometimes saw the future and they were able to communicate with their ancestors with candles and thyme. Even if they were born in distant parts of the peninsula. That was because of the common origins of women like them. Although sometimes practices changed. Maria knew that this ritual, so typical of her land, was not usually carried out in Joana's lands. She was especially excited to show it to Joana and make her feel this strong connection with the moon.

" We are not going to do a fire but we can use the candles," she said by placing the candles on the ground in a circle. "The dance is easy, you just need to let your body flow with what are you feeling in the moment, let your surrounding, the power of nature, the moon and your body connect"

.

María took Joana with one hand and Eulàlia with the other, encouraging them to move to her rhythm. Little by little both of them let go of María and danced to their rhythm around the candles. And amidst laughter, uncoordinated movements and the warm moonlight, they appeared.