12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Mars

The only thing more awkward than having to share space with someone who had the nerve to kiss you and then reject you was hanging out with that person’s son—who just happens to be your best friend. Lucky for me, I was too busy with this year’s Samhain event to be sociable, so Steven would most likely chalk up my behavior to that. The last thing I wanted was to be like, Forgive me for being a pouty brat, but I kind of kissed your dad, and while he was totally into it at first, he completely put a halt to things.

As much as it annoyed me that I was still bothered by what had happened, I was really pleased with the turnout for this year’s event. I had posted on social media, explaining that I wanted to make sure the participants had plenty of time to do their normal Halloween stuff earlier in the evening. I’d been afraid that would result in a low turnout. This was only the third year I’d done the Samhain event, and it was the first time the holiday fell on a weeknight. I was starting to understand why my aunt had always held her celebrations the weekend before instead of on the actual day. She always made it clear that this was a family event, and kids were welcome, so in order to be mindful of that, we were determined to end the event earlier than usual this time.

I’d spent the day making a harvest stew, as was my aunt’s tradition. I’d made a fair amount of changes to the shop since her passing, but there were certain aspects I refused to let go of. So far, about 15 people sat around inside my workshop, the space where we held classes, and I was more than pleased with that number. We would stay inside to eat and build community, which was the real point of this event. After everyone had had their fill and time to talk, getting to know anyone they hadn’t met before, we would go outside for our ceremony.

I took some extra time to make sure that Roxy had everything she needed. Normally, Steven had the absolute worst luck when it came to women, but Roxy was so good for him. As people wandered in, I found them a seat and made sure they had something to eat and drink. A couple had just walked in that I’d never met before, so I took a few minutes to introduce myself.

“Hello, welcome to The Chrysalis Moon. I’m Mars, and it’s lovely to meet you.”

“Thank you,” the younger of the two women said. “I’m Amethyst, and this is Poppy.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Amethyst and Poppy. Have you ever attended one of our events before?”

“No,” Poppy said, much quieter than Amethyst. “We’ve never even been to your shop. We just saw the event on Facebook and were so excited to learn that you’re even here. We had no idea! We’ve been traveling all the way to San Antonio to buy crystals and things.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here, and I hope you’ll come back on a quieter day to check out the shop.”

“Oh, we will. We saw the pictures on your webpage, and it looks like just what we need.”

“I can’t wait to see you. Hopefully, when you come, you’ll have plenty of time to sit down and have a cup of tea, and you can tell me about yourselves.”

“Your website said you mix your own tea blends?” Amethyst asked.

“I don’t mix them myself, but someone local does, and they’re delicious, if I do say so myself. She uses a very discerning mix of ingredients, most of which come from organic or locally grown sources at a ranch not far from here. If you enjoy the teas and are curious about the ingredients, you can always visit the ranch and see where they come from.”

“Your ranch?” Poppy asked.

“No, it’s not mine, but my family lives there.”

“Well, that sounds amazing.”

“I hope to see you soon. Help yourself to a bowl of stew. Most of those ingredients came from the ranch as well.”

I turned to walk away and almost ran into Holly Thomas. She was a regular at the shop, and while I appreciated all my customers, I could admit—at least to myself—that she wasn’t one of my favorites. Not that I’d ever discourage her from coming; as I’ve said before, these events are all about community. When you live in a place like Vesper, it isn’t easy to find your tribe if you’re different. And Holly was definitely different.

“Mars!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to catch your attention, but you’ve just been flitting around from person to person.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty busy here tonight.” I moved to go around her, but she sidestepped right in front of me.

“I really needed to see if you had a few minutes to do a reading for me tonight.”

“Tonight? I really don’t think—”

“But, Mars, you have to! I have a really big decision to make, and you know I can’t make those decisions without you doing a reading for me.”

“Holly, we’ve talked about this. You don’t need me to do readings for you. Everything you need to make those decisions is right in here.” I reached out and tapped her chest. “Use your pendulum, read the energy, listen to what Spirit is telling you.”

“I know you always say that, but I just need you.”

I gestured around the room. “As you can see, I’m a little busy tonight. I really don’t think I’ll have time to do a reading.”

Her shoulders sagged, and her face fell. “I understand. You have a business to run. I know.” She turned and slunk away.

I went back to dishing up stew and making sure everyone was enjoying themselves. By the time it was time to go outside for the ceremony, the room was packed. I looked over at Ziva and smiled, and she gave me a nod. She’d been right—no one seemed to care that I’d pared down the event. It was a good reminder to listen to my own advice. This wasn’t about making witch balls, having an herbal tea bar, or doing the crystal swap. It was about community.

“Okay, everyone,” I said. “Up front, we have a bowl of sticks. I mean, sticks, right?” Everyone chuckled. “There’s a marker in the cup next to the bowl. On your way out, take a minute to write down a couple of words that describe something you want to let go of right now. Before the night is over, we’ll toss those into the fire and release all of those things. Now, I’m going to head out and get our fire going. Once you’re done, grab a drum”—I pointed at the table covered in drums, rattles, and other instruments—“and come join me around the fire.”

It didn’t take long for me to get the fire burning brightly. I smiled as I watched this amazing group of people file out one at a time to take their place in the circle around the fire.

“August, can you play the beat for us?” I asked. He’d been coming to the shop’s solstice celebrations and our monthly drum circles for a while now. He nodded and started to play.

I launched into The Earth is our Mother, and pretty much everyone joined in. I noticed that Amethyst and Poppy had jumped right in, which made me smile.

We sang a few more songs, and then I announced that it was time to let go of any things we didn’t need to hold onto.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to pass around this talking stick. When it’s your turn, you’re going to offer something you have in abundance to the circle, and you’re also going to take something you need. I’ll go first.”

I held up the talking stick I’d made for this event. It was a thick stick with ribbons tied around it. I’d also woven in some crystals to help us amplify our hopes and prayers.

“I give to this circle hope, and I take from this circle love.” I smiled at everyone before passing the stick to the person on my left.

She smiled at me and nodded before taking the stick. “I give to this circle friendship and take from this circle patience.” Then she passed it on.

The next few people said things of similar sentiment until we got to one of our younger members, who I knew had been struggling with some things.

“I give to this circle creativity, and I take from this circle peace and safety.”

There were a few murmurs of agreement before they passed on the stick. I locked eyes with Ziva across the circle, and she nodded. We would both be sure to follow up with him later on.

A couple more people spoke their truths, and then it was Steven’s turn. He’d always been supportive and came to my events even though it wasn’t really his thing.

He took the stick and locked eyes with me. “I give to this circle the power to make smart choices for the future, and I take from the circle understanding for those who don’t.” He lifted one eyebrow and looked at me.

What was that about? Roxy gave him an exasperated look and took the stick from him.

“I give to this circle unconditional love and acceptance, and I take from this circle joy.”

When the stick made its way around, I took it and placed it on its spot on the altar.

I nodded at August, and he started drumming again. I launched into what had always been one of my aunt’s favorite call-and-response songs. It was one of my favorites as well. I especially loved it because it was easy for the new people to pick up.

When that was done, we did a couple of rounds with our drums, and then I closed with a call to the universe for peace, love, and water because the earth needed it, and so did we.

Most people had work the next day, me included, so after we closed, people said their goodbyes and started to leave.

I checked the time and saw that I’d been at the shop for 12 hours that day. I was more than ready for bed. Just as Ziva and I were finishing up and getting ready to leave, Holly came back.

“So, now that the event is over… do you have time to do the reading?”

I was tired, and the last thing I wanted to do was a card reading. Very few people understood how much energy it took to do one. It wasn’t as simple as flipping over cards; there was an energy exchange that often left me exhausted afterwards, so I hated to do one when I was already tapped out. But the hopeful look on Holly’s face kept me from saying no.

“I can’t do a full reading, but I can do a short one if you’d like.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, yes! A short one would be fine. Thank you so much.”

“No problem,” I lied.

Ziva looked up at me from the sink and shook her head before saying, “You go ahead and do that. I’ll finish up here.”

Reminding me once again that I couldn’t do this without her.

“Thanks. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I took Holly through the shop to the tea table. “We’ll just do it here tonight since we’re not doing a full reading. Have a seat.”

One of these days, I’d learn to say no—and mean it.

I took a minute to breathe and clear my mind so I could pick an appropriate deck for her, and immediately, I knew which one it should be. I pulled out my Raven’s Dream Tarot and set it on the table in front of us.

“Okay, Holly. What’s this reading about?”

“This guy that I work with asked me out, and I said yes without even thinking, but now I’m feeling weird about it. I don’t know if I should cancel or not.”

“Well, Holly, we’ll do the reading and see what the cards say, but I really believe we should trust our gut when it’s talking to us.”

I took the cards out of the box, closed my eyes, and took in a deep breath. “Working in light and in the interest of everyone’s highest good,” I said as I breathed out and began to shuffle the cards.

Once I felt like the cards were good, I spread them out in an arc and ran my hands over them, feeling for that intuitive pull that a card belonged in her reading. I pulled out three cards and flipped them over.

She had the High Priestess card, the Moon card, and Two of Swords.

“Wow, Holly, this is a pretty powerful reading.”

“Really?” she asked, looking down at the cards.

“Yeah, we start here with the High Priestess. This card says that you should trust your inner voice and not listen to what others are telling you because you already know what needs to be done.”

She nodded in agreement and leaned forward in her chair.

“Then we have the Moon card, which encourages you to rely on instinct and your inner knowing.”

“My inner knowing?” she asked.

“Yeah, pretty much the same as saying trust your gut because you already know what the answer is.”

“If only,” she mumbled.

“And last, you have the Two of Swords. This card tends to show up when we’re stuck and struggling to make a decision.”

“Well, that makes sense.” She looked up at me and sighed. “I do feel stuck.”

“But you have two cards out of the three telling you to trust your gut. So when you’re feeling stuck”—I tapped the Two of Swords card—“you fall back on these other two, and you use this inner knowing to make the hard decisions.”

“So I should cancel the date then.”

“I’m not saying you should cancel. I’m saying you should trust yourself to know if you should cancel or not. Everything you need to make the best choice is already available to you. You only have to listen.”

“Okay, thank you, Mars. You’re the best, even when the message isn’t what I wanted to hear.”

“It’s a good message, Holly. It means you have the power to make your own decisions. You just have to trust yourself.”