Phoenix

I had risen long before the dawn, and trod the spiral path barefoot to the Tor, seeking a space of quiet before the testing that would come with the dusk. As the Sun-Father's face swam above the horizon, I gave the ritual thanks, and rose to make my way back down the hill, willing away the disquiet I felt every time I saw the drought-browned land that had once flourished below, green and fertile. Though I knew intellectually that it was simply rain that was needed, from my time in this place I instinctively knew the barrenness of the land reflected the falling away of the people from the land's spirit, their separation from the Sun-Father and Earth-Mother. Fewer and fewer of the common-folk followed the old ways, fewer of the young girls and boys came to the priestesses and derwydden to follow the sacred ways. The priestesses of the Mother and the Derwydden that honoured the Sun-Father were becoming increasingly desperate for a sign, for guidance. I knew there was more riding on my Making as priestess than just surviving the Rite - not only would the powers I would carry as a fully-fledged Priestess be invaluable to the dwindling numbers of the community at the Tor, but, Lady willing, the Vision of my soul-spirit would offer insight into the will of the Mother for her children. No pressure, the intellectual side of me commented with sarcasm.

I spent the rest of the day in seclusion, taking neither food nor drink, speaking to no-one.

As the sun's disk sank lower, three of the priestesses came to me, robed and hooded. With their own hands they bathed me, rubbed down my skin with pungent herbs, and clothed me afresh in a rough robe of grey stuff. Silently, the eldest held out a bowl containing dark liquid. I drank it to the last drops, handing back the bowl as I felt my senses shift. Together they led me out of the hut and out along the sacred way. The sun-father was nearly at the end of his day's journey, and the mists were gathering as we walked. At length we came to a low mound, a gentle swelling of the Mother's belly. I knew all the lands about the Tor, yet I knew also that I had never seen this place before. We entered, and in the womb's dark I felt bodiless hands pass something in a circle. I took it, and bit down, swallowing hard to force the bitter taste past nerveless lips. The last fetters of consciousness loosened as I felt hands gently steer me to the stone at the room's centre and lay me down. I was dimly aware as they left, and the stone rolled back across the chamber's entrance. A splinter of thought detached; abstractly, I was aware that should I fail this last test, my soul-spirit would not find it's way back to the flesh that housed it, and would have to wait until the next cycle of rebirth. I will not fail ! my soul cried. The thought-splinter flared and vanished.

I desired to be away from the dark, so I passed out of the chamber into the night. I saw the Three seated in a loose circle, the ritual guard of the chamber's entrance. Briefly I touched their minds, and flew onwards to where I needed to go. As I travelled, a light grew on the horizon and the land melted into daylight. I walked a narrow, difficult path, but as I walked children, young girls, came up out of their villages towards me, and followed me. Singly, in twos and in threes, they came. Laughing, they skipped lightly along the path I picked my way along with needful care. I walked the land from north to south, and east to west, and wherever the children danced the land glowed anew with joy and vigour, healed and whole. At length I turned towards the land's heart, the beating Heart of the Mother. Beckoning the children on, I led them up the spiralling path to the top of the Tor. They circled the weathered stone, dancing and laughing as the land throbbed with life. I walked within the circle, and stood before the ancient stone. My eyes and spirit traced its contours hungrily, feeling it stir and pulse with potency. In the west, I felt a power swell in the Mother's belly and surge towards the Stone. Joining, the energies flared as they met the downward thrust of power from the Sun-Father, now blazing bright overhead. I stretched my hands towards the sacred Stone, nexus of the conjoined Powers; its rough surface embraced me fleetingly, comfortingly. My shell flared and dissolved in agony, and my screams rent the sky. A new form came to me, and embraced my soul-spirit. I stretched out lambent black wings, and screamed my defiance. I leapt upwards from the fire of my birth and soared into the air, glorying in my flight. Far below, small charred shapes lay in circle about a blackened stone. I screamed again to the sky in fierce joy. I was reborn, and power was mine.
1