by Isobel Bird
She stepped back, replaced in front of the girls by Crow. He held in his hands a long white feather, which he swept over the heads of the three girls. “With the element of Air I consecrate you,” he said. “May it give to you the inspiration of the new morning.”
Next to come to them was Eleanore. She held in her hands a white candle, which she moved over the girls as they knelt in front of her. “With the element of Fire I consecrate you,” she said softly. “May it give you the passion of first love.”
The final coven member to appear before the girls was Jack. He sprinkled their heads with water from a silver bowl, saying, “With the element of Water I consecrate you. May it give to you the mystery of the sea.”
When the four of them had finished their part of the ritual, they returned to the circle, leaving the girls with Robin and Sybil.
“Stand,” Sybil told the girls.
They rose to their feet and faced her. She held in her hands three blue cords, matching the cords that bound the robes of the other coven members.
“These cords are symbols of your commitment to the coven and to the Goddess,” Sybil said. “Before I place them around your waists, you must answer me a question.”
She stepped in front of Annie. “Do you come here of your own free will, ready to follow the path of the Goddess wherever it may take you?”
“Yes,” Annie said.
Sybil tied one of the cords around her waist before moving on to Kate. “And do you come here of your own free will, ready to follow the path of the Goddess wherever it may take you?”
“Yes,” answered Kate, receiving her cord.
Sybil repeated the question a third time for Cooper, who barely waited for her to finish before saying, “You bet.”
Sybil smiled while tying the cord around Cooper’s waist. Then it was Archer’s turn to speak. She went to Annie.
“You have been consecrated with the elements,” she said. “And you have pledged yourself to the Goddess. Welcome, new-made witch.”
She kissed Annie on both cheeks. She then repeated the ritual with Kate and Cooper, welcoming each of them with a kiss. When she was done she looked at them and smiled widely. “Merry meet and blessed be, witches!” she said happily.
“Merry meet and blessed be!” echoed the rest of the coven.
As the three friends looked at each other, someone began playing a drum and the coven began singing.
“Merry meet and blessed be, daughters of the Goddess!” they sang, clapping along with the drums. “Merry meet and blessed be, children of the Craft.”
Cooper, Kate, and Annie looked at one another. It was over. They were witches. For a year and a day they had worked and studied, practiced and learned, and now they were members of the Circle of the Dancing Goddess. All around them their brothers and sisters of the coven were celebrating the end of their journey.
But as the three friends embraced one another and prepared for a night of celebrating, they knew that it was really only the beginning.
About the Author
Isobel Bird has been involved in the world of paganism and witchcraft for many years. She lives and dances beneath the moon somewhere in New England.
Follow the Circle:
Book 1: So Mote It Be
Book 2: Merry Meet
Book 3: Second Sight
Book 4: What the Cards Said
Book 5: In the Dreaming
Book 6: Ring of Light
Book 7: Blue Moon
Book 8: The Five Paths
Book 9: Through the Veil
Book 10: Making the Saint
Book 11: The House of Winter
Book 12: Written in the Stars
Book 13: And Harm It None
Book 14: The Challenge Box
Credits
Cover art © 2002 by Cliff Nielsen Cover © 2002 by HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
About the Publisher
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.
INITIATION. Copyright © 2002 by Isobel Bird. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition. March 2002 ISBN 9780061756443
Print edition first published in 2002 by HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
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