Decker looked in Liam’s direction and suggested, “How about sofas?”
“Perfect,” Jade said as she fanned some of the light, fragrant smoke from the incense toward her.
“I’ve never seen this done. Why are you doing that?”
“For clearing the energy, and because, for some reason that I’ve never understood, frankincense and myrrh seem to immediately connect me with Spirit. I feel lighter and get a buzz of energy that I feel when I know Spirit is near. Do you want to try it?”
“Sure.” When she stepped back, he moved to stand in front of the clay pot and waved the smoke toward him with his hands.
The scent was strong. He did feel a bit different as he inhaled it. There were slight tingles that raced along his shoulders and arms. He felt clearer, more in tune, somehow. He stepped back and grinned at Jade. “I see what you mean. It’s a good feeling.”
He followed Jade back to the sofa. He sat, noting Erin had stubbed out the sage wand and left it in the abalone shell. She called to Liam to follow her. She carried the shell with her and set it on the stovetop. She closed her eyes and wafted some of the thin smoke from the little crock toward her. She asked Liam to do the same.
Harper and Brody stepped in next.
Brody returned to the sofas grinning from ear to ear. “Hey, we didn’t light the candles.” He turned to address Harper.
“Patience.” Harper poked a finger into his chest. “That’s next.”
Brody sent Max to his bed in the corner of the large family room and told him to stay. Max reluctantly obeyed the command and rested his head on his paws. His ears remained up and alert as he watched his master intently.
Yellow lighter in hand, Erin stood. “I’ll get the candles.”
When everyone was seated, Liam in the recliner with his leg stretched out, Brody and Harper on the shorter sofa, Decker, and Jade sat on the longer sofa, Erin lit the first candle.
“We light the candles and call the quarters now.” She paused to whisper some words. She then moved to the other remaining candles doing the same.
“What is she saying? Is she calling Earth, Air, Fire, and Water?” Brody whispered, albeit loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Actually, she’s calling upon the angels representing Earth, Air, Fire and Water and the four corresponding directions; North, East, South and West. The corresponding angels are Uriel, Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel,” Harper explained.
Erin flipped off the light switch then returned to the longer sofa where Jade and Decker sat. She sat next to Decker after lighting the black protection candle and a small white votive in a clear holder next to it. “The black candle is for protection, but the white votive represents Divinity, light, purity, and spirit.”
She sat beside Decker. “If I say the prayer, Jade, will you give us a guided meditation and our first short meditation?”
“Sure.” Jade nodded.
“We need to hold hands for the prayer and the first meditation. It will be short, just a couple of minutes, the purpose is just to get everyone calm and in tune. I’ll start with my right palm up, left palm down. Liam place your left hand, palm down on mine and Decker, put your right hand, palm up beneath mine.” Hands touching, Erin and Liam reaching out to connect on one side, and Jade and Brody connecting across the coffee table on the other side, they made a full circle.
Erin began with a prayer, “Mother, Father, God; we thank you for bringing us together and we ask you, our angels, spirit guides, and teachers of the highest, truest and best white light, to please give us guidance this night. Please protect us from the evil that is hunting us, any negative energies, entities, thought forms, or beings and surround us with your protective, pure light. We ask that only those of the highest, the truest, and the best white light be allowed into our sacred circle.”
“Wow, the energy is strong already,” Jade whispered.
“It’s wonderful!” Harper said with a dreamy smile.
“I definitely feel something, like a tingling kind of warmth in my hands and arms and a sort of wavy heat crackling along my shoulders,” Brody informed them.
“That’s probably your guides tuning you up, and getting your body ready to receive messages.”
“Seriously?” Brody looked wide-eyed at Harper.
“Yes.” She ginned and nodded at him. “Now close your eyes and try to meditate.”
“Okay.” Brody chuckled and closed his eyes.
“Whatever it is, it feels nice,” Liam said with a pleased smile.
“I agree,” Decker threw in. “It’s strong but in a good way.”
“Um, be quiet and meditate,” Brody whispered. Though his eyes remained closed, he sported a huge grin.
“We’ll take three very deep, slow breaths. Inhale long, exhale long.” Jade paused. She breathed loudly so the others could pick up her rhythm.
“Again.” Another pause as they took their breaths.
“And once more, inhale long, exhale long.” Another pause.
She continued, “We ask our guides and teachers to attune our minds, bodies and spirits, so that we are cleared of any negativity or blockages so we may hear, see, feel and understand any messages you give us tonight. Breathe a few times more.” She paused again.
After a lengthy silence, she instructed quietly, “Everyone just breathe normally now and let your mind go still. Pay attention to anything you hear, feel, or see in your mind’s eye. We’ll talk about everything afterward. This will be a short meditation to get us ready for the guided meditation later, but we need to continue holding hands for this one.”
Decker had never been one for meditating, maybe he did it wrong when he tried, but this was very relaxing and calming. There was a definite wave of warmth around them, a lot of tingling energy, and he seemed to have an inner awareness that he didn’t usually notice. At times, it felt like something warm touched his neck, back or arms. There was also a strong crackling of racing energy across his shoulders at one point. He saw brilliant flashes of color in his mind’s eye, red, pink, blue, and yellow.
When a flash of green came next, it seemed to settle into a distant landscape. Like a bird, he seemed to fly and gently dove, gliding downward, coming ever closer to the hills and valleys of verdant green below. A gray castle upon a steep, barren hill materialized, rising stark against the semi-darkness of dawn or twilight, he knew not which.
He saw a woman as he drifted down toward the verdant land. She had long, honey-colored hair. She was dressed in a long grayish blue gown of some sort. She carried a golden-haired child upon her hip. It was the woman from his dream. It felt like he was on the ground now, and walking beside her. There was suddenly a flash, and he realized there was brilliant sunshine illuminating the fields and rolling hills that stretched out around them.
He looked up and saw the castle on the hill in the distance, stark and gray even in the sunlight. The air was crisp, cool, and smelled fresh and clean. Though she spoke to him in Gaelic, which he could not understand, he felt like their conversation was intimate. From the dream he had yesterday, he knew she was this man’s woman, and they cared deeply for one another. After a few more sentences, he actually felt what she was telling him. He felt his heart swell when he looked upon the cherubic face of the smiling baby. The wind was blowing the woman’s loose hair about her. When he turned toward her, watched her smooth her golden hair from her face, he saw she resembled Jade even more than he originally thought.
She smiled at him, and he saw love in her eyes. She bent her head to kiss the golden hair of the sleeping babe she carried in her arms.
In his vision, he pulled the woman into his arms and held her. It wasn’t his voice that spoke to her, again the man spoke in Gaelic, and his voice was deeper, rougher, but whatever was said to the woman made her laugh. Her hand moved to rest upon his arm. He noticed it was a very thick, muscled arm.
The vision faded. Out of the dark void in his mind came another one. This one was a battle. The sounds of horses, metal upo
n metal, shouts, screams, and cries of men came to him. He swore he smelled blood and sweat. He, or rather the man whose eyes he was seeing through, was fighting with sword and shield, bloodied men lay on the ground around him. He felt an intense pain in his back. He turned around to see the face of the creep who was stalking Jade. He saw another face familiar to him. A black-haired man came up behind Ciaran, and Decker saw that the face, though bearded, resembled Liam’s but was slightly different. He cried out a warning as Ciaran turned, knife in hand and plunged it into his brother’s look-alike’s gut.
Decker felt this man, the one whose mind he seemed to be in, fall to his knees, heard the cry of grief rumble from his chest as the man who came to his defense fell lifeless to the ground. Another familiar looking man, with golden-brown hair ran toward them. He was younger, and bearded with longer, braided hair. That man, though solid muscle, resembled Brody in build and looks. He knew the man on his knees, the man through whose eyes, Decker witnessed, and lived this horrible scene, tried to shout a warning, but could not. He couldn’t breathe, and only a rasp of bubbly breath escaped his lips. Decker actually felt the man’s struggle, his need to warn a loved one. A brother?
The golden-haired man fell atop the other man then Ciaran turned to face him and raised his bloodied sword.
The vision disappeared so suddenly, Decker shuddered slightly. He felt Jade jump as well.
One last vision came to him. The older, large, bearded man he had seen in a vision the day before, the chief, stood at the base of the hill and castle with three weeping women. One of them was the honey-colored beauty from his vision with a babe on her hip, two other women stood next to her, but as their backs were to him, he could not see their faces. There were several children about them. They all stood near recently turned earth with stone markers. Graves? Four graves. He only saw three brothers die in the previous vision.
The bearded man lifted his arm and sword toward the sky. His voice boomed over the fields. Decker knew the man voiced a promise of delivered vengeance to the dark one, Ciaran, the man who had murdered his sons. The man’s cry rent the quiet, dark, gray morning.
The women and children wept louder. The vision faded away.
Chapter Nine
“Okay everyone, on the count of three, open your eyes.” He heard Jade speak, though her voice sounded far away.
“One, two, three.”
There was a chorus of deep exhales. They lowered their hands.
“Oh my God,” Harper whispered. “That was intense.”
“Mine was too,” Jade agreed.
“I was at a castle, then a battle, then a funeral, apparently,” Brody said as he sat back.
“So was I,” Decker said.
“Me too,” Liam interjected.
“Mine was the same.” Jade turned to Decker. “And I saw you, or someone who looked very much like you, Decker, and a baby, and two others who resembled Liam and Brody.”
“We must have all shared the same vision,” Liam began. “First, I felt like I was flying over rolling, green land, then I saw a man, woman, and child walking together. It wasn’t until the battle scene that I realized that the man looked like Decker, except he was bigger and more muscular. Another guy resembled Brody, with the exception being that guy was buff.”
Liam flashed a wicked grin in Brody’s direction. “But I saw those same two guys get killed by the creep we all saw in the bar. Then I got it, rather, the man I was seeing everything through did. It was intense. It ended with a large man who stood with weeping women and children near tall standing stones with newly turned earth around them. One of the women looked like Jade, but I couldn’t see the faces of the other two. It looked like graves, but there were four. I only saw three men die.”
“I saw the man, the woman, the battle, and the graves as well,” Brody looked to Liam. “I saw a guy who resembled you, but he could be considered handsome.”
At Liam’s amused chuckle, Brody looked around and asked, “Did everyone get the same thing?”
Harper and Erin nodded.
“People in a circle don’t normally have the same vision, do they?” Brody asked Harper.
“No.” Harper shook her head. “This is the first time in my experience that every single person in the circle had the exact same vision.”
“Same here.” Jade nodded.
Erin agreed.
“We all saw a man and a woman who resembled Decker and Jade and two guys who looked like Liam and Brody, except one was buff and the other handsome,” Harper raised a teasing brow and looked Brody’s way. She grew serious as she continued, “We all saw the creep too. So, is this more than a blood thing? Is this a past-life thing?”
“It sort of felt that way,” Jade admitted, “except that the man I saw resembled Decker, but didn’t look exactly like him, or sound like him. Since we have guessed that the Decker brothers and I are related to the original three O’Flynn brothers and one of their wives, perhaps it is only bloodlines involved. Could this be blood ties maybe?”
“Mine seemed so real.” Decker shook his head. “I could smell the fresh breeze when I walked with the woman. I smelled blood and sweat during the battle.”
“So did I. It seemed like I felt the emotion of the guy too.” Liam rose and stretched.
“Well I think instead of doing another meditation, we should do something a little different, definitely something lighter. That was a bit too intense.” Jade looked to Harper and Erin.
Harper nodded. “I think we can assume your energy melds, and is strong when the four of you and maybe even the two of us work together.”
“Something different is a good idea right now. I agree.” Erin nodded.
“Why don’t we try some physical mediumship? Maybe the pendulum or levitation? Something a little more entertaining,” Harper spoke. “Fun would be most welcome about now.”
“Levitation?” Brody asked curiously.
“Yeah. What we are talking about is also called table tipping. We need a small, light, wood table that we can all sit around, I’m afraid your dining table is too big and heavy.” Jade looked around the room.
“Table tipping? Isn’t that what some of those Spiritualist people faked using strings and pulleys in the nineteenth century? I read an article on that whole movement a year or so ago. Some of them also painted themselves with phosphorous and jumped out of boxes pretending to be spirits. Wasn’t that all a hoax back then?”
Harper turned to him with a cool expression on her face. “There were some fake mediums back then, just like there are today. When the Spiritualist movement began, some people did fake séances and bilked many believers out of a great deal of money. Some people still do that today, though they gain a bad reputation very quickly in this, the age of social media.”
Jade added, “There were true mediums back then, just as there are now. As the Spiritualist Movement grew in popularity in the nineteenth century, there were people who saw it as a way to make fast money. They faked their abilities and took advantage of grieving people. The levitation of a table isn’t merely a cool parlour trick. It is the result of a group focusing their energy and intentions on one action, levitating a table. Nothing may happen tonight, as we are sitting together for the first time. But in two or three sessions, when our energy has melded and Spirit has attuned our individual bodies to facilitate better communication, we just might be able to levitate a table or move it a bit.”
Brody grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Sweet! That sounds cool. Let’s try it.”
“There’s a small antique table in the office. It was Mom’s,” Liam suggested.
Erin hopped up. “I’ll have a look. Show me where it is.”
“So that meditation was different for you too?” Decker asked Jade.
“Yes, it definitely was. It was chronological, and made sense, like a story. Not all visions during meditation are that way. Sometimes, they are just a few seconds long, a snippet, if you will. We can’t dispute the fact that we all saw
more or less the same thing with the exception being I saw you and you saw me. I’ve been in circles where two or three people saw the same thing, but it was fleeting, just a short glimpse, if you will, and it might be just a similar vision, like three different visions that involved a butterfly. It might not have been exactly the same butterfly as another person saw. Nothing like this has ever happened in my experience.” She shook her head.
Brody’s dog Max came to rest his head on Jade’s leg. He looked up at her with soulful brown eyes. She smiled at him and petted the black and white Border Collie.
“You are a very well-behaved boy, Max,” she crooned to him.
Max’s tail just wagged as he looked adoringly up at her.
“He’s a good dog, and he has great taste in women!” Decker teased.
Jade laughed.
Liam and Erin carried in an oval, Victorian parlour table.
“This table is the perfect size. Not too big, not too small.” Erin grinned triumphantly as she and Liam situated it in an open area on the wood floor between the dining and kitchen area. “Can we fit six chairs around it?” She looked to Liam.
“Oh yeah, it will be a bit of a squeeze, but it can be done.”
It was tight, but Jade guessed the six of them would have enough elbowroom to place their hands upon the table.
“It’s a beautiful table,” she said as she ran her hands along the smooth surface. “It’s oak, right?”
“It is,” Liam answered.
“Oak is a magical tree, and was very special to the Celts and Druids. This table should be perfect for what we are doing.” Jade smiled at him.
Decker sat next to Jade. Liam and Erin sat across from them and Harper and Brody sat at each end.
“So, how does this table thing work?” Brody looked across the table to Jade.
“It’s pretty easy. Just place your fingertips lightly on the tabletop with your palms up, not resting on the edge of the table. It is a lighter touch this way, and if your palms angle downward and dip below the level of the top, it obstructs the energy flow. The energy will come from your body, through your arms to your fingers.” Jade demonstrated, placing her hands in the correct position.
Decker's Fate (The Decker Brothers Trilogy Book 1) Page 16
