Page 49 of A Dream of Stars and Curses

‘No,’ she says, her patient teacher smile back on her face. ‘These burn for a long time and can be used more than once. You will be fine.’

I nod. ‘Now what?’

‘Blow the flame out so you only have embers.’

I do it.

‘Now draw a pentagram before you, starting with air. Do you remember where that is?’

I think for a second. I know a pentagram just fine, but where the different elements are...

‘Top left?’

‘Very good. Draw it from there to banish.’

So Kate felt it, too. There’s something in my house. I resist the need to hug myself, at least while I’m still holding the burning smudge stick.

I do as she says but look back at her when I’m done. ‘What exactly are we banishing?’

She opens her mouth to explain, but then she catches herself and says, ‘It’s a good idea to cleanse your space and yourself like this every now and again. The dark moon or waning moon is a good time for this, but you don’t need to wait if you feel it’s necessary now.’

I want to ask again, but I can’t really argue with anything she said. It is a good reason, and I think she’d tell me more if she knew for sure, so I let it go and follow her instructions. Despite the reason we’re doing this, I’m enjoying it. This is the most hands-on lesson I’ve had so far.

Kate walks me through every room like this until we’ve even cleansed the stairs and doors. Some of the burnt sage falls to the floor; she tells me to step on it so our carpet doesn’t catch fire from the remaining embers. After we’ve saged the back door, she tells me to go outside to extinguish it.

‘Snuff it out in the soil,’ Kate says. ‘Never use water or it won’t light as easily next time, possibly not at all.’

I nod again. I actually think I’ll remember all of this, and I already feel better. Maybe it’s my imagination or I’m biased right now, but when we go back inside, I don’t feel like a heavy blanket weighs me down.

‘You can keep this smudge stick,’ Kate says. ‘Repeat what we just did if you feel it’s needed.’

‘What did I need the salt for?’

‘We’ll do that next. I’ve left a fireproof dish on your mantle. You can leave the sage on there to make sure all the embers are out.’

I follow her into the living room and do just that. Then she hands me the salt.

‘I want you to draw a small banishing pentagram in every corner of this house and on your outside thresholds. You don’t need to use a lot of salt. It’s a purifying mineral by nature.’

Again, I do as she says. Kate leaves me to it this time. She’s waiting on my sofa with Lady by her feet when I’m done.

‘You did well today,’ she says, and my heart swells with pride. ‘And now you know how to cleanse your space. You can move the smudge stick down your body to cleanse yourself, starting at your head and ending at your toes, but we should have done enough for today. Do you think you’ll remember the steps?’

‘Yes, ma’am. It wasn’t too complicated.’

She smiles. ‘Good. Then I will leave you for now. We will return to your Veiled education next week.’

I give myself a mental kick to get back into that. With everything else going on, I’ve neglected it a little. I feel energised, though, like the sage’s smoke hasn’t cleansed just the house but me, too.

Kate goes home, and I go back to my bedroom. My cards are still spread over the duvet. I gather them all into a pile, shuffle them, and grab my notebook—may as well start going through them now.

I draw the first one: The Moon.

It’s such a stunning, dreamy card. In my deck, the bright moon takes up most of the background. A woman dances in front of it, her hair and dress long and flowing with her movements. A cute little bunny accompanies her, and there are two pagodas in the background. It’s got a Japanese vibe to it. I love how carefree it looks and how it reminds me of my own dreamscape, if only because I have my own animal companion in there. Maybe next time I’ll make a moon fill most of the sky, too... Although, that actually sounds a little creepy. I’ll see when I get there.

I write down all these positive first impressions like Kate told me to do, then open the book.

It warns me to not fall for illusions, to not confuse reality with wishful thinking.

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