Green Magic

“It’s an alien ship!’ My friend Lucy whispered as we stared at the bottom of my aunty’s door.

“Perhaps it’s a ghost?” I replied as my eyes enlarged in wonder.

Spring at my Aunty’s home was always full of mysterious fun but events had taken a different turn this year, and best of all, my friend Lucy was with me to share them.

It had been an ordinary day with mum driving us to Aunt Lil’s house in the country. I loved how it was surrounded by trees and hidden back from the road. There was a long pathway entering some woods where a tree house was our enchanted place to play. Each year I would run over and imagine mystical creatures joining me for feasts giving rise to castle adventures. But this year was more exciting as I had my friend Lucy by my side. I couldn’t wait to show her around.

“This is the huge fireplace I was telling you about!” I enthusiastically pointed out. Mum and Aunty were in deep discussion over their cups of tea so I whisked Lucy off into my wonderland.

The house was on two levels with an attic I’d never been in. There were long stilts for the foundation with grand steps leading to the front door. Aunty always kept the place clean and tidy although it was such a large house for one person I thought.

Books occupied most shelves which always gave off a distinct old leather smell that was familiar to the home. Wood piles for the fire were stacked up next to the fireplace which always had a hint of smokey warmth that made me feel at home. Large comfy sofas welcomed us and one particular chair that was Aunty’s favourite to put her feet up on.

In the kitchen were rows of glass jars filled with herbs, spices and all sorts of concoctions unbeknown to my ten year old self. The sweet spiciness of homemade jams, chutneys and tinctures filled the cupboards and were accompanied with even more books. An agar stood old and proud like a wise old grandfather in the corner providing the unique earthy smell of freshly baked breads, stews, casseroles, cakes and all sorts of delights I knew awaited us.

“So I’ll see you girls in a week then!” My mum’s voice called out from the front porch

“Bye Mum, love you!” I called back too engrossed in showing Lucy the rest of the house.

Running up the wooden stairs there was always one step that had a slight squeaky sound which I’d springboard off to the top.

“And here…. ” I proudly announced as I pushed open a white timber door “…is our room”

The door gave a moan as it slowly gave way to a magnificent view of the forest and two large single beds where we wasted no time jumping up and down on.

“Hey cut it out you two or I’ll turn you into frogs!” My aunty shouted up in her half-joking half ‘I’m going to get mad at you’ tone of voice from downstairs.

Lucy stopped jumping when she noticed down the corridor a huge, brown door.

“What’s behind that door?” Lucy stood staring mysteriously.

“Oh that’s strictly out of bounds.” I replied. “Aunty says she’ll tell me when I’m older”.

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On our second day Aunty took us to a bird watching tower to teach us about owls. She mentioned how we all have spirit totems and to observe nature as animals give us messages. Owls can see through darkness and cover all angles around. They are very special Indeed. I was hoping it would distract Lucy but she still brought up that door. So on the third night I agreed we would explore. We planned on hunting for a key after Aunty had gone to bed. We would sneak downstairs to the bookshelves by her comfy chair, dodging the squeaky step, and become ninjas of the night tip-toeing back up to unlock the mysteries once and for all.

In just our pyjamas and bare feet we slid between the gap of our white bedroom door we had strategically left ajar. Our tiptoeing was successful until we noticed this eerie green light coming from underneath the doorway of the brown door.

“Look at that!” Lucy noticed first. I was too focused on our mission until I turned to look.

Frozen in mid tip toe, we both stared at the underneath of the door, then at each other, not knowing what we should do. Suddenly there was a BANG! I raced over to Lucy as we crouched just beside the doorway.

“It’s an alien ship!” Lucy pointed to the door handle where more light was shining through. “It’s not locked. Now's our chance!”

Fear started to take hold of me as I didn’t want to get into trouble. Lucy was braver than me and was already edging her way towards the door when the green light suddenly vanished.

Footsteps clumped towards us from the other side of the door so we hurriedly ushered our way back along the hallway to the safety of our beds. We heard Aunty open our door so we both shut our eyes pretending to be asleep. There was a pause before the door was pulled to and the footsteps faded to the opposite end of the house.

After enough time, that only kids know is safe, we dared open our eyes again and found each other whispering into the night about all the possibilities it could have been. But when morning arrived I had almost forgotten until we were sitting around the table eating breakfast.

“Morning girls, did you sleep ok?” Aunty asked with a knowing voice. I was unnerved by this whole situation so just looked down into my cereal bowl wishing I could dive deep into it.

It was Lucy who broke the awkward silence. “We saw a strange green light last night, coming from under the door”

“Oooooh did you now?” My Aunty spoke through a smile as if she already knew. “Did you see anything else?”

“Well…” Lucy started but I interrupted.

“No Aunty, we went straight back to bed as we know not to pry”.

“It’s ok darlings”. Aunty sat down folding her arms onto the table leaning forward examining us with her eyes, that I hadn’t noticed just how pretty they were until now. Smiling, she kept looking at us for what seemed an unusual amount of time.

“I think you’re ready”, she finally said. “I was going to wait but the time is now so now is the time”.

I had heard Aunty talk in riddles before but this felt new.

I looked at Lucy, Lucy looked at me.

“Finish your breakfasts and come meet me upstairs”. She scraped her wooden chair across the terracotta tiles as she stood up and walked out of the kitchen.

Lucy grabbed my arm in excitement. “Come ON !” she said tugging at my sleeve to hurry.

There she stood- my Aunt. She was now wearing long robes of a rich indigo colour with green and gold circles embroidered on, reminding me of a peacock.

“Welcome darlings,” my Aunty sounded different, her voice deeper, more profound and commanding. “What you are about to see is not just a room, but a way of living. An ancient art of wisdom that is very special indeed”. She jangled her keys until she found the correct one. She looked me in the eyes before she slowly turned the key with one hand with her other arm reaching out, giving us permission to enter.

I was nervous albeit intrigued as I poked my head around first slowly stepping in wondering what I was going to discover. In front of us was a large altar shape with velvet coverings, crystals and a long candle. To the left were an array of different size bowls, boxes of cards, incense and fresh flowers. Silence filled the room as Lucy and I poured our eyes in amazement over all these new objects we’d never seen before.

“And this, girls…..” My Aunty stepped in, “… Is probably what you saw”. She walked over to the right where on a small shelf sat a pile of green leaves, some glue and a large lamp.

“Soon, it is the festival of the Green Man when pagans give special thanks to Mother Nature. He is the symbol of rebirth and regrowth cycles that are in nature and all of us, as we are all connected.”

She reached up and brought down a huge face covering that made me gasp then smile as I inquisitively began touching it. It was a man’s face with holes cut out for the eyes, covered in leaves with a huge forehead. He had a slight smile painted on but the leaves covered all other details.

She then reached up and produced two more slightly smaller versions of the same face. “These, my girls, are for you! They are to wear at the festival which will be filled with music, dancing, drums, and fun!” She tilted her head back and laughed freely as she so often had that always made me feel good. I felt Lucy give me a nudge and glanced over to what appeared to be a long wooden stick. My Aunty followed our stares. “And this,” she walked over. “Is my Staff”.

Lucy and I kept our eyes fixated on it, studying it’s curves, twists and turns carved in a worn-in fashion unique to Auntys hand.

“Girls, welcome to the world of magic. I was trying to wait until you were older to teach you of the ways, but the ways have already called to you. So we can start today.” She knelt down in front of me and lowered her voice so it was the gentle Aunty I knew and trusted. “Don’t be scared, there’s nothing bad that’s going to happen. It’s only good stuff just like when you play in your treehouse except with a little more formality.” Then she whispered so Lucy couldn’t hear, “I’m a white witch my dear but keep that a secret between us yes.” And then she stood back up.

“Now then, before we fetch fresh herbs, who wants tea!” She placed her staff back in the corner and gave me a pat on the head before strolling out. “And don’t touch anything!” She called up as we heard her clattering the kettle onto the agar. We stood there for just a moment before running downstairs to bombard Aunty with questions.

She taught us how to recognise herbs, dry them on the agar and mix them into potions. We learnt how lavender was for calming protection of dreams. How mint helps with our stomach and rosemary was great in cooking! We baked cookies with cinnamon for keeping us warm and carrot cake with walnuts for healing our hearts. “You’ve always been closely connected to nature my dear,” she fondly placed her hand onto mine. “We all were at one point, if only we could all remember.” I never fully understood her riddles at the time but one day I would.

That afternoon we went exploring in the woods and in the evening sat by the fire as she read to us from books I’d never seen before.

The green man festival was everything she had said and we had such fun joining in with the dancing! This was the best week by far I had ever stayed at Aunty’s. On the sixth night of our adventures, when Lucy was sound asleep, an owl appeared in the tree right outside our window. She made her distinguished hoot hoot sound letting me know she was there. I had never felt so safe, as if she was looking out for me. And whenever I hear an owl now, it takes me right back to those times at my Aunty’s house filled with mysterious adventures, warm bread and the best magic I know.