Rebirth (12 page)

“True,” Carol confirmed. She sat next to me at the table, running her olive-skinned fingers through her long black hair.

“Yeah, so we did,” I continued. “It was crazy what happened. We asked questions about silly things mostly but then my friend, Julia, asked something of the spirit.”

“And what did she ask?” Carol stared through me, anticipating my answer.

“Well, I remember its name was Samuel, the spirit or whatever it was.”

“Spirit. That is your best case scenario.”

“I guess.” I was pleased that Carol was so interested in my story. “Anyways, Julia asked it to prove its presence to us.”

“And did it?”

“Yes. The lights went off a moment after she’d challenged it, and we ran out of the basement screaming.”

“Your friend conjured a powerful spirit.” She looked reproachfully at me. “And so you never played with it again?”

“No.” I felt a chill run through me. “That scared me half to death.”

“Breaking the connection like that can sometimes leave the spirit in our plane. I wonder if your friend ever suffered a similar experience in her basement again.”

My eyes popped and my head involuntarily cocked back. “She did actually. Many times after that night, whenever she went into the basement the light would turn off. She found an excuse to never go back down there. And she never did.”

Carol stood and put on the kettle. “It’s not a safe game to play. Spirits can become very resentful when left to linger in our plane, and depending on the spirit, or demon, they can become a poltergeist.”

“Why do they sell that game to children?”

“I wish they never had. There are countless souls that have been left behind in our world, condemned to isolation as a result of the Ouija. As a medium, I used to cleanse homes of spirits, showing them the light. Many of them manifested from the Ouija.”

“That’s so sad. If I’d known we were hurting anyone….”

“That’s the trouble with the Ouija board: they made it a game, and so the majority take it as a sleight-of-hand from a friend when they first experience anything.” She pulled her long black hair back into a ponytail and tied it. “It is almost never a sleight-of-hand.”

Bethany attempted to lighten the mood. “Okay Carol, don’t scare the poor girl. She’s innocent.”

“Ignorant is more apt a description, but I understand your point. It’s just that I feel their sadness, the spirits, when I cleanse a house. Lucky for your friend it was not a demon that answered your call. A demon can follow you for the rest of your life. It can interfere with your life in ways you cannot know.”

I went white at that. Julia had never really been the same after the experience: Christ, she’d killed herself eventually. What if her spirit was a demon that finally took its vengeance? I shook the thought from my head. No, it was the circumstances that forced her hand, not a demon.

“Carol summons spirits even now,” Jenny called over from the couch. “She confers with them on things that may come to pass. She is one of the reasons we were prepared for you. In fact, after Bethany came to us with her vision of Leif’s impending aura, we all used our crafts to pinpoint the time and place of his arrival.”

“A wonderful coincidence that he was born an eight hour walk from here,” I teased.

“Well, we could go into coincidences with you, Sara, but I think for right now you’ve heard enough of spirits, demons, auras and the like.” Bethany poured the boiled water into a tea pot and placed it on the table.

“No, I am very interested,” I assured them. “I have always been a spiritual person. The Bible is something I’d always held very close to my heart.”

“The Bible you say?” Sally moved her tiny frame to the table and took her seat. “There’s a book I have not picked up in a long time.”

“I had written it off myself a few months ago, after our friend Connor was taken from us. But I’ve revisited it since. Better to have faith in something than none at all.”

“Faith, hope, belief, they are what they are.” Sally picked up her cup. “The thing about faith is that it comes from within rather than from without. If you get my meaning.”

“That it exists at all at a time like this is enough, I should think,” Jenny offered. “That is enough for me, for now.”

“We had faith Leif would come.” Bethany sat too, and poured herself a cup of the hot tea. “You are an example of our faith, in our abilities to see.” She tipped her cup at me.

Leif began to fuss and cry, so I got up from the table and moved to the couch. The others sat drinking their tea, quietly. “You’re a vision, Leif,” I whispered at him, smiling. I bounced him on my knee until he calmed down.

“Take what we tell you to heart, Sara,” Sally called from the table, her back to me. The others turned to look at me and I nodded appreciatively at them. They were a coven of witches. What did they call that? A Wiccan? I knew there was no mistake that I had found my way here. They were too sure of themselves, too confident. I mean, why else would you stock baby formula?

*****

My Tarot card reading commenced the following evening. Sally sat across from me at the kitchen table. Her thin fingers shuffled a deck of cards much larger than what I was used to. She placed them in front of me and asked me to cut them.

“This isn’t like poker is it? ‘Cut the deck, cut your throat?’” I asked playfully.

“No,” she replied.

“Okay.” I cut the deck.

She explained that she used a very old Tarot card spread with its roots in 16th-century France. She would place seven cards on the table in a circle, with an eighth in the center representing the planets.

“Does it count that Pluto isn’t considered a planet anymore?”

“No.”

“Okay, what next?”

“Now ask your question. What would you like to know?”

“I think I should ask about Leif. What will he be like as a man, what is his destiny? Will that work or does it have to be about me?”

“No, it can be about anyone. Is that your question then? What is Leif’s destiny?”

“Yes, that’s my question.”

“Very well.” She smiled and began placing the cards in order. “If the card is upside down, the meaning changes. Each card placement represents a planet and the planets rule different aspects of our lives.”

“Okay.” I was excited to get a sneak peek into Leif’s adulthood. Tarot scared me only because my mother had been frightened off by a Tarot reader she’d visited once. She told me the reader had only negative things to say and that he even went as far as to tell her when she would die and how! I swore I’d never do this, but in light of what these women were capable of, I felt at least curious to learn what I could about Leif’s future.

Sally flipped the first card. “This is his Earth card. It represents the here and now. He has pulled an inverted 8 of Cups card. Someone close to him will abandon Leif in a time of great urgency. He will feel betrayed at the moment, but perhaps realize that this person’s personal quest was necessary for their own growth, and his.”

I frowned.

The second card was the 9 of Cups, also inverted. “This is the Moon card, relating to those things immediately surrounding or affecting the subject. Leif will find he is either seen as someone who is a false prophet, exuding a false display of power or promise to those that surround him, or he will recognize another as such.”

“Ha!” she exclaimed as she turned the next card. “This is the Mars card, representing those issues in adversity to Leif, opposing his position. You see he’s pulled the 7 of Wands card, courage. Courage, to seize the day. To act decisively in the face of opposition. He will find himself standing up against injustice, taking an aggressive posture against his foe.”

“That sounds like our Leif,” called Bethany from the couch. I smiled at her.

“The next card is his Jupiter card, representing achievement, gain and expansion.” She carefully turned the card to reveal a frightening sight. The Devil! Sally looked up at me sensing my disappointment.

“This is not a bad card, Sara. It may look intimidating, but it has many meanings. And look at that. It too is inverted.”

“Okay, so what does this represent?”

“The inverted devil card represents an exercise in self-control. An act of selflessness, to avoid distraction and maintain one's sights on their path ahead. Leif will likely and selflessly throw himself onto the proverbial fire at some stage in his adult life, as he works towards what end he has in sight. This act will propel him into the leadership role he is destined to achieve.”

She moved on to the fifth card in the pattern. “The ringed planet Saturn represents judgment and an overall assessment of Leif’s position.” She flipped it quickly. “Ah!” She looked back at her friends seated on their couch. “An inverted 7 of Cups.”

“This is a good card?”

“This represents a desire reborn. A job completed. An overriding will to fulfill what was started. Essentially, hard work bears great fruits.” Her smile faded as she continued reading the card. “Leif will have realized his efforts but lose someone very close to him. You see in the card the undetermined figure walking off with a cup? This person means very much to Leif, but they will have abandoned him, either for their own selfish pursuits or for reasons of a spiritual nature. Regardless, Leif will feel very alone in his victory.”

“That’s sad.”

“Yes, but it’s the bigger picture that matters and your son knows this.”

She turned the sixth card. “Mercury traditionally gives insight into business and professional matters, business associates or acquaintances. He has pulled the 4 of Cups. This card offers clarity of thought in its inverted manifestation. Leif will see a clear path ahead, knowing what he wants for himself and humanity. His ability to meditate will have reached its summit.”

The seventh card was turned. “Venus,” she said. “You know what Venus is all about. Love, relationships. It is right side up.” She smiled from ear to ear. “Our Leif will find his bliss in a relationship. He will also find he is surrounded by positive energies and an abundance of generosity. Good friendships and a sharing of good times evolve from his efforts. He is happy, happier than he has ever been.”

Tears welled up and I wiped them away. “Sorry,” I said, sniffling. “I’m just so happy to hear he’ll be alright, that he’ll fall in love.”

“It could also act as a card of memories - items that have been in a person's life but have vanished. Leif may look to the elements in his childhood to solve problems in later life situations. Perhaps a return to innocence is his bliss. A relationship can be a physical thing, but it can also be spiritual.”

“The Sun.” The last card pulled, in the center of the circle, represented aspirations, fame and accomplishments. “Leif has pulled the Justice card.” Sally let out a great sigh of relief. “And it is right side up.” She turned again to her friends at the wall and gave a nod. They nodded back at us.

“This is good also?”

“Look at the illustration on the card, Sara. The scales represent perfect equilibrium. The sword represents being able to cut to the heart of a matter quickly and keenly. The scales are also the balance of present and future. This tells us Leif has taken responsibility for his actions, realizing that everything he’d done in the past had shaped him, and everything that he’ll do in the future would continue to do so. Leif will have reaped what he had sown. Much of the future depends upon what he’s done in the past. Leif will have reached a perfect balance.”

I was overwhelmed by all of this information. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. That the reading had been mostly positive made me happy. I was beginning to really trust these women and their feelings. But just as with the angel Joel and some of the others claimed to have seen, part of me would always be skeptical.

“This is a good reading.” Carol stood and moved through the room towards where Leif lay nestled on my lap, oblivious to all of the energy being generated in determining his future. “I would like to perform a séance with the boy. There is a great deal of spiritual energy surrounding him. The others are busy.”

“What would a séance do?” I was nervous about this next step into the unknown. A séance was like the Ouija board to me, a dark, misunderstood magic of sorts, talking to the dead and all that.

“I will be better able to speak with the boy’s guides, to know what they know.”

“I don’t know…”

“It’s up to you of course, Sara, but it is in the boy’s best interest that I perform a séance. The more we know, the more guidance we can offer you.”

“Okay, if you truly believe it’s in Leif’s best interest, I’ll consider it.”

“Enough for tonight,” Beth interrupted. “We have enough now to meditate on. Give the girl time to decide.” With that the women retreated to their cots.

*****

The two days following Leif’s Tarot reading gave me plenty to think about. Leif’s life plan was beginning to take shape and with it, mine. As I rummaged through the cold room, another fifteen steps below the bunker, Carol approached me.