Codail lay in the grass next to a lake they'd stopped by, trying to keep her spirits up...for Muscail's sake. But it was hard. She'd lost each of her beautiful little girls...each one had fallen to the disease they'd hoped to escape. And now...now it was just the two of them. No sign of any other survivors, no sign of their older sister, no sign of their mother even. And as if reflecting her sorrow, Codail's visions showed only mist lately...Mist full of shadowy figures that she somehow wasn't afraid of.
The lavender point lioness sighed and stood. No use moping about. She would be a mother again one day...when that day would come, she did not know...but it would come. After all, Codail thought, she hadn't slipped into the Crone's role yet. No...she was still as fertile as the full moon hanging in the sky.
For her sister's sake, Múscail kept her distance for now. After all, her sister had lost all of her beloved cubs. She needed time to mourn them. But tonight was different. Tonight the moon was high in the sky, and round and full. Tonight was a night of celebration, even if their beloved pride was no more. So the mist-colored lioness got to her feet, jewels chiming delicately in the night, and went over to her sister.
"Codail, dear. Tonight is for celebratins. The Goddess would want us to rejoice. Your beloveds will be born again soon enough. Maybe not to you, but the circle will go on," she said softly, nuzzling her sister's cheek and purring softly.
Codail smiled softly, returning her sister's affection. Muscail was right. "Then...let us celebrate. For we still live...and those who have passed shall one day live again." Tonight would be a small celebration...after all, it was just the two of them. But two could celebrate as well as a hundred. "Let us find a good spot for the circle, dearest deirfiúr."
Nothing would stop them from celebrating the changing moon, just as nature itself could not be stopped.
"I've already found the perfect spot!" Múscail said, laughing slightly and nudging her sister. And with that playful nudge she loped off, leading her older sister to the beautiful clearing she'd found.
Codail chuckled and followed her younger twin, heart feeling a bit lighter already. Her sister was right...the clearing was perfect. She let her paws lead her to the center, then turned to Muscail. "Would you sweep away that which would plague the circle-to-be, Maiden?"
"I would be honored to, Mother," Múscail said, carefully shooing any field mice from the area the circle was to be in. And then she went straight into the casting of the circle, facing north and holding out her right forepaw. Casting the circle was second nature to her. Visualizing the healing warmth of the barrier and turning clockwise, the energy flowing out from her paw. And then she was facing north again... She repeated this again again, this time speaking... "I cast this circle to protect us from all negative and positive energies and forces on any level that may come to do us harm. I draw into the circle only the energies and forces that are right for us and the most correct for our work."
And then she walked the circle one more... "I create sacred space. So mote it be."
Just as Muscail's role was second nature, so too was Codail's. The lioness smiled as her sister cast the circle, and whispered 'So mote it be' as her sister did. "The circle is cast. Let none but love enter, let none but love leave." With the words spoken, she sat and balanced herself carefully on her haunches, lifting her front legs into the air, towards the night sky.
"Mother Goddess, she who gave birth to the others gods and goddesses, we ask you to witness and bless our rites here." With that said, she returned her paws to the ground, feeling the earth beneath her paws. Normally, she woud invoke the Father God as well...but this was a celebration meant for the Goddess...his presence was not needed. "Tonight, the moon has waxed full once more, and the Mother Goddess looks upon us, her children, with a loving eye. I ask those here...what do you bring to our Mother? Is it troubles of the heart that need healing? Accomplishments to share with her? Or just the love a child has for the one who Created us?"
"I bring my love for the Mother Goddess, and a simple request. That she watch over the spirits of our dearly departed Coven as they find peace and as they start their journey into their next lives. And that the Mother Goddess help to heal the broken hearts of those who have loved and lost," Múscail said, looking to the sky and the full moon and then to her beloved sister. Although they'd lost the Coven, they still had each other. The Mother Goddess had seen to that, and she was thankful.
Codail smiled sadly and envisioned the requests floating up to the sky, to the Goddess. "I bring my love...and a heart that seeks help in healing." She would heal...but it was not something easily done. Not for one who had never lost so much before. "Light the way, Mother of All...and I shall follow. All I ask is what my sister has...that you watch over the souls of your children who are preparing for their next life." She kept the worst of her tears in, to shed after the circle was closed...but a few leaked out as she closed her eyes and visualized her own requests floating up, like birds on a thermal.
Múscail was still for a long moment, visualizing their requests floating up to the great Mother, before she finally rose. It was time to close the circle. She faced north again, slowly walking counter-clockwise once. "I send this circle into the cosmos to do my bidding. The circle is undone but not broken."
Codail opened her eyes and let the visualized energy go, a smile on her face despite the tears. "Merry meet, and merry part, till merry meet again." She looked to Muscail and let go of a deep breath. "We'll meet them again, won't we...in another life?"
"Of course we will. We'll meet them all someday, in another life," Múscail said, moving over to nuzzle her sister and wipe the tears away with the back of her paw.
The older lioness nodded, letting tears long unshed finally free. "A new life for them has just begun...and we shall keep the path of this life open..." She nuzzled her sister back, glad she still had her. "We still live. And we shall begin anew, like Mother Moon herself."
