Shades & Adders

Lessons of Mars



My natural magic thesis project continues to unfold. The last object I made was a natural Talisman of Discipline. I conducted an astrological reading prior to the experiment that suggested the working would result in some kind of test. I believe that test has been proctored by our good neighbors.

Terror in the Night

The test started a few weeks ago, when I was woken up in the early hours of the morning with the sense of my impending death. I lay in bed, in the dark, unable to move due to terror. I felt the presence of someone standing over my bed. This presence was not spiritual or metaphorical. I genuinely felt that someone had physically broken in to my home, made their way to my bedroom, and was watching me sleep with ill intention. I've had experiences in the past with shadowy figures or dead relatives visiting me in the night, but this was completely different.

I'm not someone that frightens easily, but this situation had me genuinely concerned for my personal safety. I laid in bed motionless trying to come up with a plan to defend myself. I sleep with a machete next to my bed and a gifted competition sword not far out reach. Unfortunately, I had woken up on my stomach, so my back was completely exposed. I didn't know if I 
could react fast enough to defend myself against whomever was standing over my bed. I could not see them, nor did I know if they were armed. I couldn't even see whether the door to my bedroom was open to confirm whether I was imagining this whole situation. So, I just laid there. I made peace with my life and readied myself for death.

It never came. I eventually worked up the courage to move. No one was there. I checked the house and confirmed all the doors were still locked. I consulted with our home, ancestral, and landed spirits. They reported nothing unusual.

Conversations with the Cards

A few weeks went by and I forgot the incident. However, a dark cloud continued to hang over me. I was listening to a podcast recently that mentioned "demons standing over your bed at 3AM" and this triggered the memory of that terrifying night. I decided to follow up on this trigger with a series of tarot sessions. A loose transcript follows.

Query (Q): What's the source of this dark cloud?
Answer (A): You. You're marked.

Q: Is it related to the "demon" that visited me that night?
A: So to speak.

Q: Tell me about the demon. Where did it come from? Why did it come? Where did it go?
A: It came from a foreign land. It came to deliver a message. It died.

Q: How did it die?
A: As you've already surmised. (redacted)

Q: Foreign land? Did something follow me home from the ley line?
A: No.

Q: Something followed me home from the nexus?
A: Yes.

Q: Our good neighbors?
A: Yes.

Q: Why?
A: The well is running dry. They're unable to maintain their end of the bargain.

Q: What's missing?
A: Mars.

Q: I need to install Mars?
A: Yes.

Q: How?
A: You already have the means. Administer 7 strikes.

Returning to Foreign Soil

The next steps were clear. I needed to take the Talisman of Discipline to the good neighbors and stabilize the nexus. Previously, when I opened the nexus I had an intermediary spirit broker a deal for these visitors to act as a pseudo-Mars. It seems they were only able to maintain this configuration for a limited amount of time. I had over-estimated the resources available to this particular tribe of spirits. Back at home, I worked out a deal with the birds to lift this "mark" off of me and made preparations to return to the forest.

The journey to the tribal lands is long. In mundane time it takes only a few hours to go and come back, but there's no accounting for time while you're in there. It's like being in a place that's eternally at dusk. The trees are strange, the land is strange, and the animals are completely quiet. Even my senses become dulled, as if someone put cotton in my ears. There is only one way in (marked by a strange stone monolith) and one way out (through a series of dizzying switchbacks). All this is to say, I don't like going there.

Approaching the entrance, it became clear that something was wrong. The glamour that normally hides the entrance was weak. I used the charm of illumination to inspect the flow of power through the landscape. Things were moving, but not nearly as efficiently as they should be. I crossed the threshold and immediately took note of a flash of blue in my periphery. They knew I was here. I whispered, "Go tell your queen to expect me." A shadow darted over my head and disappeared into the forest.

At this point, I was getting tired. Just getting to the entrance is a long trek. I paused for a moment and used the charm of radiance to mitigate fatigue. Refreshed, I headed deeper into the forest.

Plumber for Hire

I eventually came to the bottom of a valley where two trees covered in wood ears flanked my path. For some reason, I knew this was a gate. I requested entry and received it. I approached the spring at the bottom of the valley and asked what the problem was.

The naiad of the spring was in extremely poor condition. They had nearly drained her dry. Inspecting the landscape, I could see some sort of blockage further up the valley. The blockage appeared accidental. I decided to install the Talisman of Discipline there. Outside the tribal lands, I picked up a heavy stone. I knew I would need something to "administer 7 strikes." Crouched over the blockage, I drove the Talisman into the ground by administering 7 strikes with the stone. I counted each strike by stating each planet in Chaldean order. I finished the operation by saying the charm of discipline and investing Mars into this side of the valley.

Looking down next to the stick I just drove into the ground, I saw two small rocks. On one rock, a common brown spider sat as if it was watching me. The other rock was leaning against the newly installed talisman. The other temples had been linked with the Sun by moving soil from their locations to a central location under the Sun's command. I collected the second small rock with this intention in mind.

Returning to court, I related what I had done and verified that the naiad had indeed been unrestrained. We said our goodbyes and I ascended the valley through the dizzying switchbacks. Unfortunately, the task was only halfway complete. Bringing this new Martian temple into orbit with the other temples would require that I invest this small rock into the pre-existing Solar temple.

Returning Home

I had no intention of taking a rock from the tribal lands back to my home. Though sunlight was fading at this point, I had no choice but to make my way to the Solar temple. At this point, it seemed appropriate to use the charms of inspiration and discretion for a little extra boost of spirit and to ensure that my journey was unimpaired. Transporting the piece of mars to the Solar temple was completed without incident. On my way out, the nexus seemed nicely in balance and I also confirmed that the glamour over the entrance to the tribal lands had been restored.

When I arrived at home, I realized that I had not divested myself of the heavy stone I used to "administer 7 strikes." It seems I've traded one talisman for another.

Ianvs