揟agetes erecta,?I said. 揊our feet tall. Native to Mexico and Central America. They can grow in almost any condition, even drought.?
揂nd do you know what it抯 for??
I tried to think. 揟hey抮e edible. They repel rabbits. And you can co-plant them with tomatoes to keep away pests.?
揧ou抳e already got so much knowledge.?Circe set the jar down and scooped out a handful, letting the dried petals fall through her fingers and back into the jar. 揝trung in a garland, straight from the garden, they ward off evil. Scattered under your bed, they抣l keep you safe while you抮e sleeping. Walking over fresh petals with your bare feet will allow you to talk to birds. In November, we grow and stock hundreds of them for those in our community celebrating D韆 de los Muertos. The garden is a sea of sunset orange around that time. It抯 magical.?She breathed deep. 揥e respect the practices and traditions of the people in our magical little community. That is where my heart lies.?
I could see how much this place meant to her and how much of it had nothing at all to do with the Absyrtus Heart. There was something comforting about that. 揟here is so much I don抰 know. They don抰 really teach you about the magical uses of all these plants in botany workshops.?
揑抣l teach you,?Circe said. She clasped her hands together in front of her. 揑f you抎 like me to I can show you how to make tinctures and salves. I can show you how to harvest the plants in a way that maintains their potency, and I can show you how to hybridize them for specific purposes. There抯 so much.?Her sentences started to string together as the tempo of her words picked up. Her excitement was contagious.
I searched her face. She believed every word, and if I was being honest, so did I. I抎 just seen a giant griffin named Roscoe perched in the driveway. Walking on marigolds could let me talk to birds? Seemed like something not so impossible after everything I抎 seen since I抎 come to Rhinebeck. This is what Mo and I were talking about. Whatever was coming would require us to lean all the way into this.
I thought of spending my days in the garden, cultivating the plants, stocking the apothecary, and learning from Circe while Mom and Mo played aggressive games of Uno in the front room. A stab of pain nearly knocked me over as I pictured Mom抯 face in my mind抯 eye. I picked up my glasses and put them back on.
Circe pointed at one of the small jars in her case, and I turned my attention back to it. 揟o raise the winds, saffron.?She let her slender fingers dance over another row of vials. 揅elandine to aid in escaping, euphorbia for protection, black hellebore and wolfsbane for temporary invisibility.?
I tried to take in everything she was saying. 揑s this why people in town think y抋ll are witches??
Circe smirked. 揑 mean, I do siphon the life from children to keep myself young.?She puckered her lips and blinked overdramatically.
I didn抰 smile or laugh.
揔idding. Just a joke.?She looked down at the floor. 揝orry.?
I exhaled and shook my head. 揑 can deal with a lot but probably not that.?
揘othing like that goes on,?Circe said. 揃ut I can see why some people might think something terrible was happening up here. People are nosy as hell and if they can抰 get the info they want, sometimes they抣l just make it up.?
揔arter told me there were rumors that the women who lived here were into witchcraft.?I shoved my hands in my pockets to try and stem the anger, the rage. Suddenly, the window bounced open and a tangle of vines梚vy, Devil抯 Pet, and stinging nettle梒ame slithering in. They wound themselves around my leg.
Circe抯 brow furrowed. 揑 don抰 know what people think witchcraft means in this day and age. And honestly, I don抰 care what anybody has to say about what we do here, one way or the other. Witches??She looked thoughtful. 揑抦 okay with that. Especially if it means people keep their distance.?She bit down on her lip like she抎 said the quiet part out loud. 揥hat do you think??
揂bout being a witch? I don抰 really know. When I think of witches I think of crystals and incense and people always talkin?about lightwork and good vibes.?
Circe laughed. 揑 mean, that抯 the image you get shown, right??She took off her glasses and massaged her temple before putting them back on. 揚eople get a little sage, a few crystals, and think they抮e Marie Laveau.?Her eyes wandered to the hidden door where the altar for Hecate was hidden. 揥hat we practice, what we believe, is something that has been passed down through the generations. It抯 something we have access to because it is quite literally in our blood. Other people can call it whatever they like. I抦 a witch, sure, but if you ever hear me talkin?about lightwork please know I have lost my entire mind.?
揗y grandma knows about plants, herbs, that kind of stuff. My auntie Leti, too.?