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It was mid-evening by the time he closed the last book he had been pouring over. For all mortal eyes to see, the room was empty. But he could still sense their presences all around him. They lingered like a mist or thin smoke left unseen, yet felt in the heart, marked by a subtle shift in the still air, the shadows moving along the walls and the spines of books as captured by the flickering of the lamps—the ghostly energies of an invisible crowd. But it was a crowd that had long left the room, and only their aura lingered.
It was nothing new to one such as he, who had been seeing spirits since he was very young, long before ever opening a spellbook. He had merely gotten used to it, like one gets used to the air around them. The symptoms used to be more difficult to manage when he was a child, but over the years, through consistent study and ritual, he has learned to suppress much of the intensity.
He stood up from his seat at the desk, and glanced around the room, just to be sure it really was clear. Yes, the spirits were gone. In their wake was merely the imprint. Even so, he didn’t want to leave anything hanging around for others to encounter. He was sure that the burning of incense would banish the last remnants.
He went to one of the shelves and put the thick, leather-bound book back between the others where it belonged.
This room, their private library, was full of grimoires his parents had collected over the years. Some of them were even original, handwritten manuscripts, precious and rare as any ancient treasures. Half of it was dedicated to black magic, and the other half to white magic. There were also a few of those which didn’t fit into either of those two categories… some of which he himself had added, though his main interest had always been in the dark and occult arts. White magic was for his younger sister, who, like him, had gravitated towards what was innate in her since birth.
These weren’t mere leechbooks for the uninitiated or for those feeble of mind.
❧
Hours of study took much concentration. It was a different kind of energy than the kind spent in physical training. Everything was a give and take. After it was all over, it was important to tend to one’s body and soul. For this reason, he liked to end his work in the home library with some much-needed meditation.
He was setting up his space, a little circular rug with some boxes of incense laid at the edges, when he heard a sound at the window which drew his attention.
He walked over to see what it was, and noticed it was just a tree branch scraping across the pane. The world outside was as dimly lit as the room itself. Above the lawns strewn with bushes and trees, darkness was gathering across the sky, heavy shades of grey visible in the thickening clouds which hid the sun from his view.
Yet there was still light enough to cast a reflection. He stared at himself in the darkened window pane, the figure of a youth dressed all in black, with dark brown hair that looked almost black at times, green eyes, and skin like porcelain.
Momentarily, he turned away, and went back to his rug, where he knelt to light the incense.
He usually chose among a few favorites, which were arranged on the floor before him: Dragon’s Blood, Eucalyptus, Black Opal… He liked to mix them sometimes, and bathe in the essences of the multitude. But today he wanted something more elementary, with the simple intention of feeling grounded and clearing his space. So, after contemplating a few, he picked one of his mother’s favourites: Blue Moon.
Its color matched the name, and he watched the sticks light up like dark sapphires, filling the space around him with the smell of deep lakes and something holy. His mind’s eye saw the image of white flowers submerged beneath blue waters. He breathed it in. The strong fragrance seemed to dispel any residual energies from his earlier experiments, while connecting him to something that felt bigger and more whole. As he exhaled, sitting upright in the middle of the rug with his legs crossed and hands in his lap, he felt as if the world exhaled with him.
In this space, calm was always to be found.