The Black Bird Oracle

“These wards aren’t like any others I’ve seen.” My fingers drew away from the scarred surface, and the old magic quieted. “Most witches’ marks are inscribed by humans to keep magic out,” Aunt Gwyneth said. “These were made by Proctor witches to keep the magic in.”

“Nemesis.”

There’s nothing for you here, he said. Hearth and cauldron will never be home for witches like us. You must climb higher to find what you seek.

the long fronds of Solomon’s seal.

“Doesn’t the Bishop House have a stillroom?”

unresolved resentments cloaked in virtue.

“The sunwise/widdershins spread offers two different readings, depending on whether you move clockwise—what we used to call sunwise—or widdershins, moving anticlockwise. And you can read them down the vertical axis, or across the horizontal axis, too.”

“Both the craft and elemental magic have higher, more potent expressions. For elemental magic it’s knotting spells—what you call weaving. For the craft,

“Magic is nothing more than desire made real,” I whispered to the night sky.