Mythical Short Stories

The Seasons of the Witches

  Long ago, during the reign of Constantine The Great Pagans were persecuted. Some were witches and warlocks, but not all were. Innocent blood was shed, and this only grew worse under the ruling of Constantine's son, Constantius II. He ordered the closing of all Pagan temples; sacrifices done by Pagans was met with a penalty of death. Tombs, temples and monuments were vandalized.

   The good witches and warlocks who did no evil were frightened. They could no longer practice their spells and use their tonics for healing; this upset them greatly for they loved nature. They feared for their lives every day. The bad witches and warlocks on the other hand, were very evil and had revenge in their icy, cold, deadened hearts. They cursed those who persecuted them, giving them random, sinister bouts of illness and disease that would devour their health; killing them slowly and painfully. Unlike the good witches and warlocks, they never feared for their lives, they couldn't care less about their lives. The only thing they cared about was revenge and chaos.

   The bad witches and warlocks grew more evil as time went on, their eight Pagan holidays were as dear to them as it was to any witch or warlock, but they wanted to do something truly diabolical. They hatched a plan to curse each holiday, in a way to punish their persecutors and their descendants. A group of the most powerful evil witches and warlocks gathered around on each holiday and performed rituals to seal in dreadful curses that only a truly powerful, goodhearted witch or warlock could break.

   They started with the Winter Solstice; they sat in front of a large fire and threw in a cloth coated in the blood of a slain lamb for protection of all witches and warlocks; they chanted, "protect our brothers and sisters from every curse," three times. They threw in mistletoe's in an attempt to be merciful. They chanted again, saying, "ward off evil, hang it high to get rid of the evil eye. If you don't, spirits will invade your home. From the seventeenth of December to the twenty-fourth." They threw in limbs of evergreen trees; they chanted once more; "immortal, immortal we shall be. We who stand here today will remain." They all stood together and held hands; spinning around the fire until twilight.

   An ordinary woman heard this ritual, witnessing much of it. She crept away, being as sneaky and quiet as can be. At first, she didn't know what to do. Who would believe her? She sat in silence for a moment, thinking of how to word it all... She marched herself into the Church, she explained the ritual and what she heard. She knew she saw about eight people surrounding the fire, but she knew no names. Frustrated, the Priest made her sit and write out everything she heard and saw so he could have it on record. He knew it had to be witches and warlock. He warned the people, he had the word spread from city to city, empire to empire.

   Many people scoffed, they wouldn't listen. Those who heard the message and ignored it were possessed by spirits, stalked by the evil eye, and many became afraid and took their own precautions to ward off evil from then on. They began to wear amulets, filled rooms with mirrors and carried mirrors. Some even spit to ward off evil and the evil eye. It became a strong held belief; many who carried their precious amulets and mirrors, and even those who spit claimed to feel a difference.

   On the first day of February, the witches and warlocks held hands and chanted, "Imbolc, Imbolc, a day to light your home with candle at sunrise, a day to bathe and cleanse your soul. Visit a river, a stream or well, if you don't your heart will surely fail." They repeated this five times with their eyes firmly shut. One witch broke the circle and held her palms up to the sky. Black smoke, and silhouettes of what looked to be demonic beings came from her hands. Horrible shrieks and laughter were deafeningly loud. Within a minute, they were gone.

   An older man who witnessed this tried his best to pass on the word to anyone who would hear him. Many listened and passed the message along from city to city, and empire to empire.