Abby slept over at Meg’s house as often as her mom would let her. Meg’s adobe house was built in the 1930’s and it was a literal citrus and date plantation, so compared to the three-bedroom desert landscaped ranch style home that Abby and everyone she knew lived in, Meg’s place was really unique. Meg’s historic Tucson house sat on five acres that were covered with citrus, date, and other giant shade trees. Meg had a pond stocked with fish where migrating ducks cooled their webbed toes, and where toads you pretend-kissed were hiding in the mud. Abby’s house had a dirt and gravel yard with a cactus garden that conserved water and also, wild girlhood.

Meg was instructing Abby in making a crown out of dandelions one afternoon not long after they had dumped their backpacks and ran out to the orange grove. Meg already had her own white and golden circlet and was placing Abby’s on her bowed head.

“I, Goddess of the Orange Blossom Desert Oasis, proclaim you, Goddess Neroli to be our truest friend.” Meg lightly touched Abby’s head as she placed the crown of flowers upon her friend and rested her hand inside the crown against Abby’s hair for a moment.  

Abby grinned broadly and imagined that her head did in fact feel heavier when she lifted it. They spent most of the afternoon naming off the other, far less loyal friends and royal supplicants who stood in rows on either side of their approach and who looked and smelled a lot like citrus trees.

When the sun was low in the west and the thin, water-barren cloud stripes made pink and orangegoldpurple sky waves, Meg said “Come on, Goddess Neroli Abigator, let’s retire to our cloud home now.” She grabbed Abby’s hand, pulling her quickly along back to the house and down the hall into the library with its’ tall ceilings and taller bookshelves. Abby loved that they actually had one of those rolling ladders to reach higher books, because it seemed like the just the kind of joyful magickal library that her imagination longed for. Meg finally released Abby’s hand, ran her finger along the shelf and yanked out a short, wide, reddish book with gold letters embossed in the spine and cover. It looked like a photo album.

Meg said “This, is what the Goddesses wish to do now.” Abby touched the book and read the cover.

“Magick Spells for Luck and Love,” she read.Abby dropped her hands from the book.

Abby’s eyes grew big and her hand flew up to the gold cross at her neck. What would her mom think? Someone at Sunday school had said that witches were doing the Devil’s work when they cast spells.  

Reading her mind, Meg said “Oh Abs, it’ll be fun. You don’t have to be so serious. It’s like pretending we’re Goddesses isn’t making God all mad, right?”

Meg and Abby had been friends ever since 3^rd grade in Mrs. Greenbriar’s English class when jerky Jeffrey put a tack on Abby’s chair and Meg, who had hated Jeff ever since he spit gum in her hair in 2^nd grade and she had to cut it out, saw her chance. She rescued Abby just before she sat down, and then ratted Jeff out to Mrs. Greenbriar in front of everybody. Jeff went to the principal’s office. Abby and Meg were inseparable ever since.

“But it’s not…Christian,” Abby whispered her faith like she was feeling either afraid or, sensing that she might hurt Meg’s feelings by saying anything.

“Abigator, you and me are going to be friends for-ehh-ver, OK? It’s an eternal thing. And I don’t just mean like in school, but like, even after we get married, and have kids, and get old and…and DIE!” Meg sniffed once. “You don’t think I would ever do anything to keep us apart, now or, or even….in the Summerlands, do you?” Meg was breathing shallow now and seemed on the verge of tears. She sank back into the rather gorgeous red velvet window seat cushion that only had a blessedly small amount of white cat fur on it.

Abby grabbed both of Meg’s hands on either side of the book.

 “Oh, no don’t cry Goddess of the Desert Oasis and Megafriend!” She dropped to her knees in front of Meg and squeezed her hands and the book under them. “I’m so sorry I said anything.” Meg looked down at Abby, sniffed again as Abby looked up at her with pleading eyes. Meg nodded her head, pulled a hand out from under Abby’s and wiped first her own tears away, and then she wiped the one that had just left Abby’s eye.

Abby rose then and plopped beside Meg, resting her head on her friend’s shoulder. Then she looked down at the book. It looked like any other book she’d ever seen. Just a book. Just like the Bible.

“Can I pick which one we do?” Abby said after the two had sat silently for a minute, running her hand over the cover of the book, feeling the impressions in the leather. “You know, maybe something a little less… witchy?”

“Mmm, okay. I see how you are,” Meg teased her. She sniffed and cleared her throat. 

Abby opened the book so that it rested on their thighs between them. Meg was wearing shorts with big pockets that held everything and sandals that picked up just enough of the sacred mineral soil that grew the dates and citrus of the Goddesses orchard. Abby had white cargo capris with many voluminous pockets and flip flops that she somehow kept on while frolicking about the grove.  

Spells unfolded before them with titles like Everlasting Beauty, Love for Always, and Fortune’s Favor. Abby thought about what she wanted most for her and Meg. She put her finger on a page that read Long Life and said,

“This is the one for us! Then we can be together forever!” 

“It’s perfect!” Meg smiled, and the tension that Abby thought she had created was suddenly gone from her friend’s body. “Okay, what does it say that we need?”

The girls read the list of ingredients. Meg jumped to her feet and set the book on the cushion. “Let’s go.”

As soon as they rounded the corner from the library door, the scent of rosemary and pot roast prompted them to inhale deeply and say “Mmmm!” to each other at the same time. They giggled and ran to the kitchen.

The kitchen had black and white checkered tile and a pink stove and fridge. There were ceramic knick knacks everywhere that looked like Aunt Jemima with a red handkerchief in her hair, a white apron and big pink lips. Abby loved the cheery vintage feel of the kitchen.

Meg’s mom was peeling carrots over the sink and looked up as the girls ran in. Her hair was a halo of dark kinky curls and she wore it tied back from her face with a yellow ribbon. Her white eyelet trimmed apron looked like Aunt Jemima’s.

“Oh, girls, good,” Dora smiled at them, “supper will be ready in an hour.”

She was the only person Abby knew who called dinner supper.

“Smells supreme!” Meg put her arms around her mother’s waist and hugged her quickly. “We’re going to the garden to get some stuff for a spell.”

“Oh?” She smiled and looked at Abby with an eyebrow raised. “Just be careful of the muddy area near the vegetable garden. Here,” she handed Meg a basket with garden shears. ”Happy harvesting!” she called after them.

Meg’s mom was the coolest. She never even asked what kind of spell they were doing. Meg said that they were a Pagan family but Abby really didn’t know what that meant. To her they were just kind of like hippies who believed in organic stuff and recycling and had cool books.   

When Abby found the colorful pages with naked pictures hidden inside the Maxfield Parish art book at the house where she was babysitting, she knew she would show them to Meg. Meg was the first person to explain sex to Abby, and even the different kinds of sex. Meg never even knew there were different ways to do it, just that it was something adults wouldn’t talk to you about, and something Barbie and Ken did before they had the baby. Sometimes you could overhear the adults saying words like “boobs” and making jokes about body parts. And Abby knew that it was bad unless you were married first. Meg was also the first person to explain what a tampon was and how to use it. Dora even got Abby a training bra when Abby was too embarrassed to ask her own mother if it was time for her to have one.

Meg set the herb basket down on the window seat in the library. Abby set down the tea tray with the pink and black ceramic set and kneeled on the floor resting on her heels. Meg took one short white candle, a short black candle and matchbook from the side table and then joined her on the floor. The having of the candles never seemed unusual to Abby since her family did candle rituals too, like for advent. The sun was setting out the picture window where darker greyblueviolet backlit clouds were contrasting with orange and peach highlights were starting to color the sunstroked edges of the clouds.

Meg snipped the herbs onto a small saucer. And read them aloud and with flair as she did so with each one.

“A spring of rrrosemary” she said rolling the R with her tongue flicking against the roof of her mouth, as she stripped the leaves from the stem with a flourish.  Abby held another stem under her nose and sniffed loudly.

“3…leaves…of spearrrmint” Meg said as she plucked one for each emphasized word and snipped them into pieces with the kitchen scissors. “And a handful of thhhyme” she said as she stripped the leaves from the woody stem.

“Tuh-ime,” Abby corrected her “because it will give us more time.”

“Yes, yes of course I meant tuh-ime.”

“And then what?” Abby asked.

“Now we steep.” Meg mixed the herbs with her fingers on the saucer and then sprinkled three pinches into each of their cups. She lifted the tea pot and poured the steaming water, first in Abby’s cup and then her own. Then she sprinkled a few lavender flowers on top and drizzled a bit of honey in each cup.

Meg handed Abby a small tea spoon. “Stir it clockwise, but don’t sip it yet.”

Abby did as Meg instructed and set her tea cup down when Meg did. Meg took a pinch of salt from a small dish with her right hand and sprinkled it around her body clockwise.

She handed the dish to Abby and said “Do that with the salt too. Sprinkle just a bit from left to right.” Abby nodded and sprinkled salt, wiping her hand on her capris after she was done. She didn’t remember reading that in the spellbook but Meg had an air of authority about her, so she didn’t question her.

Meg adjusted her posture and wiggled her hips a bit. “Now we ground ourselves. So just sit comfortably, breathe deeply and try to picture tree roots growing out under you, poking through the floor and into the ground.” Abby adjusted her position, closed her eyes and thought about a root growing out of her butt, which was terribly funny, so she giggled and peeked at Meg. Meg was smiling but had her eyes closed and looked like a statue of Buddha or the smiling white Chinese cat with the raised paw, so Abby tried to copy her.

Meg touched Abby lightly after a short time and asked “You good?” Abby nodded. “Got that root in your mind?”

“Yes, I have a root coming out of my butt” and she giggled at Meg.  

Meg ignored her silliness for once, took a deep breath and said, “Okay, now we invoke the elements. Air in my lungs for the East,”

Abby inhaled also.

Meg put her hand on her heart and said “The spark of life for the South,” Abby followed suit.

“Water in my veins for the West,” Meg said running her right hand down her left arm as Abby copied her motion “and the earth in my bones for the North.” Meg grabbed her left wrist with her right thumb and forefinger. “We welcome the four elements.” Abby released her own wrist as Meg had.

Meg then struck a match, cupped it, and lit the white, then black candles that were on the tea tray as she said “Welcome Lord and Lady to our tea party!” She smiled one of her magical, whole face smiles that Abby loved, so Abby smiled back and laughed. Abby thought then that maybe Meg meant the same Lord like in the Bible and that maybe the Lady was the Holy Lady Mary.

“The circle is cast, we are between the worlds” Meg said. Abby’s eyes widened. Had Meg really done something magical to transport them to another place?   

“Okay,” Meg said, “Now let’s see what the spell says.”

She laid the book to her left but inside the salt ring so they both could read. The incantation read:

Raise the cup to the waxing moon and say aloud:

To the sweetness of life

To the flavor of life

To the beauty of life

I have steeped the essence of life

As I sip, so I savor the many long days that remain

Slowly sip the tea and read the leaves left in the cup

“Lucky for us, the moon is waxing now,” Meg tilted her head toward the window.

Abby looked out the window at the crescent moon that was hanging above where the sun had just set, leaving pinkgold cloud streaks under the moon. “How do we read the leaves?” she asked.

“We just look at the stuff that’s left over in the bottom and see if there’s any shapes. Like when you look at clouds and see things.”

“That makes sense.” Abby had no idea what it would mean even if she found something that she could identify at the bottom of her cup.

The girls picked up their cups, clinked them together and read the words together,

“To the sweetness of life,

To the flavor of life,

To the beauty of life,

I have steeped the essence of life,

As I sip, so I savor the many long days that remain.”

Then they sipped. Slow, deliberate, warm swallows of flavorful fresh herb tea made their undulating way down into their young bodies. Abby got a lavender flower in her mouth and thought about spitting it out, but she swallowed it anyway. She strained herbs through her pressed lips on the next sip. When most of the liquid was gone and just herbs remained, Meg closed her eyes and swirled three times clockwise and set the cup down. Abby did too. When she looked down at the cup, all she saw was a green blob.

“Oh! I’ve got a bird, a horseshoe, and a wheel!” Meg squealed. “See here near the handle, the round part is the wheel. There’s the bird flying down here and the horseshoe is here with the points toward the rim of the cup! These are all good signs! Could be travel for the wheel and luck with the horseshoe. I might need to show my mom to know for sure. What’s in yours?”

Meg peered over the top of Abby’s cup. “That kind of looks like a dolphin there,” she pointed to the largest green blob, “And that could be a hill or mountain there.”

“Oh good,” Abby said a bit sarcastically, “I thought it was just a green turd in my future!”

They both cracked up laughing at that. “Careful!,” Meg said “Set your cup down so you don’t move the leaves around and we’ll ask my mom to look at it.”

Dora knocked on the library door and called “Supper’s ready girls. Come wash your hands.”

“We’ll be right there, mom” Meg replied. “Okay let’s close the circle and go get dinner.”  She stood up and reached out to pull Abby up too. “We thank the Lord and Lady for being here with us and the elements for their attendance at our rite.” She raised her hands up, still holding Abby’s and opened them wide and let go of her friend, turning her palms out. Abby copied her as they both slowly brought their hands down to their sides. “The circle is open but unbroken. Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again.”

Abby looked at her friend who was practically glowing with happiness and knew that she had just been a part of something that was special to Meg.

Abby grabbed Meg and pulled her off balance into a voracious hug.In

“Abby!”

“Oh Megafriend, you are amazing!” Abby gushed, a tear forming at the corner of her smiling eyes. “I sure hope this works and that we live as friends forever! And thanks for asking the Lord and Lady to come watch us so I would feel better about doing the spell.” 

“Silly! They are always here with us, whether we ask them to be or not, but it’s nice to welcome and thank them for lending their energy” Meg explained, hugging Abby in return. “And I sure hope it works too, Abby.”  

Meg blew out the candles and they gently picked up the teacups to show Dora.