“What are your sister’s and grandmother’s names, just so I can concentrate on them too?”
“Ah, yes, good idea. My sister’s name is Brianna, and my grandmother is Esther.”
“All right. I will not interrupt your concentration further.”
She handed him her amethyst pendulum. “Rest your elbow on the table. Hold the chain at the top, so that the stone’s point just touches the surface of the map. Then lift it a hair, without moving it.”
He did exactly what she asked.
“Now do you see how it moves slightly, even though you’re not doing anything to make it swing one way or another?”
“Yes.”
“That’s perfect. It will find its path. When I ask, hold it like that, as still as you can, and watch what it points to. When I return, we’ll compare notes.”
“What do you mean by ‘return?’
“Oh, my body will be here, but my mind will travel.”
“I’m chuffed to see what happens.”
Freya figured that ‘chuffed’ must mean psyched and chuckled. “So am I.”
I canastral project tonight and, hopefully, I’ll have the information I need to do a full ritual tomorrow. Freya laid out all of her altar tools, putting a feather in the East along with the incense to mark the section representing air. She put the matches and a candle in the South for fire, and then holy water in the West for the element of water. She noticed Devon’s eyebrows rise when he looked at the bottle, clearly marked holy water. Oh well, she could explain blessed water later, if he was still curious. In the North, she laid her unpolished gemstones, in their natural form, for earth. Her pentacle went in the center for spirit.
She placed more candles near the top as she faced the altar. One white and one black, plus a gold and a silver candle, with one blue one and one brown one in the center, on which she carved her sister's and grandmother’s names with her short knife.
Everything was ready, so she stood, pushed her chair in, and told Devon, “I'm going to include you in the circle if that's all right with you."
"Absolutely. I want to be of help."
"Thank you.” She didn't really know how not to include him, if he was going to hold the pendulum over the maps. He needed to be a willing participant.
Speaking of the maps, she laid those out facing him. She tried to get both the world and the United States maps on the altar, but it was difficult without cutting off a good chunk of the world. She figured her family probably wasn't in Asia or Australia, so she went ahead and gerrymandered the maps to include all of Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, plus North and South America.If they were in Australia or on that side of the world, she probably wouldn't get any results at all. The pendulum might swing in circles.
“Okay, Devon, I'm going to anoint your wrists and mine with protection potion. Please hold out your hands, palms up.” He did, and she touched his wrists with the gray liquid, then her own, and murmured “Goddess, surround us in circles of light that nothing may cross.”
She walked around the table, pointing her wand above her head, which was well over Devon’s since he was seated. As she walked the circle clockwise, she spoke aloud, "I cast and charge this circle to only include helpful spirits and entities.” On her next pass, she said, “I cast and charge this circle to help me with my ritual’s intentions.” On her third pass, she called out, “I welcome the Goddess and her God into this ritual."
Then she sat in her chair and took some deep breaths, holding her palms out to her sides, facing up. When she felt connected to the powers-that-be, she opened her eyes.
“Now hold the pendulum close to the middle of the maps and just touch the tip to the paper until it stops.” Devon did so. Then she said, “I'm going to recite the spell now. Please don't move until I finish, and then lift the stone off the maps, just a hair. If it starts to swing in any direction, just let it go, and hopefully, we will see what we need to see.”
Devon didn’t move the pendulum from its spot.
Ready to start the spell, she recited, "To Gods and Goddesses I do pray; guide me to my goal this day; let me see the time and place; where I will find my sister's face." She closed her eyes and quietly concentrated on her intention.
At last, she nodded at the pendulum and said, “You can lift it now.”
They watched it carefully as it began to swing, and she examined Devon’s hand to be sure he wasn't moving it. Hewasn't. He stared at it curiously, as if he didn't expect it to move at all.
It swung in the direction of the United States map. Freya was relieved because she couldn't afford a trip around the world. Interestingly enough, it seemed to be reaching for the town in which they sat right now, or close to it.
She quickly pushed the world map to the side.
As they both studied the swing of the pendulum, it progressed a little further to a nearby town.Okay, a town or two away isn't bad, as long as we’re in the same time period.However, she had to pursue them even if they had landed in the past. The only way she knew to do that would be to astral project and allow the spell to take her anywhere and at any time.
She went into a trance and concentrated on her sister’s face. Wherever Brianna was, her grandmother would also be. She knew her sister would never ever desert her grandmother.
