Chapter 52: Reiki

After Greta and Sam left, August returned to the deck to find Sylvia arranging the contents of her bag on the table, and August hurried to clear everything to give her room.

"Thank you, dear. Go ahead and take a seat, and we'll get started," the woman smiled at her and removed a candle from her bag, lighting its wick and setting it on the table between them.

"First let's talk about reiki and why I think it will be helpful in your situation. It's helpful to everyone, of course. But as energy work involving the life force of all things, I think it will be especially beneficial for you," Sylvia trained her gentle eyes on August. "You seem to see what reiki practitioners sense in other ways. At least, that's how it seems to me," she said. "If you're uncomfortable at any time, please just tell me."

August nodded for the woman to continue. "What we're going to do now," Sylvia continued, picking up the candle from the table, "is set an intention. Think of the intention like a wish or a prayer. It sets the focus of our time together."

August looked at the glow of the orange flame. "Okay," she said.

"Hearing you talk about what happened last night with Graeme and knowing a little about what you've been dealing with from Greta, I have an idea for what our intention could be," she said while tapping her fingernails rhythmically along the pink salt that was glowing warmly. "May I?" she asked for August to nod her head silently.

"On behalf of our Goddess of the moon, we set this intention for August, future Luna of the Hallowell pack, to gain balance from her gifts, alignment with the divine in and around her, and empowerment in her role in this lifetime," Sylvia spoke the words in earnest with her eyes closed.

Upon hearing the intention Sylvia had chosen, August's eyes grew wide with a sudden awareness of what her presence signified to the woman in front of her. Sylvia's dark eyes opened to focus again on the human in front of her. "Does that sound okay?" she asked.

August nodded, suddenly nervous.

"Now lie down on the patio chair here. I've tried to make it more comfortable," she gestured to the reclined chair that had been draped with a thick blanket and pillow. Once August had gotten situated, Sylvia had her close her eyes and try to relax.

"I have a tuning fork here I'm going to use to help cleanse your aura," Sylvia said.

August heard a resounding tone that seemed to oscillate around her from one ear to the other. With her eyes closed, she heard the fork's note grow louder and softer before growing louder again, manifesting itself behind her eyes as a beam of white light circling around her. Suddenly, she recalled the forest vision of death's slowly rotating eye. But rather than inciting fear, the note that encircled her now with repetitions of the tuning fork brought a sense of calm, and her breathing grew relaxed.

Sylvia's voice reemerged quieter than August remembered. "I'm going to work through your ethereal body now, cleansing it." August heard the sound of liquid being shaken in its container before she heard its spray, which started from the crown of August's head down to her feet.

"I've chosen some crystals for our session that each have their own unique energy given by the earth. I'm going to place them around you," Sylvia said quietly. There was something so practical and instructive about the way Sylvia spoke about reiki. If August was expecting something more akin to theater, this was not it.

August felt the gentle rustling of Sylvia's hands as she placed small stones around her. In the lapses of quiet when Sylvia was working silently, August became aware of the breeze and the sound of the leaves. Crows were calling in the distance.

Sylvia continued the session by placing her hands on different chakra centers in an attempt to cleanse and guide the flow of energy and clear any obstructions. When she had concluded the session, August felt relaxed, but the heaviness she had accumulated from Graeme the night before was still there. She reluctantly explained to Sylvia how she had acquired the feeling in her chest and how it remained.

"It's okay. Don't let that discourage you. This is something we should continue several times, and learning how to do reiki on yourself may be the most useful since you're such a powerful conduit already," Sylvia's eyes disappeared in the smiling lines around them. "I have something for you," she added, plucking something from her bag and placing it in August's hand.

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August studied the dark purple and violet pendant. The violet was so vibrant that it almost appeared to glow.

"It's beautiful," she said.

"The stone is sugilite. It will provide a shield of light to protect you from the negativity of others," Sylvia replied, squeezing August's hands in hers.

"Thank you, Sylvia. That's so kind of you. I love it," she said.

Greta and Sam returned shortly after Sylvia had finished the session, and the three prepared to leave. "Do you want me to stay?" Greta asked, hugging August by the door as Sam and Sylvia started down the steps.

"I'm okay here, but thank you," August reassured her.

"He told you about Maggie's enchantment on the treehouse? That no one wishing anyone here harm can cross it?" Greta asked for August to nod. "Good. If Graeme hasn't returned, let me know and I'll come have dinner with you," Greta said then.

"Okay, I will. Thanks again," August replied, and Greta smiled realizing that she looked better than she had earlier.

Once Greta met Sam and his mom down in the Jeep, she found Sam to be distracted looking out into the forest.

"What is it?" she asked.

He snapped his eyes to find hers studying him curiously. "Nothing. I just… I thought I smelled something oddly familiar, but I can't quite place it," he said.

August laid down in bed after cleaning up, thinking about the reiki she had just learned about and experienced at Sylvia's hands. It was fascinating, and she could imagine how what Sylvia explained might correspond to what she could see with her strange second vision that would come and go on its own--the peace she felt in the forest when she followed the crow to that tree and seemed to see and feel the life force of things around her. But it didn't explain everything... could all of her experiences really be distilled into this reiki?

Her thoughts wandered over that experience with the crow last night... how had she gotten back here? When she focused more on the strange memory, it seemed as if she had simply disappeared under one tree to arrive at the base of another. But that was impossible! Surely this reiki couldn't explain that. So what in the world could? She sighed and touched the purple stone around her neck.

August recalled the intention Sylvia had recited for her. "… future Luna of the Hallowell pack…" she heard the earnestness in Sylvia's voice, and she shuddered thinking of the implications of those words. Was that really what was awaiting her? The pressure of it was immense. It hadn't occurred to her until that moment that accepting herself as Graeme's mate may actually mean filling such an important role to the people here.

Just when she had decided to grab the laptop to look up some more information on reiki, there was a knock at the door. She froze for a moment wondering who it could be. Perhaps Greta or Sylvia had forgotten something. August walked through the kitchen curiously to open it. Her arms went cold seeing someone entirely different waiting for her.

"M-Marius?" she whispered, gripping the side of the door.. "What are you doing here?" She gulped to see his face spread into a wicked grin.

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