Brida Prologue This chapter is written on the writers own experience.

The writer was on a holy pilgrimage on the sacred Road of Rome, travelling in search of his Gift. One night he sits with Brida OFern (a woman in charge of a certain stretch of that Road) and has a chat with her. Writer was surprised to know that Brida never walked that particular pilgrimage path and has never left the street and yet she has a Gift. She later explained that Gifts could be awakened anywhere, hers was awakened in Ireland. During subsequent meetings, Brida told the writer the story of her search and when he asked, she agreed to let him write down one day. But later, Brida kept raising obstacles because she was afraid that since it was a personal story, it wont be of much use to anyone else. The writer promises that they would take that risk together. Part 1: Summer and Autumn Chapter 1- 5 Brida goes to the forest to meet The Magus and tells him she wants to learn magic. Immediately the Magus knows that the woman he is seeing is his soulmate. When asked why she wanted to learn about magic, Brida says that magic would help her find the answers regarding the questions she has about life, it would help her learn about occult powers and possibly travel through time. Brida was not the first to ask the Magus to teach her. He was a well-known teacher a long time ago but he made a mistake no Teachers of the Tradition should make. The Magus led Brida into the forest in silence. Brida travelled all the way from Dublin to meet the Magus and when she asked for directions from the local villagers, they told her where to find him. After walking for some time, they reach a clearing on a hill top and both sat on the highest point on that hill. The Magus asked Brida to only answer one question in order to be his student. If she answers it truthfully, he will teach her. But if she lies, Brida must never return to the forest. The Magus asked her, if he teaches her all the mysteries of the Tradition of the Moon and the Traditions of the Sun, and one day Brida meets the love of her life. There will come a point when she has to choose if she wants her love or Magic, which one will she choose, knowing that when she choose one, she has to let go of the other. After contemplating for a while, Brida says that she would leave Magic for the Love of her life. Since Brida spoke the truth, the Magus agreed to teach her. It was getting dark and she had spent almost 2 hours telling her life story and her interest in Magic to Magus. Magus explains to Brida that Magic is a bridge that allows us to walk from the visible world to the invisible world to learn the lessons from both worlds. Everyone has to find their own way of crossing it. There are two ways; the Tradition of the Sun which teaches through space and world that surround us, and the Traditions of the Moon which teaches through time and things imprisoned in times memory. The Magus says that he learned the Tradition of the Moon but is only allowed to teach the Tradition of the Sun.

The Magus tells her to lean on a rock and observe the surroundings. He told her that he was going to teach her the first lesson and slowly walks away in to the forest, leaving Brida alone. It was already completely dark. Brida tried to keep herself calm and brave despite the fact that her imagination conjured up snakes and insects in her mind. She started thinking of other things and about the Magus and started thinking about his looks and the look in his eyes when he saw her. The she started panicking when she realised she was left alone for a long time. Brida remembered what people said about the Magus. Some said he was powerful and wise, some said that he used black magic to destroy a man whose wife he fell in love with. This is why he was condemned to wander the lonely forests. Bridas imagination ran wild and she was panicking, calling out for help with no avail. Then she told herself to calm down and started reciting a verse from the psalm that was taught by her grandmother. Soon, she felt calmer and begin realising the difference between danger and fear. She was in no danger, she only feared. She realised that night time was just a part of a day and she had to have faith. And she realised that this was her first lesson. Soon, Brida relaxed and fell asleep. When she woke up, the Magus was nowhere to be found but she felt joyful with her feat. She just shouted to the silent forest that she learnt about the Dark Night. She learnt that faith was a dark night, our life, every passing day is a dark night simply because we never know what we may stumble into, what surprises we have ahead. But we go through it, nevertheless. We had to have faith. Before Brida left the forest, she shouted out that she thinks that the Magus is an interesting man. All the while, Magus had been there, watching over the girl through the night, listening to her fears and almost running to her side when she cried for help. He was happy he did not do that, he knew this young women was strong. Brida walks in to her favourite bookstore that specialises in occult studies. She got the address of this store from her astral travel course teacher some time ago. It had a rather exclusive crowd that frequented the store. Brida went to that store often because she wanted to learn more things, in the safety of the pages. She decided that although she learned about the Dark Night, Tradition of the Sun was just not her path. Another reason for her to go into the store is to observe the other customers who always seem to know what to look for and often have conversations with the bookstore owner. She wanted to do the same, so one evening; she mustered up courage and spoke to him. She explained that she knows of secret societies and about the Dark Night as she was taught by the Magus of Folk. The owner was rather surprised that the Magus would spend that much time on a girl. She had a Gift, but that was not enough for the Magus to give his time to her. Brida told the owner that that is not the path for her and desperately wanted to continue, so he gave her a piece of paper with a name and address. He gave Brida the address to Wicca, who would certainly find out her Gift and the reason the Magus was so interested in Brida. After thanking the owner, Brida left. When Brida finally met Wicca, she explained that she wanted a Teacher to teach her the path of Magic. Wicca too wondered why the Magus would want to teach Brida eventhough she had a very clear Gift. Wicca places tarot cards on the table and draws out a few cards. From that she tells that Bridas stronger side has always been a

woman. Wicca also tells Brida about Soulmate and that its the first thing that people learn in the Tradition of the Moon. She tells Brida that only by finding our soulmate will we be complete and achieve Wisdom. Before leaving, Brida is told by Wicca that after she finds out what is Bridas Gift, Wicca will teach her the Tradition of the Moon. Wicca also tells Brida to lay tarot cards on the table, every day for one hour and just simply study the cards, and they will teach you everything she needs to know. Chapter 6-10 For a whole week, Brida spent 30 minutes each day to spread the tarot cards on the table in her living room at 1 am. She was rather disappointed because nothing was revealed to her by the tarot cards. She had minor intuition but dismissed it as her imagination. Brida kept thinking about the idea of her Soulmate and started fearing what may happen if she chooses the wrong man. On the eight day, she decided to invite her boyfriend Lorens out the following night. Upon meeting, Brida asks Lorens if it is physically possible if the atoms that make up my body could have been in the body of someone who lived before her. Lorens stared at her in amazement. He, being a physics man (works as a research assistant with a physics professor) contemplated over this and finally answers her that it is possible. Brida hoped that this man was her soulmate because she loved him a lot. Soon it was time to meet Wicca. A day before the meeting, Brida felt she couldnt cope because she couldnt get anywhere with the tarot cards. So she called Wicca to cancel. Wicca started diverting the conversation when Brida mentions that she cant make it for the appointment. Wicca starts talking about her plumber and that he too couldnt make his appointment today. She then tells Brida over the phone to spread the tarot cards as she was going to teach her a new way to find out if the plumber will arrive the next day. Wicca continued talking about other menial everyday matters and Brida started zoning out, entering a phase of her own. Every picture on the tarot cards told her stories. She was in her own world. Just as she reached a door in her imagination, Wicca woke her from it. She told Brida that she knew what Brida experienced and told her to keep her appointment and meet up the next day. Before ending the call, Wicca told Brida that the plumber came in a week ago to fix everything and he was just an excuse. The next day when they women met up, Wicca told Brida that the phone conversation was a trick. The visions Brida had been real. The phone trick was used so that Brida would not give up on the path. Wicca explained that in earlier times, to communicate with someone means speaking face to face. With advancement of technology, we dont need to see each other to talk. But our body is not used to this and enters a trance like state, tuning with a frequency which is receptive to the invisible world. Wicca further explained to Brida that when learning Magic, one must be humble and never set any expectation. The tarot cards only revealed itself to Brida when she was looking at it without any expectation. Then Wicca announced that its time they took the next step and they needed to travel.

Chapter 11-13 The ladies reached some mountains 15 miles south of Dublin. They walked into the woods and reached a clearing near a huge stone. Wicca made Brida sit on the ground and told her that she was going to find out Bridas Gift so that she could start teaching her. Wicca asked Brida lie down close her eyes and go in search her Gift and understand the world. She asked Brida to imagine the colour of the sky, with eyes still closed and follow her instructions. Brida sees vision of a cathedral and is asked to go in. She is led by Wiccas voice to a small door and told to go down the stairs to a library and tells Brida to choose a book which will show Brida what she needs to know. Brida chooses a slim book and when she opened it, she feels dizzy and passes out. Brida wakes to a new world and here, she is called Loni. She learns that she was badly injured and in the verge of death. She is in the Cathar country that has been caught by the French and they are all asked to convert back to Catholic or burn to death with the rest who refuse. Loni heard Voices telling her things that are to come. That was her gift in that incarnation. She tells her husband that she wants to be baptised by the Carthars and die with them because she was going to die anyways. When her husband goes to call the priest, the Voices talk to Loni and tell her that women can chose one or more of the four Rings of Revelation to achieve Wisdom and Loni had chosen only 1 ring, the Martyr which meant she gains wisdom through Sacrifice. Her real path was that of a Witch where she could learnt through pleasure. Chapter 14- 19 Loni felt someone rub her wrist. Her vision had come to an end and Brida was back to normal, no more Loni. Wicca had woken her up and asked her what her Gift was. Brida tells her that in her vision, her name was Loni and she could hear Voices; a few different voices that belong to both men and women. They both leave the woods and head back to Wiccas apartment. Wicca told Brida not to try to explain all her emotions because it could destroy the bridge between the visible and invisible world. Brida then asked if the priests she saw in her vision were real. Wicca handed her a book and explained that the Cathar church and priests existed long ago and they were destroyed by the Catholic Church by the year 1244. Brida was shocked. She also asked Wicca why she did not give up on Brida. For that, Wicca just responded that Bridas soul did not transform much in all her births and so she belonged to the likes of Wicca, a group that was in-charge of taking care of the Traditions of the Moon, Brida was a Witch. Brida could not take the reality of her situation and refused to believe all this, it was all a lie to her. Brida left Wiccas house and focused instead on her work as a secretary and did her best in that job for a whole week. One night she met her boyfriend with some friends and went out for drinks. When they came home, Lorens confronted her and asked her why was she behaving weird and if she was doing this because she wanted to break off with him. Finally Brida sat him down and explained the whole story from the time she met Magus till her final meeting with Wicca as Lorens listened in patience. He later told her that some things

are unbelievable but it is true. So he knows that what she is saying is true, however impossible it sounds. Brida suddenly felt tired and slept off. When she woke up, she was happy to find Lorens still by her side. She remembers her dads advice that to find out about something, you should plunge straight in to it. Brida was afraid to commit to any one path, and this made her follow everything but chose none. She finally came to terms with her problem and decided to learn to accept her path. Brida went to the woods again, to find the Magus. When she saw him, she told him that she has found her path and its the Tradition of the Moon. Wicca is her teacher and she is a witch. Brida says that she also believes in the Tradition of the Sun since it made her understand the Dark Night. That is why she came back to see the Magus. He told her to sit and enjoy the sunset with him and just as the sun sets, Magus told Brida to offer a prayer to God with simple words. Both of them gave their thanks to God and told their wishes, then sat still watching the sun go down. Then they walked to the pub to have a drink. The Magus was happy to have Brida by his side. He thought about the students he had in the past, all who did not appreciate the tradition, he knew Brida was not like them. After the drink, they went back to the Maguss house. Brida was reluctant but went anyways. Magus lived in a house a little outside the village. Magus asked Brida why she was here and she said it was because she had a few questions to ask Magus. First she asked him why he was wasting his time with her and he answered that he wanted someone to talk to; eventhought the real reason was because she was his soulmate. Then she asked him what he thought about the path she chose, the Tradition of the Moon and he agreed that it was her path and she was meant to choose it. Brida then asks the Magus how to find her Soulmate. He tells her that in the Tradition of the Sun, you could recognise your Soulmate with a particular light you can see in their eyes. In the Tradition on the Moon, you can see a point of light on the left shoulder of your Soulmate. Brida then leaves. Magus sits and contemplates about his Soulmate; Brida and worries what will happen if she runs across more than one Soulmate in a lifetime. Part 2: Winter and Spring Chapter 1-6 Over the next two months, Wicca initiated Brida in to the first mysteries of Magic.