Crows & Candles

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Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good

Speaker 1 and then you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I write and read all the stories you'll hear on Nothing Much Happens.

Speaker 1 Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 Before we start the show,

Speaker 1 we are very excited to announce that we have been nominated in the Signal Awards for Best Bedtime Podcast.

Speaker 1 There is a link in our show notes, and voting is only open until October 17th.

Speaker 1 So, if you'd take a sec to click over there, and vote for us. We would so appreciate it.
And if we win, I'll I'll cook up something special for all you sleepyheads.

Speaker 1 I can't give you the recipe to Chef's Coffee Cake. I've been sworn to secrecy.
But I'll think of something,

Speaker 1 and I'll share it.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week.

Speaker 1 And this week we are giving to Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue.

Speaker 1 providing a safe and loving environment to domestic donkeys.

Speaker 1 Learn more in our show notes.

Speaker 1 Thank you for listening and for sharing what we do with others. For leaving a kind review or rating.

Speaker 1 And of course, for subscribing. Our show is not made by AI.

Speaker 1 It has to be written, recorded, edited, and published.

Speaker 1 And we do it all with our hearts. But we just wouldn't be able to without premium subscribers.

Speaker 1 If you've been thinking about it, well, this is a great time.

Speaker 1 For about a dime a day, you get our full catalog of this show

Speaker 1 and stories from the Village of Nothing Much.

Speaker 1 Ad-free.

Speaker 1 You also get over 30 bonus stories. and our extra long episodes.
Our latest is over nine hours to see you cozily through the night.

Speaker 1 Subscribe at nothingmuchhappens.com or through the link in our show notes.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 I have a story to tell you.

Speaker 1 And just by listening will condition you to be a better sleeper. It may take a bit of practice, but soon you'll fall asleep within minutes and return to sleep in seconds.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 If you wake again in the night, please don't hesitate to turn an episode back on.

Speaker 1 You'll drift right back off.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight. is called Crows and Candles.

Speaker 1 And it is the next in this month's special Halloween episodes. While it isn't at all a scary story, it is meant to be a bit of balm for those who are grieving.

Speaker 1 And if that feels too heavy for tonight, that's understandable.

Speaker 1 Might I recommend The Leaf House from a week and a half ago? It's in your queue. Tonight's story is about a walk on a misty day

Speaker 1 and a place at the bottom of the hill where the gate squeaks when you push it open.

Speaker 1 It's also about rosemary and gifts brought by birds,

Speaker 1 the magic of speaking the names of those we love

Speaker 1 and a choice to make friends wherever you go.

Speaker 1 Okay, get comfortable, my dears.

Speaker 1 Tuck yourself in with care.

Speaker 1 The right pillow in the right spot.

Speaker 1 Muscles softening and relaxing.

Speaker 1 Mind getting quieter.

Speaker 1 The day is done.

Speaker 1 And you have done enough in it.

Speaker 1 It is enough.

Speaker 1 Now breathe in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh from your mouth.

Speaker 1 Once more, inhale

Speaker 1 and exhale.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 Crows and candles

Speaker 1 Last autumn was my first in the circle.

Speaker 1 And autumn is a very special time of the year for us.

Speaker 1 Yes, it is when the veil grows thin,

Speaker 1 and our talents shine bright,

Speaker 1 when we follow the lead of the seasons and retreat a bit,

Speaker 1 spending more time with our thoughts,

Speaker 1 and preparing for the long, dark winter.

Speaker 1 But most specially,

Speaker 1 it is the time we make our plans for caretaking our little village.

Speaker 1 And here is a secret you might not know about service.

Speaker 1 Once you start giving to others,

Speaker 1 you will begin to crave it.

Speaker 1 It becomes a gift you want as much for yourself as

Speaker 1 them.

Speaker 1 I dare you to try it.

Speaker 1 The next time you are out on the street in your own village,

Speaker 1 look for one or two ways

Speaker 1 to make things better,

Speaker 1 kinder,

Speaker 1 easier,

Speaker 1 and see how it fills your cup.

Speaker 1 See how you begin to look for more to do and help with.

Speaker 1 Because kindness begets kindness.

Speaker 1 I had a memory of being very young,

Speaker 1 five or six,

Speaker 1 running errands with my mother,

Speaker 1 and before we went into some shop or market,

Speaker 1 her whispering to me an idea:

Speaker 1 Let's make everyone we meet our friend

Speaker 1 her eyes had sparkled as she'd said it and i'd giggled as i watched her do it

Speaker 1 each clerk and fellow shopper

Speaker 1 was won over by her genuine warmth and cordiality

Speaker 1 i was thinking of this as i stepped out of my door today

Speaker 1 I live in a small apartment in downtown,

Speaker 1 an old brick building, with a flower shop on the ground floor,

Speaker 1 around the corner from the record store.

Speaker 1 Mist hung over the village as I began to walk.

Speaker 1 So that when I looked up and down Main Street, both ends were shrouded,

Speaker 1 and I imagined us in an autumn snow globe,

Speaker 1 as if the world stopped where the mist stood,

Speaker 1 and falling snowflakes were replaced with millions of red

Speaker 1 and orange and yellow leaves.

Speaker 1 I smiled and pulled my hood over my head to keep out the chill.

Speaker 1 I had a bit of a walk ahead of me.

Speaker 1 Last autumn, the circle had been busy.

Speaker 1 We'd done a few simple spells

Speaker 1 to keep jack-o'-lanterns burning on Halloween.

Speaker 1 We'd relocated a cloud of bats from a busy barn at Weathervane Farm

Speaker 1 to an abandoned silo out past the state road.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I was proud to say

Speaker 1 we'd worked on a project I'd pioneered

Speaker 1 to clean gravestones at the cemetery.

Speaker 1 Some of that was done with magic,

Speaker 1 cleaning potions and spells to convince vines to grow away from the stones,

Speaker 1 and some with old fashioned elbow grease.

Speaker 1 I'd volunteered to maintain the work we'd done,

Speaker 1 to keep things clear and dignified for those resting there.

Speaker 1 And that was my errand to day.

Speaker 1 I'd refresh the wards

Speaker 1 that kept away the lichen, graffiti, and litter,

Speaker 1 and bring some light to the dark corners of the place.

Speaker 1 And I was hoping

Speaker 1 I might see some friends while I worked.

Speaker 1 All of us in the circle have their own kind of skill,

Speaker 1 and mine is an affinity with animals.

Speaker 1 When I look back on it,

Speaker 1 I realize they have sought me out my whole life,

Speaker 1 even before that evening, when the moon had shone on me,

Speaker 1 and I found myself at the curious shop,

Speaker 1 stepping fully into the circle, and who I am:

Speaker 1 cats and dogs,

Speaker 1 birds and and crickets, butterflies and horses,

Speaker 1 all sorts that crawled and swam.

Speaker 1 They would find me whenever I was near,

Speaker 1 and seemed to be happy and at ease in my company.

Speaker 1 I certainly was in theirs.

Speaker 1 And while it isn't exactly like speaking,

Speaker 1 Not like you and I could do with each other.

Speaker 1 I can talk to them,

Speaker 1 and they to me.

Speaker 1 But just more a knowing

Speaker 1 how they feel,

Speaker 1 what they need,

Speaker 1 what they're looking for or wanting.

Speaker 1 And if possible, I try to give it

Speaker 1 to help where I can.

Speaker 1 The mist moved out in front of me.

Speaker 1 We were not, in fact, in a snow globe.

Speaker 1 And the road kept going out past the train station

Speaker 1 and down a small hill

Speaker 1 till it came to the iron gate of the cemetery.

Speaker 1 When I pushed it open, I noticed the gravel underfoot

Speaker 1 had been washed into a heap

Speaker 1 after the rainstorms a while back,

Speaker 1 and the gate stuck on it.

Speaker 1 Before

Speaker 1 I'd have pushed and stomped

Speaker 1 and dug with the heel of my shoe to shift it.

Speaker 1 But now I recognized

Speaker 1 this was a moment to practice my skills.

Speaker 1 I I looked at the ruts and strata in the ground

Speaker 1 and brought my hands together in front of me,

Speaker 1 rubbing them back and forth

Speaker 1 and building heat between them as I focused my attention.

Speaker 1 There are lots of ways to work, but

Speaker 1 this technique,

Speaker 1 which I'd learned from the curious shop owner, worked a treat for me.

Speaker 1 When my palms were warm and staticky,

Speaker 1 I stretched them out to the uneven earth and stuck gate,

Speaker 1 and suggested, rather strongly, that they sort themselves out.

Speaker 1 It started with just a thin train of pebbles and dust,

Speaker 1 rolling away from the place where the gate was wedged into the gravel.

Speaker 1 Then it picked up its pace,

Speaker 1 the ground sifting until the ruts were filled,

Speaker 1 and the high spots low and even again.

Speaker 1 I put my hands on my hips as the dust settled

Speaker 1 and listened to the creak of the gate

Speaker 1 as it swung freely now from its hinges.

Speaker 1 Done and dusted, I said to myself,

Speaker 1 and stepped through,

Speaker 1 heading down the nearest path

Speaker 1 to check on the words and spells we'd set.

Speaker 1 I'd brought with me in my bag a a dozen tea light candles,

Speaker 1 a jar of dried rose petals,

Speaker 1 a bunch of fresh rosemary tied with a string,

Speaker 1 and a container of large unsalted cashews.

Speaker 1 You might think

Speaker 1 one of those things is not like the others,

Speaker 1 and you would be right.

Speaker 1 The first three were for the dearly departed.

Speaker 1 And the last

Speaker 1 was why I was the best witch for this particular job.

Speaker 1 I started with the candles,

Speaker 1 setting them strategically on particular graves.

Speaker 1 People we'd identified as being healers themselves in their time.

Speaker 1 Storytellers

Speaker 1 were the ones who,

Speaker 1 while alive, were the glue that held a family together,

Speaker 1 the light of many lives,

Speaker 1 the life of the party.

Speaker 1 These spirits helped keep our protective spells strong

Speaker 1 as their own flames fed ours.

Speaker 1 The rose rose petals and rosemary sprigs

Speaker 1 were dolled out around and on top of graves

Speaker 1 to spread love and remembrance

Speaker 1 among those who might feel forgotten.

Speaker 1 As I lit the candles and spread the petals,

Speaker 1 I said the names on the graves.

Speaker 1 This itself is a kind of magic

Speaker 1 to say the names of the ones we've lost and remember them and keeps them with us.

Speaker 1 Finally, I took the container of cashews from my bag and opened it in a clearing in the center of the graveyard.

Speaker 1 When I looked up into the branches above me, I saw that they were suddenly full of crows.

Speaker 1 I smiled up at them and in my way called to them.

Speaker 1 Whoever had named them a murder of crows,

Speaker 1 an unkindness of ravens, well

Speaker 1 They weren't able to speak to these lovely birds.

Speaker 1 I call them a circle,

Speaker 1 just like our group at the Curios shop,

Speaker 1 a circle of guardians who helped me take care of this place.

Speaker 1 I sat on a stone bench, and the circle sat around me,

Speaker 1 some on my shoulders and knees,

Speaker 1 some at my feet, and we chatted for a bit.

Speaker 1 I brought them their favorite snack,

Speaker 1 and after they'd eaten, some returned with small gifts,

Speaker 1 an old fifty cent piece,

Speaker 1 a single pearl earring,

Speaker 1 a small rusted key.

Speaker 1 I asked them to offer comfort and solace

Speaker 1 to people who came here, and company to those that stayed under the soil. soil,

Speaker 1 and they promised to do their best.

Speaker 1 I tipped the rest of the nuts out onto the bench and rose to go.

Speaker 1 As I walked the path back to the gate,

Speaker 1 I could see the lit candles

Speaker 1 shining through the mist

Speaker 1 and smell the rosemary on my hands.

Speaker 1 Make friends, she'd said.

Speaker 1 I felt I had.

Speaker 1 The gate swung smoothly open as I approached.

Speaker 1 I went through

Speaker 1 and turned back toward home.

Speaker 1 Crows and candles

Speaker 1 Last autumn was my first in the circle.

Speaker 1 And autumn is a very special time of the year for us.

Speaker 1 Yes, it is when the veil grows thin

Speaker 1 and our talents shine bright,

Speaker 1 when we follow the lead of the seasons and retreat a bit,

Speaker 1 spending more time with our thoughts

Speaker 1 and preparing for the long, dark winter.

Speaker 1 But most specially,

Speaker 1 it is the time we make our plans

Speaker 1 for caretaking

Speaker 1 our little village.

Speaker 1 And here is a secret

Speaker 1 you might not know about service.

Speaker 1 Once you start giving to others,

Speaker 1 you begin to crave it.

Speaker 1 It becomes a gift. You want

Speaker 1 as much for yourself as for them.

Speaker 1 I dare you to try it.

Speaker 1 The next time you are out on a street in your own village,

Speaker 1 look for one or two ways to make things better,

Speaker 1 kinder,

Speaker 1 easier,

Speaker 1 and see how it fills your cup.

Speaker 1 See how you begin to look for more to do and help with

Speaker 1 because kindness begets kindness.

Speaker 1 I had a memory of being very young, five or six,

Speaker 1 running errands with my mother,

Speaker 1 and before we went into some shop or market,

Speaker 1 her whispering to me an idea.

Speaker 1 Let's make everyone we meet

Speaker 1 our friend.

Speaker 1 Her eyes had sparkled as she said it,

Speaker 1 and I giggled as I watched her do it.

Speaker 1 Each clerk and fellow shopper

Speaker 1 was won over by her genuine warmth and cordiality.

Speaker 1 I was thinking of this

Speaker 1 as I stepped out of my door to day.

Speaker 1 I live in a small apartment in downtown

Speaker 1 an old brick building with a flower shop on the ground floor

Speaker 1 around the corner from the record store.

Speaker 1 Mist hung over the village as I began to walk

Speaker 1 So that when I looked up and down the main street

Speaker 1 both ends were shrouded

Speaker 1 And I imagined us

Speaker 1 in an autumn snow globe

Speaker 1 As if the world stopped where the mist stood

Speaker 1 And falling snowflakes were replaced with millions of red

Speaker 1 and orange and yellow leaves.

Speaker 1 I smiled and pulled my hood over my head to keep out the chill.

Speaker 1 I had a bit of a walk ahead of me.

Speaker 1 Last autumn

Speaker 1 the circle had been busy.

Speaker 1 We'd done a few simple spells

Speaker 1 to keep jack-o'-lanterns burning on Halloween.

Speaker 1 We'd relocated a cloud of bats from a busy barn at Weathervane Farm

Speaker 1 to an abandoned silo out past the state road.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I was proud to say

Speaker 1 we'd worked on a project I'd pioneered

Speaker 1 to clean gravestones at the cemetery.

Speaker 1 Some of that was done with magic,

Speaker 1 cleaning potions

Speaker 1 and spells to convince vines to grow away from the stones,

Speaker 1 and some with old fashioned elbow grace.

Speaker 1 I'd volunteered to maintain the work we'd done,

Speaker 1 to keep things clear

Speaker 1 and dignified for those resting there.

Speaker 1 And that was my errand to day.

Speaker 1 I'd refresh the wards

Speaker 1 that kept away lichen, graffiti, and litter,

Speaker 1 and bring some light to the dark corners of the place.

Speaker 1 And I was hoping

Speaker 1 I might see some friends while I worked.

Speaker 1 All of us in the circle

Speaker 1 have their own kind of skill,

Speaker 1 and and mine is an affinity with animals.

Speaker 1 When I look back on it,

Speaker 1 I realize they have sought me out all my life,

Speaker 1 even before that evening

Speaker 1 when the moon had shone on me,

Speaker 1 and I'd found myself at the curios shop,

Speaker 1 stepping fully into the circle on who I am:

Speaker 1 cats and dogs,

Speaker 1 birds and crickets,

Speaker 1 butterflies and horses,

Speaker 1 and all sorts that crawled and swam.

Speaker 1 They would find me whenever I was near

Speaker 1 and seemed to be happy

Speaker 1 and at ease in my company.

Speaker 1 I certainly was in theirs.

Speaker 1 And while

Speaker 1 it isn't exactly like speaking,

Speaker 1 not like you and I could do,

Speaker 1 I can talk to them

Speaker 1 and they to me.

Speaker 1 It is more a knowing

Speaker 1 how they feel,

Speaker 1 what they need,

Speaker 1 what they are looking for, or wanting.

Speaker 1 And if possible, I try to give it,

Speaker 1 to help where I can.

Speaker 1 The mist moved out in front of me.

Speaker 1 We were not, in fact,

Speaker 1 in a snow globe.

Speaker 1 The road kept going out

Speaker 1 past the train station

Speaker 1 and down a small hill

Speaker 1 till it came to the iron gate of the cemetery.

Speaker 1 When I pushed it open,

Speaker 1 I noticed that the gravel underfoot

Speaker 1 had been washed into a heap

Speaker 1 after the rainstorms a while back.

Speaker 1 And the gate stuck on it.

Speaker 1 Before

Speaker 1 I'd have pushed and stopped,

Speaker 1 dug with the heel of my shoe to shift it.

Speaker 1 But now

Speaker 1 I recognized this was a moment to practice my skills.

Speaker 1 I looked at the ruts and strata in the ground,

Speaker 1 brought my hands together in front of me,

Speaker 1 rubbing them back and forth,

Speaker 1 building heat between them

Speaker 1 as I focused my attention.

Speaker 1 There are lots of ways to work,

Speaker 1 but this technique,

Speaker 1 which I'd learned from the curious shop owner, worked a treat for me.

Speaker 1 When my palms were warm and staticky,

Speaker 1 I stretched them out

Speaker 1 to the uneven earth

Speaker 1 and stuck gate,

Speaker 1 and suggested, rather strongly,

Speaker 1 that they sort themselves out.

Speaker 1 It started with just a thin train of pebbles and dust rolling away from the place

Speaker 1 where the gate was wedged into the gravel.

Speaker 1 Then it picked up its pace,

Speaker 1 the ground shifting

Speaker 1 until the ruts were filled,

Speaker 1 and the high spots low and even again.

Speaker 1 I put my hands on my hips as the dust settled,

Speaker 1 and listened to the creak of the gate

Speaker 1 as it swung freely now from its hinges.

Speaker 1 Done and dusted, I said to myself,

Speaker 1 and stepped through,

Speaker 1 heading down the nearest path

Speaker 1 to check on the wards

Speaker 1 and the spells we'd set,

Speaker 1 and brought with me in my bag

Speaker 1 a dozen tea light candles,

Speaker 1 a jar of dried rose petals,

Speaker 1 a bunch of fresh rosemary,

Speaker 1 tied with a string,

Speaker 1 and a container of large unsalted cashews.

Speaker 1 You might think,

Speaker 1 one of those things is not like the others,

Speaker 1 and you would be right.

Speaker 1 The first three

Speaker 1 were for the dearly departed.

Speaker 1 And the last one

Speaker 1 was why

Speaker 1 I was the best witch for this particular job.

Speaker 1 I started with the candles.

Speaker 1 Setting them strategically

Speaker 1 on particular graves.

Speaker 1 People we'd identified as being healers themselves in their time.

Speaker 1 Storytellers

Speaker 1 were the ones who,

Speaker 1 while they were alive,

Speaker 1 were the glue that held a family together.

Speaker 1 The light of many lives,

Speaker 1 the life of the party.

Speaker 1 These spirits helped keep our protective spells strong

Speaker 1 as their own flames fed ours.

Speaker 1 The rose petals

Speaker 1 and rosemary sprigs

Speaker 1 were doled out around and on top of other graves

Speaker 1 to spread love and remembrance

Speaker 1 among those who might feel forgotten.

Speaker 1 As I lit the candles and spread the petals,

Speaker 1 I said the names on the graves.

Speaker 1 This itself

Speaker 1 is a kind of magic

Speaker 1 to say the names of the ones we've lost

Speaker 1 and remember them.

Speaker 1 It keeps them with us.

Speaker 1 Finally,

Speaker 1 I took the container of cashews from my bag

Speaker 1 and opened it in a clearing in the center of the graveyard.

Speaker 1 When I looked up into the branches above me,

Speaker 1 I saw that they were suddenly full of crows.

Speaker 1 I smiled up at them,

Speaker 1 and in my way

Speaker 1 called them to me.

Speaker 1 Whoever had called them

Speaker 1 a murder of crows,

Speaker 1 an unkindness of ravens.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 they weren't able to speak to these lovely birds.

Speaker 1 I call them a circle,

Speaker 1 just like our group at the Curios shop,

Speaker 1 a circle of guardians

Speaker 1 who helped me take care of this place.

Speaker 1 I sat on a stone bench

Speaker 1 and the circle sat around me,

Speaker 1 Some on my shoulders and knees,

Speaker 1 some at my feet,

Speaker 1 and we chatted for a bit.

Speaker 1 I brought them their favorite snack,

Speaker 1 and after they'd eaten,

Speaker 1 some returned with small gifts,

Speaker 1 an old fifty cent piece,

Speaker 1 a single pearl earring,

Speaker 1 a small, rusted key.

Speaker 1 I asked them to offer comfort and solace to people who came here,

Speaker 1 and company to those that stayed under the soil,

Speaker 1 and they promised to do their best.

Speaker 1 I tipped the rest of the nuts out onto the bench bench and rose to go.

Speaker 1 As I walked the path back to the gate,

Speaker 1 I could see the lit candles shining through the mist

Speaker 1 and smell the rosemary on my hands.

Speaker 1 Make friends, she'd said.

Speaker 1 I felt I I had.

Speaker 1 The gate swung smoothly open as I approached,

Speaker 1 and I went through

Speaker 1 and turned back toward home.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.