[ussbansheec] "Morrigan"

From: "Moria McEntire" <bansheec@xxxxxxx>
To: <ussbansheec@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:57:53 -0400
"Morrigan"

 

As the elderly woman stepped out into the back garden off the kitchen she
was more then a little surprised to find it's tiny occupant sitting under
one of the larger trees. The child had been with them for six years, the
convent her home, but Mother Superior often encouraged her to go down to the
village to play with the other children. She wanted the girl to have as
normal a life as a child living in a convent of nuns could have. 

 

"Mary Margaret." She called softly as she approached the child. "I thought
the children were all going down to the bay this afternoon." 

 

The child, her deep red hair framing her face in waves, her blue-grey eyes
sparkling, looked up from the kitten she held in the lap of her plain blue
frock. "They did." 

 

Mother Superior sat on a bench near the girl, her hands folded in the folds
of her habit. "Why didn't you go with them?" 

 

"I don't like the water." Margaret answered as she looked up at the elder
woman. 

 

The child had been scared of water all her life and Mother Superior couldn't
explain why. The doctor and Sister Edana had a theory involving the child's
appearance six years ago. Margaret had been clothed in the thick warm
clothes favored by the people of the neighboring islands in the North Sea.
The theory was that the girl had been scared and there by scared by the
voyage across the sea and down the coast to the village from the islands,
during the storm. "You wouldn't have had to swim, you could have stayed on
shore." 

 

"The other kids don't like me." Margaret replied. She returned her attention
to her kitten to hide the sadness in her eyes. 

 

"Why do you think that?" Mother Superior asked. 

 

Margret pulled the sleeve of the white cotton shirt under her frock down
more to cover her wrists to hide both her tattoo and the leather bracelet
she wore. "They think I'm weird." 

 

"Because of your markings." The elder woman filled in. She nodded in
understanding and sighed inwardly. How could she expect other children to
understand why a child of six, a child of a single month, would have tattoos
when she herself didn't understand. "There is nothing to be ashamed of, Mary
Margaret. Those symbols are sacred ones." 

 

The girl shook her head, her mane of red curls dancing on her shoulders.
"They're pagan, sinful, marks of evil and wickedness." 

 

The elder woman blinked in surprise. "Who told you that?" 

 

"John McDuffie and Father George." She replied in a whisper as tears
gathered in her eyes. 

 

"Come here, child." Mother Superior beckoned. 

 

Margaret put the kitten in it's basket and got to her feet. She wondered for
a moment if she'd done something bad and was going to me punished, but the
Mother's voice wasn't angry, it was soft and maybe a little sad. 

 

"Come sit on my lap, child, and I will tell you about your markings." Mother
Superior said as she pulled the girl onto her wide lap. She pushed the
sleeves of the shirt up and then held her wrists so the symbols could be
seen. "All of your markings come from the ancient peoples who once lived on
these isles. These people believed in more then one God, and even had
Goddesses." 

 

Margaret gasped. "But that's a sin!" 

 

"To some it is, but to others it's a part of their faith." The elder woman
explained. 

 

"And that's ok?" The girl looked confused. 

 

Mother Superior nodded. "Everyone has the right to believe and have faith in
their own ways. One way is not better then another." 

 

"That's not what Father George says." The girl countered. 

 

Mother Superior refrained from saying that Father George was an old fool.
"And everyone has a right to their own options." 

 

Margaret gigged. She knew that tone meant the Mother was saying something
out loud that didn't match what she was saying in her head.

 

Figuring it was safe to go on Mother Superior let go of the wrist with the
bracelet and used her now free hand to tickled the tattoo of the moons on
the girl's other wrist. "This is a symbol for their Triple Goddess. Most
commonly the Mother, Maiden, Crone." Reaching behind the girl's neck she
tickled the blackthorn mark. "But since you also have this one, it changes
that." 

 

Margaret wiggled and giggled. "To what?" 

 

"Fea, Nemon, Badbh, the Morrigan." Mother Superior explained. 

 

"Pretty name, who was she?" Margaret asked. 

 

"A great Celtic goddess, a queen." Mother Superior answered. 

 

Margret looked at her wrist. 

 

"The symbol on your bracelet is another Triple Goddess, but it can also be
for the Holy Trinity, but since your other markings all point to the
Morrigan, it's safe to say it does as well. The circle woven into the knot
means unbreakable or everlasting."

 

The little girl was in awe. Her weird markings weren't weird they were
special. She traced her tattoo before looking up at the Mother. "Maybe I
have the marks cause I'm a Morrigan too." The girl mused aloud. 

 

Mother Superior smiled brightly. "Maybe you are." 

 

"May I go ask Sister Kathryn to help me learn about her?" The girl asked. 

 

The elder woman put the girl on her feet and patter her cheek. "Of course
you can, child." 

 

Margaret beamed, grabbed her kitten, and went to find her sister Kathryn.
[ussbansheec] "Morrigan"

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