New moon, old habits

Dark moon tonight, so I cast a quick circle in the kitchen and did the most basic working I know, the one I used to teach every new seeker in my old coven.

On one slip of paper, the thing I'm done carrying (doomscrolling in bed; I'm 47, I know better). On the other, what grows in its place (actual books before sleep). The first slip burned in the little cast-iron cauldron, set on a stone tile with the window cracked and a glass of water within reach. The second I folded around a single marigold seed and pressed into a pot on the sill.

No fancy timing beyond the moon, no rare herbs. The new moon is a blank page. You just have to be willing to write on it.