The Naming Ceremony
The Naming Ceremony
It was the morning of Samhain and Zelda had spent two days preparing for the naming ceremony. The entire coven would be present, including Sabrina and Gryla with her Yule Lads. As High Priestess, she would lead the ritual but she would need at least one blood relative present...
“How are you feeling today, Lilith?” Zelda sauntered across the room to unclip the wooden window Ambrose had installed after Lilith’s fury shattered the glass, and let the sunshine into the room. “I saw Dr. Black had you walking around the entire grounds yesterday.” The redheaded witch had found that being extremely formal succeeded in keeping Lilith calm around her, so she maintained her Directrix demeanour any time she was near the Queen of Hell.
“Yes, we did a few walks yesterday and she’s pleased with my progress. Physically, I am as fit as ever, thanks to you.” Lilith paused and caught Zelda’s eye. She was no fool, she understood the witch had feelings for her, even if she couldn’t remember why or how that had occurred. In calmer moments, she felt remorse for the anger boiling deep within her, and she wanted to offer an olive branch and make peace with the elder Spellman.
“As I’ve said, it’s been my pleasure looking after you. I did want to discuss Deianeira’s naming ceremony with you; it is tonight, as you know, and I would like to request your presence. If you feel you are capable. I’m sure you understand that the only way for your daughter to truly be safe is for her to receive her name from a blood relative.” Zelda clasped her hands in front of her, standing still and straight in front of the window.
Lilith squinted to look at her; the light shone through like a halo around Zelda’s form and she felt a moment of panic as memories of fallen angels rushed to the surface. She winced and looked away, “But I didn’t name her, you’ve called her Deianeira.”
Moving away from the window and over to the bed, Zelda kept her distance but waited until Lilith was looking at her before she spoke; “You came to me in a dream, Lilith. This was the name you gave her and I plan to honour that. You’ve named your daughter. Please stand with me tonight in formally welcoming her both into the World and into this coven.”
It was too much, Lilith frowned, shaking her head, her voice hollow; “I have no coven. Leave me be.”
Zelda opened her mouth to argue and the bedroom door flung open, Lilith’s dagger-edged voice a clear warning; “Leave. Now.”
Dipping her head, Zelda did as she was asked, closing the door softly behind her, pausing to rest her forehead against the door with her eyes closed. “Recovery takes time…” Penelope’s voice startled Zelda and she spun around.
“We don’t have time! The naming ceremony is tonight and if Lilith doesn’t show up, we cannot complete the blood rite needed to sanctify the ritual!” Infuriated and having no time for Dr. Black’s reasonable rationale, the High Priestess marched past her without another word.
The clearing in Greendale Woods had been transformed for Samhain eve. Thousands of black taper candles suspended in the air around the clearing, shining brightly along with the moon. Pillar candles sat in copper bowls on top of logs throughout the clearing, and there was an abundance of deep purple lotus flowers floating in copper bowls of water to signify new beginnings. Myrrh resin was being burned at the entrance of the circle for purification, and rosemary was thrown into the bonfire for new beginnings. The entire clearing was a magical circle inviting guests in and keeping unwanted intruders out.
In the North for Earth, a raw smoky quartz amethyst fashioned into a sharp-tipped pentagon and standing six feet tall cleared the area of any negativity and welcomed guests into the circle. In the South for Fire, a massive bonfire crackled, reaching up to the Skies, protecting the borders of the circle and deterring any unwanted guests. A murder of crows perched high in the trees to the East, representing Air and signifying destiny and personal transformation. To the West, for Water, stood a copper baptismal font with the demon of protection, Pazuzu’s, sigil etched into it. Finally, in the center, stood an altar dedicated to Lilith; as the Queen of Hell, the coven prayed to her and so she would be honoured as their Goddess, Queen, and Mother of the babe being named. The altar was a tall slate table covered in black candles, an athame, copper goblet, blessing oil, large owl feather, and the skull of a snake. Zelda Spellman, clothed in the shimmering silver robes of a High Priestess and wearing a deer antler circlet, stood before the altar to welcome her guests inside with palms open and at her side.
The coven lined up within the circle, quiet observers on the outskirts and a handful of demons from Hell, accompanying Sabrina, gathered opposite the coven as Sabrina kissed her Aunt on the cheek and stood to the right of the altar as the blood relative the ritual would need if Lilith did not appear. Gryla and the Yule Lads swept into the circle next, settling directly across from the altar should they be needed as protection. Finally, Ambrose and Hilda followed, placing the tiny demoness in her bassinet upon the altar and settling to the left.
Zelda watched the entrance, aching to see Lilith coming down the path. Allowing her mind to open, she reached out telepathically to the witch doctor; “Penelope...are you bringing Lilith?”
With no answer forthcoming, Zelda had to assume that Lilith was being a challenge for the neurologist. The moon was high in the skies, the ritual could wait no longer. Holding the athame, High Priestess Spellman walked clockwise around the outer periphery of the clearing, casting the circle; “We are a circle within a circle, no beginning, and never ending.”
Standing in the north, Zelda raised her hands, pointing the athame to the sky and speaking loudly for all to hear, “Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, under the hellish protection of the demon Pazuzu and beneath the watchful eye of the interim Queen of Hell, I do summon, stir and call you up, to witness these rites and guard this circle. I bid you Hail and Welcome!”
The crowd joined in: “Hail and Welcome!”
Moving to the east, Zelda raised her hands, pointing the athame to the sky and speaking loudly for all to hear, “Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, under the hellish protection of the demon Pazuzu and beneath the watchful eye of the interim Queen of Hell, I do summon, stir and call you up, to witness these rites and guard this circle. I bid you Hail and Welcome!”
The crowd joined in: “Hail and Welcome!”
The High Priestess continued to call the corners until she’d called all four, then she returned to the center altar where the Devil’s spawn slept peacefully, bundled in a black cloth. Gently pulling the little lamia from the bassinet, she laid her on the altar and raised her hands above her, speaking to the crowd; “ We gather today to bless a child, a new life that has become part of our world. We gather today to name this child. To call a thing by name is to give it power, and so today we shall give this child a gift. We will welcome her into our hearts and lives and bless her with a name of her own.”
Hiding behind a large sycamore, Lilith watched the naming ceremony begin. Her eyes trailing slowly over each guest, not recognizing any save for the handful of demons that had come from Hell. Feeling panic bubbling in her chest, she closed her eyes against the flickering candlelight, the roaring fire, the smiling faces, the complex emotions so clearly portrayed by Zelda’s expressions, and her responsibilities as Mother to this being she didn’t remember birthing.
“Here Lilith...this will help.” Penelope Black covered Lilith’s eyes with a blindfold and tied it tight. She’d lost the dark haired witch when she suggested they go to the ceremony. Lilith had run from the house and it had taken the doctor hours to find her. “Can I take you in?”
Lilith backed up and shook her head, Penelope kept her voice low and calm; “One day your memories will return to you, and you will want to bear witness to your daughter’s naming ceremony. You deserve to be there. She deserves to have you there. This night marks the beginning of our transformation as women. Because of you we will no longer be held prisoner by men.”
Lilith reached out for Penny Black’s hand and nodded, “All right. Take me in.”
Penelope walked Lilith carefully through the forest, around the circle, and to the entrance, calling to Zelda. “High Priestess, we ask for entry!”
Whipping around, Zelda met Penelope’s gaze with immense gratitude as she saw Lilith on the tall witch’s arm. Moving to the entrance with her athame, Zelda broke the circle long enough for the pair to enter, watching them move to the center altar, and then closed it again. The blindfold kept Lilith calm as Penelope placed her next to Sabrina, guiding her hand to the altar to keep her in place before she moved back to stand with the coven.
Stepping back to the altar, Zelda didn’t see the malevolent force that snuck into the circle behind the witches nor did she see as it hid itself amongst the trees, biding its time. The High Priestess reached out and covered Lilith’s hand with her own, raising them both to the skies; “Here stands Lilith, Mother of Demons, First Woman, Dawn of Doom. The vessel that carried this child and suffered to birth her, but from fear and agony comes greatness!”
Zelda leaned forward and whispered to Lilith, “May I place the babe in your arms? Once she is there, I can complete the naming ritual and bind her to you.”
Lilith turned her face towards the voice and murmured with uncertainty, “Yes. But if I truly am her mother, then I would also like you to bind her to yourself. For then, barring whatever happens to me, she will always have a mother in you.”
Zelda’s felt her heart ache at the graciousness of Lilith’s request, “Of course, my Queen.” Forgetting herself, she fell back into old patterns of familiarity with the witch. “I agree that is wise. It was you who named her in my dreams, so please, will you do so now?”
Picking up the little creature, she placed her in Lilith’s arms. Holding tight to the creature who began to squirm awake, Lilith raised her voice; “Coven, demons, witches, and Guardians. Out of fear and agony comes greatness - my daughter’s name shall evoke fear in the hearts of men and it will grant her power to rise up against any who oppose her. In her we shall see the fall of all that we once knew in order to make way for that which we have always known.”
The witches lowered to bended knee, honouring their Queen and her successor. The demons hissed in excitement as Lilith Zelda poured the anointing oil into the copper chalice, sliding the athame across her palm and dripping her blood into the cup, then reaching out to do the same to Lilith’s palm. Blood and oil mixed, creating a powerful bond. Zelda stirred the mixture with the owl feather, evoking the spirit of the owl, bringer of wisdom and change. Then she pulled a fat little leg out from the cloth and pierced it with her athame, wincing as the babe shrieked into the night, catching a droplet of blood in the chalice and stirring it in. Then she dipped her finger in and drew a pentagram on the squirming babe’s torso, who quieted immediately.
“I’m going to touch you, Lilith.” Zelda quietly murmured, then reached out to pull at the shoulders of Lilith’s black velvet gown. The deep neckline allowed the shoulders to fall down her arms and bare more of her skin so Zelda could trace the same pentagram just below her collarbones.
Blindfolded, Lilith’s senses were both subdued and heightened, so when Zelda touched her she felt it keenly. Memories of that touch shimmered just outside of her grasp, feeling both familiar and foreign. The emotion they evoked made her eyes water beneath the fabric covering them and she leaned into the other witch’s touch. As Zelda finished tracing the pentagram, she noticed the subtle movement of Lilith leaning towards her and she took that as permission to give into her desires, reaching up to tenderly caress her cheek. “Now, you must bind me to you both.”
“Remove my blindfold, Zelda.”
Hesitating, the High Priestess glanced over at Penelope Black for reassurance and heard a voice in her head, “Do what she says, she is more likely to remain calm if she feels like she’s in control.” With a nod, Zelda reached up and undid the blindfold.
Blinking into the firelight, Lilith kept her focus on Zelda as she reached out to dip a finger in the blood and oil mixture. Reaching up behind her to the zipper of her own gown, Zelda pulled it down and allowed her dress to fall, standing naked save for her High Priestess cloak, as a symbol of her subservience to Lilith. A grand and significant gesture. The image of Zelda’s lithe frame before her made Lilith quake, those shimmering memories pressing against the clouded barrier of her mind, aching to break through and blossom. As she reached out to trace a pentagram across Zelda’s chest, Lilith felt the panic rise again knowing that she was unable to unlock those memories, even as she felt them so near. She fought through the rising bile in her throat, locking eyes with Zelda, “I bind you by serpents and snakes, I bind you by Hell’s fiery gates. What’s mine is yours, until our path detours.”
Zelda took the hand that anointed her and bowed over it, pressing a kiss to Lilith’s fingers. “My Queen, you bind me as guardian of this child and I honour you with the promise to fulfill those duties for as long as I am living as those present here now are my witness.” Then she poured the chalice of blood and oil over the serpent skull, walking to the fire and tossing it in as an offering.
The coven, demons, and Spellmans all cried, “Hail Lilith!”
“Now bound as guardians and caregivers to this child, we present her name. A name that translates directly to ‘man-destroyer’ for we foresee greatness in her and with this name, she shall rise to meet it.” Zelda moved back to Lilith and nodded for the Mother of Demons to announce the name of her demoness.
Lifting the lamia into the air, tilting her head back to look at her daughter, Lilith’s voice rose above the crackling of the flames; “You are known to the ancients and us as Daeianeria, man destroyer! This is your name and it is powerful. Bear your name with honour, my daughter, and may you the ancients bless you on this day and every day henceforth.”
Lilith placed Daeianeria on the altar and she squirmed and giggled, swiping at the air with her sharp talons, her eyes trailing on the floating candles surrounding her. As she looked down on the child, the Mother of Demons felt the grip of panic close around her heart, squeezing it - intellectually she understood the child belonged to her but she didn’t recognize her, didn’t remember giving birth to her, and now she was responsible for her. Slowly she began to sink to the ground, gasping for breath. Penelope Black quickly broke from the audience and hurried to her patient, kneeling beside her and moving to replace the blindfold, talking softly to her.
With Zelda’s focus broken, Abyzou took that moment to fly down from the trees and snatch the babe. A demon created for companionship, Lilith had deliberately cursed Abyzou with infertility to ensure that her position as Mother of Demons could never be challenged. When Lucifer fell to Earth, Lilith tossed Abyzou aside in favour of male companionship and in her envy, Abyzou became the bringer of miscarriages and infant mortality.
Flying high above the rest on wings made from the bones of the children she’d slaughtered, the revengeful demoness cackled, dangling Daeianeria by her ankle and soaring over the bonfire, “No one move or the child falls.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Lilith tore her blindfold off and got to her feet, her panic attack immediately quelled by the recognition of the demoness and her understanding of the severity of Daeianeria’s situation. Throwing her hands in the air, Lilith began to chant in ancient Hebrew, directing her rage and grief at Abyzou and evoking the fires of Hell. The bonfire responded, growing bigger at first and then extinguishing entirely. The flames swallowed by the Earth, traveling beneath it, the ground getting warm beneath their feet until it burst free in the woods outside of the circle. The wildfire spread rapidly, devouring every twig and branch, every log and trunk until Greendale Woods was entirely up in flames.
The demons from Hell hissed and growled at Abyzou and the coven looked to Zelda for guidance; “Gryla! NOW!” Gryla released all thirteen of her invisible Yule Lads who climbed into the trees and proceeded to jump onto Abyzou, hanging off of her boney wings like monkeys in trees, the weight of them dragging her down slowly.
Zelda turned to the coven as her hands rose in the direction of the demon, “A banishing spell! Tergente fuoco quod evoco. Te exigo!”
The coven repeated the spell, their hands raised to Abyzou, “Tergente fuoco quod evoco. Te exigo!” They continued to chant alongside the High Priestess as Lilith marched into the center of the circle where the Yule Lads were dragging Abyzou down.
Along with the sight of a familiar enemy, Daeianeria’s screams aggravated the Queen of Hell further and as she reached her daughter she snarled and grabbed a hold of her arm; “Release what is not yours Abyzou, as I never was, as children never will be, you are no match for who is present here.” Abyzou held fast and Lilith leaned closer, “I will not hesitate to tear this child’s limbs from her body. I am the Mother of Demons. I will just birth another.”
Zelda’s blood froze and she looked wildly at Penelope for guidance, she quickly heard it vibrating in her mind, “When she’s triggered, she reverts back to her pre-Greendale self. She forgets who Daeianeria truly is and she lacks compassion because she’s watched her demon-children suffer and be murdered over and over. This personification of Lilith is the PTA clouding her judgement and truth. The babe isn’t safe.”
Zelda broke from the coven whose banishing spell was subduing the demon enough that the Yule lads could hold on and keep her on the ground. She grabbed Lilith’s wrist and tried to pry her fingers from around the baby’s arm, “Let go, Lilith!”
Lilith brought her free hand up with a snarl and, with demon force, backhanded Zelda whose head snapped back and she fell on the ground, stars dancing in her vision. The fire raged outside the circle, causing the witches to sweat, the flames pressing against the invisible barrier keeping them safe as long as the circle was closed. Zelda whimpered with the decision she would have to make…
“Coven! Transport yourselves back to the Academy! Gryla, get the baby! Spellmans, on Lilith!” As the witches disappeared, Zelda leapt from the ground and joined Ambrose, Hilda, and Sabrina in physically piling on top of Lilith. The force of their bodies slamming into hers shook the babe’s arm from her grasp, giving Gryla and the Yule Lads the opportunity to overpower Abyzou and steal the baby from her as Zelda screamed, “RUN!”
Breaking the circle, Gryla used her telekinesis to create a pathway through the fire for herself, Daeianeria, and her lads, disappearing into the night. The circle broken, the fire quickly descended onto Abyzou, fueled by Lilith’s anger. As the demon screamed and writhed, Zelda watched the fire continue to devour the space around them and she muttered a banishing spell that forced Ambrose, Hilda, Sabrina, and Penelope back to the Spellman Mortuary. When she tried to do the same to Lilith, she couldn’t, the Dawn of Doom’s rage was too focused on seeing Abyzou destroyed even if it meant sacrificing herself. Watching the reflection of the flames grow in Lilith’s icy blue eyes, clouded by madness, Zelda made a heart wrenching decision; not wanting to leave her little bat without anyone, the High Priestess transported herself back to the Mortuary just as the flames swallowed the clearing up whole.