Musti got up as if beckoned and sat by her feet.
The Old Woman began to chant familiar spells,
her words running together quickly at times,
other times her voice rose sharp and loud,
then hushed quietly, the words barely discernible.
"Auta Luonto, aina voimaa te vereni vahvenmaksi…
Help me, Nature Spirit, give me power,
make my blood run strong and stronger...
nosta neito …raise the maiden.."
She tossed small bleached ptarmigan bones on a white reindeer skin.
Looking closely at the pattern the bones told,
she read the map of the coming Spring.
A young woman stood on the horizon,
poised by the kirjokansi, the dome of stars.
As the Old Woman muttered under her breath,
the only sound outside her window was the creak of snow,
the laugh of Pakkanen, the Frost.
Her death was close but she was not afraid.
She knew that when she laid her old bones on the reindeer skin,
Black Swan would come for her,
come to take her across the River of Death to Tuonela.
To Be Continued ....
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