This one’s not actually a ‘Verity Red’ book, it was inspired by visits from my niece when she was little.

A fun read which will help both young and old people understand about M.E./C.F.S as they enjoy the adventures!

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We decided to make a fairy ring to dance in, with lots of Tesco fresh button mushrooms. We put the mushrooms in a big circle on the living room carpet, then we danced and made up songs. Auntie was too tired to dance for long so she did a witchy wiggle.

We fell on the floor cackling. That was auntie’s exercise for the month. She said spelling wasn’t too tiring as long as there wasn’t too much chanting involved; pagan aerobics, collecting of herbs in the rain, pouring from heavy jugs, picking up of heavy goblets, picking up of heavy goblins, waving of wands, ringing of bells, anointing this and anointing that, staring at the moon on a frosty night or having to mote this and mote that.

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It’s best to use cotton for the dream pillows because it’s a natural plant fibre. We are going to use different coloured cotton too, like pink for love and white for meditation. Auntie said meditation is a good thing to learn if you have M.E., if you have the energy to learn anything. She said just sitting in her herb garden, rubbing a rosemary leaf between her fingers and smelling the herby scent helps her to relax.

We are going to make an amber coloured pillow for me because amber will help develop my witchy skills. Then we’ll make a blue and purple one for auntie because these colours are for health and healing. I read in auntie’s Book of Shadows about making little bags to fill with herbs that you can put in your bath.

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Before tea auntie told me about making a witch’s wand. I wrote some things down in my Book of Mirrors. Wands are made from lots of different trees. Apple is for love and spirit food, vine for happiness and alder for water magic and strength. Auntie is going to make me a wand out of poplar to help me pass my exams when I’m older. She has a wand made out of willow.

Willow is also known as the witches’ tree, a moon tree. It is used for protection, moon magic, healing, love, divination and friendship. Auntie would like to wave her wand over everyone in the world who has M.E. to make them feel better. Also she would like to take cauldrons of potato and onion soup to people all over the world who are bed-ridden with M.E. because it is good for making the immune system strong. She would give them all a big healing witchy hug too.

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Auntie told me about candle magic in her last letter. Candles may be used for offerings, meditations, spells and divinations, and something about pausing to remember the Divine within us, which I don’t understand. Auntie will explain everything to me when I next see her. Witches don’t do magic against other witches, this is something to do with Karmic retribution. I will ask her to explain that too.

I can’t see auntie this weekend because she has been overdoing it again. She went to Tesco on her broomstick to buy button mushrooms. It was cold and windy and she wasn’t wearing her thermals. Instead of resting when she got home, auntie made winter witch soup with the mushrooms, then did a spell to make the mushroom fairies fly out of the bubbles. She said they did the washing-up for her anyway! Mum said she would like some washing-up fairies. I said, ‘We’ve got Fairy Liquid!’

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We cackled a lot, then I read a bit about Christopher Robin in The House at Pooh Corner.

‘Pooh!’

‘Yes’ said Pooh

‘When I’m – when – Pooh!’

‘Yes, Christopher Robin?’

‘I’m not going to do Nothing any more.’

Auntie says you have to learn to be good at doing Nothing when you have M.E. She is much better than she used to be, so she is not doing Nothing any more.

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Auntie likes to water her herbs when she has the energy, but she never has the energy to mow her lawn. The grass is often so long that you can hardly see her cats. They look like tigers, black panthers and leopards in the jungle.