Relief at the Equinox

A fine post-Mabon Monday to ye, mortals! Could ye feel the equinox in thy bones, yester-day? The perfect balance of darkness & light, hours apportioned in perfect equality. Summer wanes, in the Northern hemisphere, & cooler months lay ahead. HUZZAH.

I spent some time in the so-called “Middle” Ages working as a traveling scribe—‘twas simpler to find work then, if one were literate & numerate. I transcribed legal proceedings, penned love notes for unlettered suitors, & on occasion seized an opportunity for a bit of creativity & illumination.

A minor jarl met me at an Imbolc celebration, for which I had painted countless signs for the vendors. He lamented that he could not read, but boasted that his children would, some-day. After some mead & conversation, I convinced the jarl to let me invent the children’s book, for a hefty sum of silver.

I designed the book as practice for reading, & an aid to learning the alphabet, & as cultural instruction. On this page—“E for Equynox”—I planted a bit of an anachronism, as a prank. I foresaw that, one day, neo-paganism & Wicca would arise, & their adherents would invent “Mabon.” I thus planted foreknowledge of the holiday, which were yet to exist, in the hopes that in the future, the book would be found & cause confusion among historians.

The jarl discovered this, unfortunately, once his child read the page aloud to him. I attempted to explain that I could see the future, & also attempted to explain the concept of “pranks,” but he found neither satisfactory, & I found myself exiled from town. Ah! Happens to the best of us.

If ye find it offensive that I provided a child with misinformation, fear not! I balanced the scales: “G” in my book stood for “Germ Theory,” & “H” for “Hand-Washing,” pages which put the child far ahead of the curve medically. Particularly, once the Black Death swept through her lands. A fair trade, I should think.

Thank ye for reading! & we humbly thank that growing clan of mortals who can & do support our works here with coin! GRATIAS!

I shall write ye come Wednesday with news of our next episode! Til then: be safe, be well, & may the coming Autumn treat ye well…

Cheers,
Amœnus Franco
Wizard, Writer, Impractical Jester