Helen Speaks

Introduction: https://helenspeaks.wordpress.com/2025/04/06/lucy-skylarks-magical-year/

Lucy’s letter to Vera: https://helenspeaks.com/2025/05/15/lucy-skylark-entry-14-15th-may/

Lucy’s mistake: https://helenspeaks.com/2025/05/10/lucy-skylark-entry-13-10th-may/

3 The Willows

From: Vera Sparrowfield

Grainthorpe

Dear Lucy,

My dear, dear child. It’s so soon since I last wrote to you, but I was really quite moved by your description of trying to find clarity, pleading with the moon and stars!

It does not sound silly. But I do feel for you, pleading out for an answer, receiving only silence in reply. It reminds me of my own young days as a witch, when magic seemed so flighty and unpredictable, when I longed to take control of my gift but it felt like a slippery fish, always wiggling out of my grasp.

I have heard similar tales from many witches – of going out, doing everything “right”, bringing their humble self to the world and asking for an answer to their struggles, and having their words whisked away like dust on a hot summer’s day until there is only deathly silence. It seems so unfair when it comes so easily to others – I’m sure you felt it came easily to your fellow witch Olive.

But in such cases we often don’t receive an answer because we are asking a question that cannot be answered. When we reach out to nature and to the magic around us to correct what we think is wrong about us, this often cannot be done because there is nothing wrong with us. Your friend Teddy is right – you need to be a person and no amount of diligent meditation can “fix” this!

You made a mistake, Lucy – not just an understandable mistake but a useful one. Finding the boundaries of your gift is the purpose of the year. This means that honestly, you should be making mistakes, as well as making new friends and learning new things. Having your power be too much and get out of control – that is a key experience which will help you explore how to restrain and modulate your power.

I’m sending along a tool – technically they’re “thaumaturgical beads” but my daughter used to call them “magic candy”. They may look like sweets but they can keep a spell safe inside them. One little spell, only a limited amount of magic. Your growing magic is perhaps the most impressive of your witching skills, something I have rarely seen and never on your level. But you seem to shy away from codifying it like you did with your magical barrier and bracelets. Use these little beans as the physical form for your growing magic – they will enable you to try a small dose at a time, which will help you gauge the correct level of power needed for your projects.

Dear Lucy, do keep on listening to nature as you are, but remember that nature will not give you the key to stop being yourself. You will not find an answer that will replace who you are and you will not be able to fix something that is not broken. You are a witch and no one can take that from you.

Take care my dear, and be well.

Your friend Vera.

ThaumBeads™ starter kit and case

Thaumaturgical beads (also known as magic candy, spell pellets, magic beans) are a tool that have been used by witches for generations to store simple spells for later use, as well as a training aide for beginner witches.

Beads should only be prepared by witches for their own use or by experienced mentor witches for their trainee witches, as the beads have many applications.

Recipes vary, but most beads contain a mixture of fae tears, either dragon scales or Shimmer hair, depending on which can be most easily ethically sourced, cornflour and dried peas, or some other proteinaceous legume.

The traditional ThaumBeads™ recipe contains Shimmer hair, kindly donated by our Founder Carlo Fitz, who asks that you use your beads wisely.

After making up your beads, or using the beads your mentor has prepared, you can prepare your spell or chant in your usual manner and focus the spell on the bead itself.

Thanks to our Founder’s kind donation, your beads will have a colour change effect as you make your spell, which gives an indication as to the range of potency of the spell. Green is a very mild effect, blue to purple increase in effect, however the beads will disintegrate mere seconds after turning pink.

One bead typically can effect change within an area of one square metre, or in a volume of around 1dm³, depending on the complexity of the spell.

While some beads are suitable for human consumption, these beads are not food grade. Please see our ThaumBeads™ specialist range if you have a suitable licence.

Next entry (Olive’s next letter): https://helenspeaks.com/2025/05/16/olive-framley-entry-9-16th-may/

Lucy’s next letter: https://helenspeaks.com/2025/05/18/lucy-skylark-entry-16-18th-may/