Lunar Altar

Lunar Altar smells like black raspberry, sandalwood, black cypress ---------- Offered, Then Gone The grove lay above the cloudline, hidden deep within a crown of stone where moonlight touched earth more often than rain. I climbed in silence, my cloak heavy with dew, until the black cypress trees rose around me like sentinels. Their trunks were slick with resin, their limbs still as if listening. The air beneath them smelled of deep forest and rain-soaked stone. It prickled against my skin. The altar waited at the grove’s center, nestled in a hollow where no sunlight ever reached, but the moon always did. It was low and smooth, carved with symbols that caught starlight in their grooves. It looked older than language. Older than thought. I knelt and struck flint to stone. The fire caught quickly. I lit the sandalwood and placed it in a shallow bowl etched with the lunar phases. Smoke curled upward in slow ribbons. The warmth it gave off was not like fire. It felt like memory rising from stone. I traced a circle in the moss, aligning each point to the path of the moon. Then I pressed my palm to the altar. It was warm beneath my hand. Not from the fire, but from something below. Something that had woken. From my satchel, I laid out the tokens. Bone-white shells. Pressed petals. A small piece of tarnished silver. They shimmered faintly under the moonlight, as if remembering what they once were. Then I reached for the fruit. The black raspberries were velvet-dark and heavy with juice. I placed them one by one into the grooves of the altar. Their scent bloomed immediately, sweet and lush, and the grove responded. Smoke slowed. The trees shifted slightly. The altar pulsed beneath my hand. Above me, the clouds parted. Moonlight poured through the canopy, sharp and clear. The fruit melted into the carvings like ink into parchment. Then it was gone. Silence settled around me, thick and full. The ritual was finished. But the hush it left behind stayed with me. It still does. 8oz Candle Premium Coconut & Soy Wax Extra Thick, Crackling Wood Wick Strong Scent That Fills The Room Luxurious, Frosted Amber Jar 40+ Hour Burn Time