the bladder, and blew into thebladder till it burst. And there came a great marvel, for the earth which was in the bladderbecame the round heaven above, and for three days there was a great rain;the mice became stars or rain. And having made the heaven and stars andthe rain, Diana became Queen of the Witches; she was the cat who ruled thestar mice, the heaven and the rain.CHAPTER IV THE CHARM OF THE STONES CONSECRATED TO DIANA To find a stone with a hole in it is a special sign of the favour of Diana. He who does so shall take it in his hand and repeat the following, having observed the ceremony as enjoined -Invocation to the Holy-Stone I have found A holy-stone upon the ground. O Fate! I thank thee for the happy find. Also the spirit who upon this road Hath given it to me; And may it prove to be for my true good And my good fortune! I rise in the morning by the earliest dawn, And I go forth to walk through (pleasant) vales, All in the mountains or the meadows fair, Seeking for luck while onward still I roam, Seeking for rue and vervain scented sweet, Because they bring good fortune unto all. I keep them safely guarded in my bosom, That none may know it - 'tis a secret thing, And sacred too, and thus I speak the spell: "O vervain! ever be a benefit, And may thy blessing be upon the witch Or on the fairy who did give thee to me!" It was Diana who did come to me, All in the night in a dream, and said to me: "If thou would'st keep all evil folk afar, Then ever keep the vervain and the rue Safely beside thee!" Great Diana! thou Who art the queen of heaven and of earth, And of the infernal lands - yea, thou who art Protectress of all men unfortunate, Of thieves and murderers...
