Leonore and the Whisper of the Wind

Leonore always thought of herself as different from the others, even though she couldn't pinpoint the exact reason - always a misfit, the underdog, and sometimes just plain invisible. Somehow this equated to the definition of unworthiness, and she did spend many hours and days trying to figure out how to ever fit in with the other humans. Most other women in their mid-twenties were already married or at least had finished some school, but she was still floating through life like a feather in the sky. Not that she was undesirable, she had blonde natural hair, piercing green eyes and a very slim figure with soft features.

At one point or another, she mostly admitted defeat to life, with the sad thoughts of being "born to be a loser." After being forbidden by the village priest to practice magic or even to come close to such books or else… the only option left for her was to travel to some distant relatives, who lived thousands of miles away, in the hope of finding some comfort or even some kind of familiarity and connection. So she wrote them a long letter asking if she could pick up some work in their town and of course, the response came in a matter of weeks - to hop on the nearest departing train and that they would welcome her with open arms providing food and shelter. Though born into a poor family, she had the manners of a princess, an open heart full of compassion and a mind that understood everything and everyone, partly that was the reason she wanted to start practising magic, because she felt an inner urge, a knowing that this was the right path for her, but the authorities wouldn't have it, because anyone interested in magic is automatically an enemy of the monarchy.

After travelling for a week by train, she finally arrived at her grandmother's sister's house Mrs Weinberg, a mean old woman trying to act friendly, it was quite the show she put up on.

The house had an eerie appearance from the outside with a black facade, a dark-red roof and statues of ravens on each side of the main entrance, but Leonore was just thinking that it was her overactive imagination telling her to run in the other direction, not her intuition and that she had read too many books. As they were walking to the room that she was to stay in, she started hearing a strange noise from upstairs, feet tapping, a woman yelling in a foreign language and the sound of something breaking…

"Those are just the servants upstairs - if they continue to make such noise, they'll be out of here in no time.", said Mrs Weinberg.

“Your house is pretty and really big.”, said Leonore humbly as she entered.

"Why, thank you, dear, of course, it's pretty since the servants spend a lot of time keeping it clean, which you'll see how much work it really takes.

And she wasn't kidding at all, because, in a matter of days, Leonore had to start cleaning it, whether she wanted to or not, since the bossy old lady did not give her any room for herself. Soon her daughters joined dinner and the resemblance to the story of Snow White was uncanny - both arrogant, self-centred and seemingly thinking they had a sense of humour, which they had none of. The only thing Leonore's parents ever taught her, before being taken by the evil monarch to work as his servants, was to cook, clean and sow - which came in handy for the job at the factory where her relatives employed her. The town was filled with blank people, detached from their emotions, just running along to do errands and survive, and the sky over it was filled with dark clouds, there was no Sun, it either rained or it was dark, no matter the time of day.

She felt like her soul was leaving her body while sowing for 12 hours each day along with other women who were barely alive too.

One day she was coming back from work through a heavy rainfall when an old gypsy suddenly appeared in front of her:

“Do you have a dime to spare, pretty lady?”

“Sure.”, answered Leonore.

"Why thank you, young woman. In exchange, I'll give you valuable information: It's been a while since you felt loved, but it's sad because you were meant to wake up your magic." saying this she vanished into thin air.

Leonore wasn't exactly clear what this was supposed to mean and she was rushing to Mrs Weinberg's house to escape the rain, until later that evening when she had a moment to herself. She discovered something truly magnificent yet terrifying - "Everything that happened in my life so far was to lead me to the WRONG path, for me to stray away from my destiny, from magic…", her eyes filled with the most painful tears she ever cried, heart torn in her chest, but this throbbing pain turned into a revelation in a few hours:

“My intuition was right and I should have never come to this place… I don’t need to listen to anyone else but myself, I was not born to be a worker, but a witch! My magic would be awakened through love.”

It was 3 am and everyone in the house was sleeping - the perfect time to escape. Sneaking out would be easy since she had gotten to know the house pretty well during the past weeks, but how would she calm down the angry rottweiler and climb over the 6-foot-tall brick wall?

Turns out the magic inside her was never gone, just sleeping under a big pile of garbage. The rottweiler started growling at the sight of her climbing down the window but then she remembered how much dogs loved her and instead of tearing her to pieces, he wanted to be petted with his tail wagging joyously. And surprisingly as she followed him through the garden, she found a small hole in the wall through which she could exit.

“Good boy, stay well.”, Leonore said goodbye to him.

Walking through the woods surrounding the house just before dawn, Leonore was feeling as lost as ever. The coo-ing of the owls was soon to be replaced with the morning birds, chirping and singing, welcoming a new day. For the first time in weeks, she saw the Sun rising on a clear sky…

“Where should I go now? Where could I possibly find someone to help me learn magic?”

As she was walking through the slowly-lifting darkness an owl flew by and dropped a note straight to her hands.

“Go left to the biggest oak tree you find, I’ll meet you there.”

And there was no name.

“I have no idea where I’m going anyway, so might as well listen to this note…”, she thought as she took a left turn - which seemed like it was traversed less than the other paths in the woods.

As she arrived at the oak tree, which was indeed the biggest one in the woods, she saw it from miles away, as tall and wide as could be, a warm wind caressed her face and she felt an energy approaching her. It was him - her long lost friend, who she hadn't seen in 10 years, she recognised his hazel hair immediately, followed by his dazzling bright smile and deep green eyes, the same as hers.

“Felix!!! How did you find me here?”, said Leonore with tears of joy in her eyes.

“The wind whispered it to me.”

“Did you find a way to work with the wind? I was just looking for someone to teach me magic.”

“I did and I know that too. Come with me.”

He moved as swiftly as a bird in flight, hugging her gently they started to levitate, leaves spiralling beneath their feet and in a matter of seconds, they arrived in his round chamber inside the oak tree, filled with books that were banned everywhere else, because the war was not on magic, but on people opening their eyes to the miracles and rhythms of nature that were all around us, on the whisper of their hearts, calling them softly to become their highest Self.

“If you are willing, I will be glad to be your teacher.”

Leonore felt her whole being moved with a heartfelt “yes.”

"But I must say, you had to learn the most valuable of all lessons yourself and that is to trust your inner voice because it always knows what you're supposed to be doing and what will bring you the most joy."

"Yes, it all makes sense now - why I felt so different from the others because I was different!"

And indeed, Leonore started to become stronger from this day onward, regaining her self-confidence, blooming in love, awakening her power and sharing love across the world together with her soulmate, Felix.