Blessings for Chapter 15

My first Blessing is for Sootica - even though she is still a witch’s cat and does things and holds attitudes that seem obviously wrong to me I admire her commitment to and care of Gobbolino. I hope that this experiment of loving will open her up to more benign possibilities in the future. I want to bless her for her love and her patient and supportive way of helping Gobbolino - trying to build his skills rather than doing so much for him that he can’t learn. For everyone who teaches, formally or informally and who supports learners particularly learners who are very different to them - may they have patience, compassion and empathy and may they be rewarded by seeing the learners the support blossom.

My second less obvious Blessing is for the lizards. It’s easy to laugh at Sootica trapping them by weaponising their vanity but it’s also easy to understand how effective a tactic it is. Everyone wants to be admired and appreciated and everyone is stung by unfair criticism. From our distance as readers it’s easy to label the lizards as foolish for not thinking about why Sootica is insulting them and for taking the risk of coming close to contradict her - but in the heat of the moment we can all respond foolishly and be vulnerable to manipulation. So a blessing for everyone who is hurt by unkind words and who has been tricked and manipulated. May they be able to keep themselves safe from manipulation and cruelty and find people and places who truly affirm and value them