Grimoires / Sword & Sickle
Sword & Sickle
Uncrossing, reversal, binding, cutting ties, and the old works of separation and crossing.
The free operation, Uncrossing, runs on any edition of the station, including the free one.
The sword is Mars and the sickle is Saturn. Between them they rule every work of defence, removal, and severance, and the old works of separation and crossing that the grimoires set down beside their operations of love and gain. Agrippa says plainly that the square of Saturn, engraved under an ill-placed Saturn, "hindreth buildings, plantings, and the like, and casts a man down from his honours and dignities, causeth discord and quarrelings." This grimoire puts those works on the station.
The operations run in the order a careful worker uses them. First clean yourself (Uncrossing), then turn back what was sent (Reversal), then stop the one who sent it (Binding an Enemy, Making Them Stop in the Mars grimoire, Silence, Confusion). Cut what still ties you (Cutting the Cord), move the unwelcome on (The Going Away), and only then, with cause, strike (Separation, The Crossing).
Saturn works slowly and Mars works hot, so these operations run in Saturn's black frames or Mars's red, mostly on a waning Moon, and mostly overnight. Two rules from long practice. Work with cause and a cool head, never in the first heat of anger. And keep it to yourself: none of these workings needs the target to know about them, and telling someone you have worked against them turns magic into a threat. Use the privacy screen if you share your home.
The operations
UncrossingFree
To lift a crossed condition from the operator: a run of blocks, bad luck, and ill will that feels laid on.
Reversal
To turn back ill will, curses, and harmful work sent against the operator, returning it to its source.
Binding an Enemy
To bind a person who is working against the operator, so that their words and acts against the operator come to nothing.
Silence
To still the tongue of a gossip or slanderer who speaks against the operator.
Confusion of Enemies
To confound the plans of someone working against the operator, so that their schemes tangle and stall.
Cutting the Cord
To sever an unwanted bond: a lover who will not let go, an obsession, an attachment that drains the operator.
The Going Away
To move an unwelcome person on: a troublesome neighbour, a hanger-on, someone who has overstayed in the operator's life.
Separation
To part a couple, sowing coldness and quarrels between them until they go their separate ways.
The Crossing
To cross an enemy's roads: to block their luck, stall their affairs, and turn their fortune for as long as the working runs.