Once a Rainmaker and her new apprentice were traveling through the forest. When they stopped at a stream to fill their canteens, the apprentice asked the Rainmaker if she could call the rain.
"Well," said the Rainmaker, as she looked about them at the stream and the forest and felt the gentle wind, "Call and we shall see."
Now the apprentice was glad for the chance to prove herself, and when they camped that night, she danced her best dance and sang her best song, and went to sleep dreaming of rain.
But when the next day came, the sky was dry and clear.
The apprentice was much surprised by this and remained quiet all day until they again stopped at a stream to drink. Finally the apprentice said that she would like to try again.
"Well," said the Rainmaker, as she looked at the stream and the forest and felt the gentle wind, "Call and we shall see."
Now the apprentice was very determined, and when they camped that night, she danced her best dance until she was very tired, and sang her best song until her voice was gone, and again fell asleep dreaming of rain.
But when the next day came, the sky was dry and clear.
Then the apprentice was very disappointed and began to think she could not call the rain. She was quiet all day as they traveled through the forest until they came at last to the beginning of a strangeling desert.
Then the Rainmaker turned and said to the apprentice, "Now you will call the rain."
This shocked the apprentice and she cried, "But how can I call the rain in the desert, here where it never rains, when I could not even call a mist in the forest where water is no stranger!"
But the Rainmaker only said, "Call and we shall see."
That night they camped deep in the desert and the apprentice, who was certain she could not call the rain, did her shortest dance and her simplest song and when she slept that night she only dreamed of sand and withered seeds.
But when the next day came, the sky was cloudy and a gentle rain was falling.
"But how?" said the apprentice to the Rainmaker. "When I did my best dance it did not rain. When I did my best song it did not rain. But here, in the desert, where I do my least, we're soaked from falling water?"
The Rainmaker, who was busy gathering fallen rain for the rest of their journey simply said, "While we were in the forest, neither the land nor ourselves lacked for water or needed any rain, but here in this unhappy desert, both the land and ourselves were dry."
"As an afternoon bonfire can shine less brightly than a new-moon candle, so too does magick often follow need, and help bring harmony to the world."
And the apprentice smiled and bent to help the Rainmaker catch the morning rain.
