Nyx in the House of Night

lay it at the icon’s base. In Roman Catholic churches, there is usually a basin or wall fixture filled with holy water nearby in which worshippers can dip their fingers before crossing themselves.
    Wiccans follow a similar tradition when they cast a spell—or an organized wish, as my female mystic writers have explained it to me. Set up your altar, light a candle, offer flowers to the deity, and make a wish.
    In Nyx’s circle, we see these same elements represented and called forth in a different way. With colored candles in hand, the House of Night fledglings take their places at the north, south, east, and west points of the circle, placements that also evoke the sign of the Christian cross: the father (top/forehead), the son (bottom/heart), and the holy spirit (left and right/the shoulders). The circle caster then lights each fledgling’s candle, acknowledging the corresponding element and welcoming it into the circle: yellow air (evoking the smoke rising from the Christian votive candle), red fire (the candle’s flame), green earth (the flowers and basil at the icon’s base), blue water (the blessed holy water with which worshippers cross themselves), and purple spirit (the wish/prayer we send to the deity).
    In the House of Night series, candle use is not limited to circles, though; in the series, we also see these wax pillars serving as a means of protection. When the Raven Mockers begin to manifest on the House of Night campus in Untamed , Grandma Redbird comes to stay with Zoey, bringing with her tools drawn from Cherokee tradition for Zoey’s physical and spiritual protection. They hang a dream catcher in the window, but they also light a moon candle to keep Kalona away.
    Every Saturday night and Sunday morning during religious holidays, my grandmother and mother would set out a small glass covered with a special dome with a cross on it and fill it with oil. Like Zoey’s moon candle, lighting the wick of the oil candle was a way of bringing God into our home and protecting us through the day and night. If you travel in Greece, you will notice small stands—stone columns with single stone boxes on top—by the side of highways, especially in the more rural areas. On each stand is a little door with a cross on it, and inside is an icon and a small glass filled with oil. Nightly, an older village woman will fill the glass with oil and light it. Now these stands seem to have been around forever. I’m not quite sure why they were built or how or when the trend took off, but I suspect that before cars became such a common convenience, when people were still traveling difficult mountainous regions by mules or by foot (not that long ago, think 1940s), they wanted to see a light on a dark road. A sense that someone was watching over them. A place where they could stop and say a prayer:
    Panaghia Mou , My Virgin, watch over me and my family. Keep us safe.
    SPIRITUAL CLEANSING
    The cleansing rituals in the House of Night series, too, are similar to spiritual cleansing rituals in some Christian religions.
    In Cherokee religion, smudging has been used for centuries for rituals involving cleansing, purifying, or protection. Burning a bundle of herbs (usually sage) and wafting the smoke over the body was a way of honoring the Great Spirit and cleansing the individual’s spirit. In Untamed , when Zoey calls Grandma Redbird for advice on Aphrodite’s vision prophesying the return of Kalona, Grandma Redbird advises they each do a cleansing ritual before she will allow Zoey to explain her situation: “Zoey, I’m going to light the smudge pot before we speak any more of these creatures. I’m using sage and lavender. I’ll be fanning the smoke with a dove’s feather while we talk. Zoeybird, I suggest you do the same.” The herbs in Grandma Redbird’s smudge pot are the same ones Zoey uses to correct and chase away the evil spirits Aphrodite accidently calls during her disastrous Samhain ritual in Marked .
    The ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as the Babylonians, did something very similar in their religious cleansing and purification ceremonies: they burned incense. Incense also plays a role in Chinese culture. During religious events in ancient China, according to historian Joseph Needham, “the incense-burner remained the centre of changes and transformations associated with worship, sacrifice, ascending perfume of sweet savour, fire, combustion, disintegration, transformation, vision, communication with