Gift Focus of the Month: Healing

The Lady Illusion gave us a set of twelve
Twelve children, twelve months, and twelve gifts as well
Inner and outer vision, levitation
Fire, water, transformation
Glowing, healing, communication
Singers, dancers, model makers

There’s another gift to learn about every month, and this month’s focus is healing.

From Rose’s notebook:

When people say there are two sides to magic, they most commonly reference the healer’s gift. They can heal and hurt. Healers usually start school at a very young age, because most of them are born with the gift, and their mother’s can feel it before they’re born.

Well, that’s barely an intro… Okay, let’s get into it for real.

Most children in the magical world have long and carefree childhoods, while gifted healers have a long and difficult path of schooling. There are many different currents of magic used for different injuries, and to relieve pain. The pain-relieving current is usually the healer’s earliest natural magic, the one that reveals itself at the moment of gift discovery. Other currents take more studying to develop. They also need to study self-healing, which is more difficult than healing others (though, probably easer to practice). Schooling will also teach young healers how to make potions and products (like healing crystals) to cure and treat various ailments.

Late-blooming healers (like Hannah) are uncommon. As Rose mentioned above, most mothers will feel their child’s magic in the womb (which often times makes for easier pregnancies). But whether the gifted child was born with healing magic, or it developed later, part of growing up often involves something called the “young healer’s curse.” This refers to the excessive risk taking of child healers. Though self-healing is more difficult, the knowledge that it’s possible creates an attitude of invincibility. Not all healers go through this, but it’s a common phase.

While basic gifts allow for a wide range of career paths, healers are expected to pick a job that makes use of their gift. Not all healers work in hospitals or traditional doctor roles. If a healer specializes in potion making, they can work in shops, selling products, or manufacturing their own. This is considered one of the easiest career paths for healers to take. They can also work as midwives, or with families, young children, or at schools. Some serve in a “school nurse” roll, and others work as teachers. Healers are also encouraged to join Summer’s Angels, as the need for them is always high. Even those in the easier career paths can be called on in times of need, so it’s important for healers to study every aspect of their gift.

This is the part of the blog where I usually add pictures... So, here's an old one of Hannah (despite the fact she doesn't want me using it because she's "not really a healer"), from a drawing phase where I couldn't help giving everyone HUGE eyes. And no hands, because "wah, too hard!" I suppose the rest is pretty, though. And next to her is Alexis, a healer in Summer's Angels, reaching out to take your hand (which was, let me tell you, a complete NIGHTMARE to draw). I'll say it again, I'm an author, not an artist!

The flipside of healing is, of course, hurting. Healers can cause injuries and pain if they tap into the other side of their gift. 

The high level of healing is debated, but most agree it's any time of permanent physical changes. For example, healers skilled enough to regrow lost limbs are considered successful in tapping into the gift's high level.

Healing is most closely connected to transformation and the water gift. It is often symbolized by an open hand.

Fun Fact About the Twelve Gifts

Before a child’s magic is fully developed, it is possible for someone else to “fix” their gift. This is extremely taboo, but it has been done, especially by Southern royalty. Gifted healers can, while pregnant, alter their baby’s magic to force it into the gift of their choosing. The royal family in the South is made up entirely of gifted healers due to gift fixing. In the case of any fixed gift, the gifted will be exceptional at their ability, but limited to that ability alone, and unable to access any other type of magic, even at the most basic level. It’s essentially gathering up all the magic a child has, and compressing it into one thing. For this reason, it’s widely considered to be an abomination, and is rarely even spoken about in most of the world.

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