| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: sans le savoir/; suffice it to say that Mme. Cibot used to go to Mme.
Fontaine's house in the Rue Vieille-du-Temple as regularly as
frequenters of the Cafe Anglais drop in at that restaurant for lunch.
Mme. Cibot, being a very old customer, often introduced young persons
and old gossips consumed with curiosity to the wise woman.
The old servant who acted as provost marshal flung open the door of
the sanctuary with no further ceremony than the remark, "It's Mme.
Cibot.--Come in, there's nobody here."
"Well, child, what can bring you here so early of a morning?" asked
the sorceress, as Mme. Fontaine might well be called, for she was
seventy-eight years old, and looked like one of the Parcae.
|
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: persists in dying! Such cases, obviously, can only be countered
by Faith, or something (whatever it may be) which
restores courage, hope and energy to the mind. Nor need
I point out that the situation is exactly the same among
a vast number of 'patients' to-day. As to the value, in
his degree, of the medicine-man many modern observers and
students quite agree with the above.[2] Also as the present
chapter is on Ritual Dancing it may not be out of place
to call attention to the supposed healing of sick people in
Ceylon and other places by Devil-dancing--the enormous
output of energy and noise in the ritual possibly having the
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
