South America

To this day, I cannot see that there is any place on this Earth more beautiful than Brazil. It was exquisite beyond description then, and though today I find it much changed, I love it as I have loved no other place. Despite the history that has crumbled along the dusty streets of the old Rio to pave the way for modernity, it still reaches into my very core to open me up to the truest and deepest mysteries of life and beauty.

Lured by a vision of the South American jaguar, it was in Brazil that fate took me by the hand, and I first danced with the supernatural forces that went on to linger in my soul all the days of my mortal life.

I was charmed and seduced by all the people of this wondrous landscape, and for one in particular I abandoned my British companions for the rich indulgence of love and lust in that dark and dangerous paradise. While I relished this danger, I didn’t understand it, and when it came after me with full force, I was like a child - dazed, confused and impossibly fascinated.

I was the unsuspecting antagonist of one very powerful Candomble priestess, who disposed of my influence over her young son with humbling effortlessness.

To fully relate the meaning of Candomble would be far beyond the scope of what I can include here. Perhaps the only way to understand it is through experience, and even then, so much remains a mystery. But the role that Candomble played in my life was neither fleeting nor trifling, so I must try to explain, at least in part, what this powerful cult entailed.

<< Back | Next >>