Devotions
As time went on, Jean and Michel became more and
more devoted to each other. They often spent the
entire day at an old convent* that lay hidden a few
miles south of Saint Rémy. They spent hours reading
original bibles. Michel learned, above all, to pray
to the Christian God and effortlessly followed the
Catholic scriptures, despite his Jewish background.
It is, after all, the same God as the one from the
Old Testament, he thought. Jean always hummed while
they prayed, at least when no one else was around.
From the priory, when the weather was fine, they
foraged about in the surrounding lavender fields,
where they had found a mysterious, half caved-in
pyramid-like structure. His well-read grandfather
could comment on just about anything.
“From ancient Greek times,” he said about the
structure while at the same time using it to take a
rest. Michel, by contrast, was full of energy and
went exploring in the area while Jean took his
customary little nap. One day, the boy came back
excitedly.
“A little ways over there, there are all kinds of
holes hacked out of the cliffs, Grandpa. Come and
see!” But Jean quietly stayed where he was and
coolly explained that long ago, goatherds had made
those holes for their goats to protect them from
predators. Apparently, he had discovered them before.
One time, he could barely get up and Michel had to
literally drag him home.
During adolescence, the young man began to notice
girls and this was a good opportunity for his mentor
to speak about the marriage of two souls. He
explained how the male and female souls can merge
together and the male/female principle is
represented everywhere in the universe.
“You mean there are male and female planets too?”
asked Michel.
“The planets are, in principle, all female. That’s
why they call our planet Mother Earth,” answered
Jean.
“And do we men have anything to say, in the cosmos?”
“Well, the stars are male, in contrast with dust and
darkness, wich are female. These eternal polarities
are also the essence of alchemy.”
The boy spent the majority of his childhood outdoors
with his grandfather and his parents didn’t see much
of their rapidly developing son. They only got
together at mealtimes. It was not only Michel and
Jean’s fault they saw so little of each other;
Jacques worked at the notary’s practice all day and
Reynière, besides running the household, had her
hands full with the youngest children.
Seven-year-old Antoine was a particularly
challenging case, because he always exhibited
recalcitrant behavior. For the rest, Michel got
along well with his little brothers, but play with
them? No, there was little chance of that.
