La triada inseparable: Desigualdad-Justicia social-Ideología

Ed Solomon

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Having just returned from a long weekend in wilds of Connecticut, Charles and I had planned to give a review of the gathering of the Inner Circle of Bizarre Magick event but as luck would have it, our group of Spellbinders were going to have to wait for another time. DeNomolos had other things in mind and we were cut off in mid thought as he took over the discussion.

First it was the new movie about Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. He went on and on about the production and how disgusted he was with the fundamentalists and their backward view of these marvelous children's stories. You would have thought they were attacking and protesting him instead of the movie and the series of books. He even related the tale of the famous fundamentalist leader who had proclaimed that Snow White was a prostitute because every morning the seven dwarfs said "HI HO "...

We didn't laugh either but we remembered this same fundamentalist had declared one of the Tella Tubbies to be gay because of the triangle it wears on its head. "The

tastemakers are out to get us all, " DeNomolos said in mock despair.

From his coat pocket DeNomolos produced a folded newspaper and carefully placed it on the table. It had the appearance of old, yellowed newsprint but it was impossible to guess the date from the way it looked. He didn't say anything about it but I immediately suspected we were about to hear one of his long-winded stories.

"English authors, " he began, "have always fascinated me and this young woman who is writing the Potter series is most skillful. We of course have had some brilliant writers here at home. People like Damon Runyan and our O. Henry are but two examples. These men knew the streets and the byways of our great country and while their writing styles were very different, they told us about ourselves and the way we lived at that time. O Henry has always been one of my heroes and his tale of the "Gift of the Magi " is one of my favorite stories to tell at Christmas time."

DeNomolos proceeded to relate a bit of the history about the American author but as it was quite lengthy, I have elected not to relate it verbatim. Sometimes it is best not to, you understand. Discretion and valor and all. But on to the story.

DeNomolos picked up the folded newspaper and began his discourse.

"O.Henry was the non-de plume of a rascal named Will Potter. (THERE IS THAT NAME AGAIN.) Stories abound about how and why he chose that name but the world knew him as O. Henry and he was a man of many talents. He was an artist, a dreamer, a writer and a lush. What more could any one ask for. One story in particular stands out in

my mind as being quite magical. This is but only a brief synopsis. I would recommend that if you are interested, you read this story for yourself. It is called "The Last Leaf " and concerns two older women living in a Greenwich Village boarding house flat and their neighbor, an aging artist named Behrman who dreams of painting a masterpiece. When one of the women is stricken with pneumonia, she ties her fate to the last leaf of ivy visible through her window. "When the last leaf goes, I must go too. " She says.

Now the winds blow and the leaf hangs on, giving her determination to do the same thing. Only after her recovery does she learn the Behrman has painted

the leaf, his masterpiece, on the wall facing her window, and succumbed to pneumonia from his effort."

As the story was related, DeNomolos opened the newspaper and within the folds was another packet, which he opened. The inner packet of paper was depicting a brick wall and from the folds, he disclosed a single leaf of ivy.

Replacing the leaf he refolded the paper and as he finished the tale, the packet was opened again and the real leaf is gone and what remained in the packet was a replica of the leaf, life like in every detail, painted on the page.

As a sentimentalist, DeNomolos, all too often, deliberately goes for the heartstrings. This tale was no exception.

Working:

Immediately recognizable are the inscrutable Buddha Papers. Inspired by Brother Shadow's book on this subject, the scanner with my computer let me make the inner paper as a brick wall and an ivy leaf scanned on one page allowed for the transformation. See Brother Shadow's wonderful offering to learn more about the Buddha Papers. Be sure to age the newspaper to enhance the effect.

Brother Shadow wrote: As a side note, I have a friend that owns and lives in that house in the Village in which, O Henry wrote that story. From his window you can still see that brick wall.

Is it not bizarre how so many things are connected? In the Craft,

JACK