The Power of Silence Read Online Free PDF

actor.
    Subsequently
the nagual saw him on the stage often enough to realize that the actor had a
great deal of charisma. The audience, especially the women, loved him. And he
had no scruples about making use of his charismatic gifts to seduce female
admirers. As the nagual followed the actor, he was able to witness his
seduction technique more than once. It entailed showing himself naked to his
adoring fans as soon as he got them alone, then waiting until the women,
stunned by his display, surrendered. The technique seemed extremely effective
for him. The nagual had to admit that the actor was a great success, except on
one count. He was mortally ill. The nagual had seen the black shadow of
death that followed him everywhere.
    Don Juan
explained again something he had told me years before - that our death was a
black spot right behind the left shoulder. He said that sorcerers knew when a
person was close to dying because they could see the dark spot, which
became a moving shadow the exact size and shape of the person to whom it
belonged.
    As he
recognized the imminent presence of death the nagual was plunged into a numbing
perplexity. He wondered why the spirit was singling out such a sick person. He
had been taught that in a natural state replacement, not repair, prevailed. And
the nagual doubted that he had the ability or the strength to heal this young
man, or resist the black shadow of his death. He even doubted if he would be
able to discover why the spirit had involved him in a display of such obvious
waste.
    The nagual
could do nothing but stay with the actor, follow him around, and wait for the
opportunity to see in greater depth. Don Juan explained that a nagual's first
reaction, upon being faced with the manifestations of the spirit, is to see the
persons involved. The nagual Elias had been meticulous about seeing the
man the moment he laid eyes on him. He had also seen the peasant woman
who was part of the spirit's manifestation, but he had seen nothing that, in
his judgment, could have warranted the spirit's display.
    In the
course of witnessing another seduction, however, the nagual's ability to see took on a new depth. This time the actor's adoring fan was the daughter of
a rich landowner. And from the start she was in complete control. The nagual
found out about their rendezvous because he overheard her daring the actor to
meet her the next day. The nagual was hiding across the street at dawn when the
young woman left her house, and instead of going to early mass she went to join
the actor. The actor was waiting for her and she coaxed him into following her
to the open fields. He appeared to hesitate, but she taunted him and would not
allow him to withdraw.
    As the
nagual watched them sneaking away, he had an absolute conviction that something
was going to happen on that day which neither of the players was anticipating.
He saw that the actor's black shadow had grown to almost twice his
height. The nagual deduced from the mysterious hard look in the young woman's
eyes that she too had felt the black shadow of death at an intuitive level. The
actor seemed preoccupied. He did not laugh as he had on other occasions.
    They walked
quite a distance. At one point, they spotted the nagual following them, but he
instantly pretended to be working the land, a peasant who belonged there. That
made the couple relax and allowed the nagual to come closer.
    Then the
moment came when the actor tossed off his clothes and showed himself to the
girl. But instead of swooning and falling into his arms as his other conquests
had, this girl began to hit him. She kicked and punched him mercilessly and
stepped on his bare toes, making him cry out with pain.
    The nagual
knew the man had not threatened or harmed the young woman. He had not laid a
finger on her. She was the only one fighting. He was merely trying to parry the
blows, and persistently, but without enthusiasm, trying to entice her by
showing her his genitals.
    The nagual
was