Observations placeholder
Fawcett, Lt Colonel Percival Harrison - I am in the hands of the Gods
Identifier
022768
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
The Lost City of Z – David Grann
Fawcett was struck by his ability to elude predators. Once, after leaping over a pit viper, he wrote in his journal, "What amazed me more than anything was the warning of my subconscious mind, and the instant muscular response . . . I had not seen it till it flashed between my legs, but the 'inner man'-if I can call it that-not only saw it in time, but judged its striking height and distance exactly, and issued commands to the body accordingly!"
His RGS colleague William Barclay, who worked in Bolivia and knew Fawcett's methods as an explorer as well as anyone, said that over the years the explorer had developed "the conviction that no danger could touch him" and that, like a mythic hero, "his actions and happenings were fore-ordained." Or, as Fawcett liked to say, "I am in the hands of the Gods."