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The Reluctant healer - William Macmillan

It appeared that our hostess was a chronic sufferer from sinus and antrim infection.  This particular evening she was in the throes of an agonizing attack. What could be more natural than that under Endor's direction I should demonstrate my powers and incidentally be the unwilling instrument to increase Endor’s reputation?

When we were all gathered in the drawing-room, a chair was placed in the centre of the room. Our hostess seated herself in this. The other guests peacefully continued to take their coffee as though this strange parlour game were completely natural and not in the worst possible taste. I felt that if by some wild possibility Endor were correct, we were about to tamper with forces reserved to God alone. If he were not accurate it was pretentious and perhaps dangerous.

There was no doubt at all that Marta was in severe pain. Her face was drawn, and it was obvious she was doing her best to surmount her own suffering and to make her party a success. It was her sportmanship, combined with the deep ingraining of how a guest behaved, which made me overcome my almost nauseated distaste for the whole procedure and co-operate.

Endor told me I was to rub the affected areas for ten minutes.

After the first three minutes the mucus began to flow freely.

Marta’s relief was perfectly visible. A supply of handkerchiefs was produced and was needed. When the ten minutes had been completed I was told to do ‘passes’. This consisted of waving my hands with controlled movements a few inches above Marta’s face and with a downward movement away from the head. This I did for five minutes. Perhaps these were the longest five minutes I had ever spent. Predominant was the self -consciousness of standing in the middle of the room waving my hands about. Mixed with this was the feeling I had participated in something unnatural. I was frightened and a bit disgusted……..