Behind the hotel, which had once been the villa of Mabel Dodge in Taos, lay a vast prairie, which stretched out to the horizon where it met a range of lofty mountains. I asked the headmistress, the sharp-witted lady with the shaven head, how we could get onto the prairie to take a walk. “You…
Briskly, he walks through the French Quarters, crosses Jackson Square, turns around the Saint Louis Cathedral and reaches the gates of the cemetery bearing the same name. Now, he is no longer in a hurry. He takes his time to dawdle amongst the graves, looking for the one on which to lie. The moon, shining…
As luck would have it, Marie Laveau soon after met the love of her life, Christophe Duminy de Glapion. She would never marry him, for the simple reason that he was white and that the law of the time forbade such an union, but they had many children – fifteen according to legend! In any…
Marie Laveau was born in 1794, baptised and registered at the parish. Her origins remain, truth be told, rather murky: in her white and black blood mixed. It was even suspected that she had Native American blood. Some even said she was the daughter of a white nobleman and a black slave. In 1819, as…
At an evening hosted by the countess Zichy-Ferraris in Vienna, in 1808, was to be found, among several elegant women of the high society, the charming Princess Schwarzenburg, born to the House of Aremburg. Prince Louis de Rohan was playing with his deck of cards; he believed himself to possess a great talent for fortune…
« On Thursday, before noon, shall blow the greatest wind that ever was heard, to the great calamity and trouble of all Scotland. » Thomas the Rhymer made this prophetic announcement to the Earl of March a few days before the events. Thomas was the most famous poet and prophet in the history of Scotland….
What is true in a striking fashion for the West is the triumph of Materialism, and an accompanying fatigue that is much less evident in the developing world. There, the world is more dynamic, energetic, and overflowing with near limitless resources and advantageous work. They are young, the West is old. In face of the…
With the introduction of the Internet in the lives of citizens, there are near infinite new possibilities, a proliferation of new perspectives. Yet there is also solitude. Systems of communication, such as social networks like Facebook and Instagram, and blogs, are manifestations of exacerbated narcissism. In the same way money is no longer real, humans too are…
It is clear that with materialism prevailing and ruling, religions are collapsing, in a tailspin, particularly Christianity. The churches that I once saw full are now empty, and priest are becoming rare. At first I was inspired. I recalled the absurdities of my education, the obligatory confessions, the Sunday morning masses, and the hypocrisy of…
The absolute reign of Big Money leads naturally to a triumphal materialism, which in turn becomes a sort of religion. Materialism is expressed by our overconsumption, which today, is almost deified. I turn on the television and see that Christmas, today, is about foie gras. A few months later I see Easter reduced to chocolates….