Having dinner with friends on the appointed day, I told them

about the trip to Haiti and the healing possibilities of

voodoo. Having assumed an important appearance, I ranted that
the most important condition of magic is the very belief in its
ability to treat illnesses and harm the enemies. I stressed that if
you do not adhere to such views, the magic just will not work,
and I myself live proof to this, because at these very moments
one miserable Haitian medicine man is trying in vain to do me
some harm. The participants raised their glasses for my health. It
was Monday evening. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I felt
great. On Thursday, my head ached, and by the evening a real
migraine attack occurred. By eight o'clock the stomach was
twisted, intestinal spasms and uncontrollable vomiting began. At
midnight, there was a phone call.

It was an anthropologist from Haiti who reported that they could

not do what was planned for the agreed Day, it was possible only
today. He attended the ritual, just returned to the hotel and
decided to find out how I feel. In response, I groaned, begged
him to return to the witch doctor and ask him to save me from
the torture. At that moment, even death seemed to be a welcome
relief.

By morning I felt better. I managed to convince myself that I had

picked up some kind of intestinal infection. I went to the
university hospital and passed the tests, but they showed the
absence of any parasites. This lesson cost me quite expensive:
for a student a hundred dollars - a lot of money. In addition, I
spent one of the most frightful nights in my life. However, I
realized that working with energy can not only heal, but also
cause harm. Later, I was more than once convinced that if an ill-
trained, inexperienced person works with the energy of the
patient, this is often equivalent to the use of black magic, even if
the home-grown medicine man is guided by the best intentions.

Black magic exists not only in Haiti and in the swampy areas of
Louisiana.

It arises everywhere, where the best-intentioned "masters"

impose on the sick hands-and unintentionally transmit the
poisonous energy to them. Many people think that nothing like
this will happen if you treat another person with love, because at
the same time the energy seems to become pure and holy. In