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At a shop full of trinkets in that part of Hamburg disparagingly referred to as Little Istanbul, Opal bought me a bronze talisman from a grinning Turk. It featured the five-pointed Star of Solomon, and promised to bring me wisdom, intuition and understanding — which apparently she felt I sorely needed. I remember being quite crestfallen upon opening the little plastic bag that a complicated ritual was required before the talisman would be ‘charged’ with the protective qualities it was designed to emit. Exchanging my recalcitrance for energy, I gathered a glass of water, a white candle, poured some salt into a saucer, found a white tablecloth and salvaged some sandalwood joss-sticks that had been lying in the bottom of a drawer for years. In the living room I dragged the coffee table out into the middle of the floor and turned out the lights. Spreading the tablecloth, I placed the candle in the middle and lit it. From the candle, I lit the incense sticks. Closing my eyes, I thought for a few minutes about what I hoped to achieve with the talisman: that, in future, I would display the wisdom and the intuition to accept Opal on her terms; to be more tolerant and understanding. The air swiftly became fogged by the cloying sweetness of the incense. I took a pinch of salt and sifted it through my fingers into the water. For a moment, nothing happened, but then the water began to seethe with a nebulous golden light. The silence in the room turned in on itself, cresting as anticipation in my stomach. Surprisingly, I remembered the words on the instructions that accompanied the talisman — the kind of thing (like names and phone numbers) I usually require prompting on: “With salt I bless this water, may all it touches with light be blessed, also.” As instructed, I sprinkled the talisman with water and spoke the words: “With this holy water I bless the talisman so that, through the wisdom attained, Opal Hush and I may be happier together.” I passed the talisman through the smoke from the joss-sticks, pronouncing the words: “With this burning incense I charge the talisman so that, intuitively, Opal Hush and I may learn to treat each other more fairly.” Finally, I passed the talisman through the candle flame, saying: “With this holy flame, I cleanse the talisman, so that Opal Hush and I may live in better mutual understanding.” I closed my eyes and held the talisman in my right hand. After a few moments, I seemed to sense a ray of light above me, radiating in all directions. I attempted to concentrate upon it and it became a perfect sphere. Gradually, a channel of white light extended downwards from it, meeting my head. Its energy flowed down my neck. The top of my spine filled with warmth that radiated to my throat and solar plexus. I felt strengthened by it and, because it had all been described so precisely in the instructions, not in the least sceptical about what was happening. With the energy inside me, I sensed light flowing throughout my body and into the talisman in my hand. I relaxed for a moment, thinking about how blissful my life with Opal could be in future. My body seemed to become heavier, to re-connect with the earth and the present moment. I threaded the talisman onto a leather thong and wore it to bed. *
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