Cape Breton's Magazine

was to watch who would come out obviously with a burn around his neck. And they came back--"Oh yeah, so-and-so, we saw"--I don't know, he came out with a scarf or something around his neck, he'd hurt his neck. So they found out to their mind or way of thinking who had put the spell on them. Possibly it's not true at all. But it satisfied the.person. This was a sore point in those days--my grandfather giving out these Bibles--be? cause I remember when I went to the con? vent the nuns used to say that nobody should read the Bible except the priest, because the priest was the authorized per? son to read the Bible and give out its meaning. And the priest at the time was very much against people having Bibles. But all the Protestants here used the Bi? ble. That was the source of their belief. And I suspect that a lot of these stories of sorcery were put out to keep the people away from the Jerseys. Intermixing. It was a barrier. (Did George LeBrun say to these people, "Go away. It's not true"?) Oh, no. When they came to him and talked to him about sorcery and family problems and things they had in doubt--they came to talk to him because he was a good listener--things they felt they couldn't talk to anybody else. Questions that came up in their minds, legal matters, tax--they came to him because they felt, being an outsider, he had no reason to take advantage of them. He listened to them. He counseled them. An? other thing he used to do was pull teeth. (But he didn't say, "Go away, there's no such thing as sorcery.") Some times in discussing, I've heard him say, "You're crazy. What is' sorcery?" And sometimes in anger, points of contention--he'd send them to go see the priest. "You go to your source of information." (But if they came to him for help, he wouldn't say.. • .) Nev? er. You see, when they came with these i- deas, they were convinced--like the child in this case had a spell on her. He knew Afe Copies from snapshots ot George LeBrun 6e his home in Cheticamp. it was useless to deny it. So he went a- long with their thinking, giving them a means of escape from it. And being a reli? gious man himself, he looked upon sorcery as evil. And he counteracted that by giv? ing them passages in the Bible that gener? ally referred to love and God's power. And he talked to them about that. (But do you see what I'm saying? In this way, it seems to me, George LeBrun was en? couraging a belief that sorcery was real and could be dealt with.) What he was try? ing to do was by reading the Bible, that you would escape from it. (Oh, there's no question he was trying to help. But he wasn't trying to say it wasn't real • ) Be? cause he thought it was too big for him to put down. Because the source of where they got this information was the source of their beliefs themselves. And remember, this sorcery was also a be? lief amongst the Acadians, from the Old Country. Sorcery in the Old Country was a real thing. Joan of Arc was put to death because of it--and there wasn't a reli? gious difference there. The French had roots of it, if you want to go by races. And the Jersey people are French--banished Huguenots from France, banished because of being Protestants. (What about the atti? tude of the Acadians toward the Jersey as merchants?) Well, they always felt that the Jersey were taking advantage of them. They didn't seem to understand how busi? ness was being done. And maybe I'm sound? ing as defending, but as I said, there was When You're in Halifax, Visit the Home of ft • ? A Minglewood Band MiStV Long John Bal dry Moon Sam Moon Spice - THE % <'_, * * /cabaret 3700 KEMPT ROAD NEAR WINDSOR STREET, HALIFAX -f, CampGill LighthoiBe Cape Breton Shopping Plaza Sydney River, Nova Scotia The Shop with the Answer to all your Lighting Needs. St. Peters Drug Store Ltd. Don Stone, Ph. C., Proprietor Open 6 Days a Week Mon. to Thur. open until 8 p.m. Fri. until 9 p.m. Sat. until 5 p.m. 535-2203 St. Peters, NS.