There once was a dentist who lived in my village. He was known as a very honest man with strong character. Even though he worked in a dentist office situated in his family's home, he was well known throughout the surrounding regions. His patients' love and respect for him was evident by their long commutes to come to see him rather than a local dentist in their own village. His wife worked as a teacher, and together they raised three children. They were able to live comfortably in the village, well above the means of other families because of the good business generated by the dentist's notoriety. In his free time, the dentist enjoyed building onto his house. He constructed and destructed new rooms until they suited his visions. Hand-painted wall murals, intricate wood carvings, and beautiful metal work over the front gate of his family's house were all products of this hobby.
In his fifties, his health began to decline. Feeling too young to retire or put an early termination to remodeling his house, the poor dentist quietly suffered. He continued seeing patients, but as word spread about his condition, his number of patients also began to decline. In a short time, putting food on the table took precedence over remodeling the house. The dentist and his wife couldn't understand how quickly they went from having so much to having so little. The wife decided to take matters into her own hands. She felt there was a greater explanation to be discovered for their family's misfortune.
She called upon the village clairvoyant. The clairvoyant explained that such misfortunes are usually the result of foul play by a vindictive relative. She came over to the house a few times to search for signs and probed the wife with questions about family feuds and neighborly quarrels. After several visits, the clairvoyant came to the conclusion that the dentist's brother's family (also neighbors to them) was casting ill will their way by burying evil charms in their backyard. The dentist's wife never had a particularly good relationship with the her husband's brother's mother (the dentist's stepmother). However, the dentist and his wife insisted it couldn't be so--surely they would have noticed such an intrusion. The clairvoyant offered proof. Shovel in hand, she set out to the backyard and dug a large, rusty brass key out of the ground. The dentist and his wife were shocked. Indeed, they'd never seen the old key before. The clairvoyant came back several times, each time uncovering a buried item from the dentist's backyard. It didn't take long for the mystified couple to come to believe these charms were indeed the source of their misfortune.
Meanwhile, the rift between the dentist's and his brother's family grew deeper. Out of both spite and fear, the dentist's wife forbid her children from playing with their cousins. As the socioeconomic playing field between the two families began to even out, the stepmother and son interpreted their relatives' animosity as a sort of rivalry. They'd always known the dentist and his wife were wealthier than them..until the dentist's health began to fail. Miffed, she thought perhaps her son's brother and his wife were grieving the dentist's failing health and just trying to maintain their status through exclusivity. She pondered that idea until the accusation.
For weeks, the clairvoyant had been coming and unearthing evil charms from the backyard. One day, full of conviction, the dentist's wife finally mustered up enough courage to demand her husband's brother's family put a stop to their curses. With the clairvoyant's words in the back of her head, she recalled years of family squabbles justifying why her brother in law's family would wish ill will upon hers. Defensive and angry, the dentist's brother's family denied the accusations. Knowing the power of the dentist's good reputation, they feared the slander that could result in the village with such an accusation. The dentist was loved by every one. Anyone who insulted him let alone pursue evil charms to cause he and his family harm would quickly become outcasts in the village.
Seeing no result after their confrontation, the dentist and his wife decided to attempt to catch their relatives in action. They set up a night watch. One of them would stay up late, peering out a window overlooking the backyard, to catch one of their relatives and bring them to justice once and for all. The evil curse would be lifted, the dentist's patients would return, and peace would be restored. One night, the groggy dentist saw a shadow enter the backyard. Stealthily, he raced downstairs, out the back gate and into the garden. "Eh!" He shouted. The shadow got scared, turn to ran away, but was slowed down by his shovel and bag full of trinkets. The dentist chased him down, grabbed his arm before he got over their fence, but quickly realized this man was not his brother. Ashamed, the culprit identified himself as the clairvoyant's husband.
By the cover of night, he'd been coming to bury old, useless pieces of metal in their backyard while by day, his wife was convincing them that their family's misfortune was the result of a vengeful vex by a disgruntled relative. The dentist dismissed the poor man, forbidding he and his wife from ever returning to their house again. Embarrassed that they'd been played by a clairvoyant, the dentist and his wife never rescinded their accusation of the dentist's brother's family. However, over time, the wives began to exchange nods on the street again and their children were able to play together once more.
My counterpart told me this story about the two families and the clairvoyant in my village. It happened several years ago, but she was explaining that people still go to the clairvoyant. Despite knowing both of these families, that's what was most surprising to me. I couldn't understand how even though people know that what she's saying, or what she's said in the past is dishonest, why they still call on her. How does she have any credit amongst people if she's known to have outright scammed them and even turned families against each other? I felt hostile towards this woman who I've never met. That she had such a capacity to make people believe what she wanted them to in order to turn a small profit. Why would people put up with that? My counterpart responded, "Because people live in hope. When they can't explain something, what else do they have but hope that magic can give them the answer?"
