Stop,
Look, … Superstition? Page
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look of devastation and disappointment formed on her face as the local doctor explained that she would never be able to have children. She lowered her head so the doctor could not see the tears welling up in her deep chocolate colored eyes. One blink was all it took to make the tears stream rapidly down her dark cheeks. “How could this have happened to me? Surely, I didn’t upset the ancestors. Why would they place a curse as horrible as this upon me?” A countless number of questions were flooding her mind as her husband lovingly tried to reassure her. “This is the worst curse that could ever be placed upon a woman,” she choked to her husband.
Ruth and her husband truly believed
that their doctor was right about the situation, but something deep inside of
Ruth told her that she should pay a visit to the medicine man. “After all, what’s
it going to hurt now?” she thought to herself. Ruth
and her husband discussed the benefits and drawbacks to visiting the medicine
man. Finally, they came to the
conclusion that they would give it a try.
After a days travel, Ruth and her
husband arrived at the village where the medicine man lived. She relayed to him exactly what the local
doctor had explained to her just a few days earlier.
“Uh huh,” the medicine man said as he
nodded his head in response to what he just heard. He paused for a moment, then turned to his shelf of herbal
mixtures and potions.
“Here drink this.” He handed Ruth a small cup of “magic” for her to drink. “This should remove the curse and make you
healed.”
Ruth did as the medicine man
instructed. She thanked him kindly,
turned to her husband, and then began the long journey home.
Several months passed and Ruth became extremely sick. She made a trip to her local doctor to see if he knew what was wrong with her this time.
After the doctor questioned Ruth and
made some observations, a puzzled look fell upon his face. This look worried Ruth and she began to pray
that everything would be alright.
“Ruth,
nothing is wrong. Something is right.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “You are going to have a baby!”
Ruth squealed with joy as she embraced her husband. Tears began to roll down her face again, not because of sadness,
but because of delight. “The potion really did work and the ancestors have lifted this
curse from me!”[1]