The power of the “the first alchemist" affects the action and
interaction of the first organized groups of Homo sapiens; this is
because the fervor and terror of death inspired the delegation to a
single hominid of the responsibility to channel that breath which gives
movement to other creatures in motion.
«Let's say, hypothetically, we find a man born
and raised as a nomad-hunter-gatherer in
sub-Saharan Africa, totally alien to our
current funeral ceremonies, and we want to
"help" him by introducing him to a church to
give him some spiritual comfort. We make him
walk through an ambulatory, to present him
with a corpse hanging on two poles. There is
no rotting that alters his sense of smell, no
other beasts trying to tear him progressively to
pieces, no flies around him either, i.e. he has
no movement. So this lack of movement is
interpreted as something without a soul, as
something without life; but it is not dead
either. How can it be afraid of him, and how
can the Shaman have control over the other
hominid?»
