WE had come to the wise conclusion that we would fire our slingshots at ‘De wuk man’ just as he began to bathe the (stupid) women who paid him towards whatever lies he told them. So we crept up, aimed for the would-be con man and hit the partly nude girl or lady. We were echoing what adults were gossiping about concerning these affairs. While we were not so far from them, invisible, of course, to the naïve adults. No, I don’t think that children are invisible, nor that when I’m talking (De Big People thing), even in symbolic language, that they understand a different language at that point and aren’t smart enough. My father implored me to understand, which I was eager to embrace, in suspicion of the alternative of lashes.

Big Braff explained that people believe in things because they don’t have choices of other logical answers at the time, just as me and Bogart (a false name) were motivated by hearing gossip conversations we should have never heard, much less come to our conclusions on. I listened attentively because though I didn’t live with the big man, I knew that he had a way of raising the topic of any philosophical lesson he had administered a couple of weeks or so later on a visit. If you didn’t remember what you said and had agreed to, you then would get a few thumps.

I developed as a teenager a stay-far attitude for mysticism and religion, though for some reason, I liked reading the Bible. With prayer, I had adjusted on doing research for a Sci-Fi project.

When I read about the research done by Harold Burr on the concept of ‘Human energy Fields,’ It did sound way out, but what if…? Human civilisation is young . Theories come and go. There is logic in human feelings, and sensitivity, especially when a rejection of a decision is imposed upon. Like a one-time acquaintance who was asleep and was awakened and coerced to go for a drive and ended up in a fatal accident, more than one colleague has mentioned someone who had a similar fate since that sad event years ago. Perhaps we should caution both friends and family about holding to that prevailing feeling. If the time comes, the stronger feeling might be the right decision, so there can be links to a prevailing energy field that influences us.

The concept of Human Energy Fields revolves around the ancient idea that humans have a vital force that, if weakened or damaged, allows disease to invade the body in most cases, to which earth and natural cleansers and selected foods can reverse. Science has not accepted the idea of Human Energy Fields, though it cannot identify why it cannot be possible. What has worked for us individually, is a sense to ‘feel.’ Sometimes we meet a complete stranger and are cautious, thus the statement “I ent too comfortable wid he/she” there must be some attribute that explains premonitions and what I’ve evolved from youthful understanding as reading “The Vibe.”

The closest experience to identifying this unique sense of pre judgement, lies in the culture of proverbs and sayings that exist in the mainly Afro-Guyanese community I grew up in were prevalent. There were no long lectures, for example: “Bway dem people who like Wuk man house, he find house fuh earthbound Jumbie in dem” and this is contrasted by “ Nawh because people turn up ah Church every Sunday, mean deh nawh mock God in deh ways.” Or this popular one said to young ladies on principled behaviour, before engaging suspicious relationships ”Pickney born ah chamber, mus’ come out ah hall” and as my old man warned me, “nawh because man got beard like Moses mean he heart clean, some evil man reach old age too yuh know”. If you can put your hand on ‘RANDAM REMARKS ON CREOLESE’ BY C A Yansen-2nd Edition 1993, that would be a good cultural buy. But like my father’s remarks, that I am sure are his IPR renditions. I recognise that what proverbs do, is force the mind to define their meanings, which never leaves but remains in the sub-conscious, and the sub-conscious is a prevalent influence, in the defiance of peer pressure and one’s own callous impulses, when the unique situations of temptation as a way out rises, the argument with the teachings and the urges of badness. But in many cases, regret and redemption can be guided by the resources of wisdom planted within.

In closing, there are always the cries that these days are the last days, that’s why things happening like this. Examine who you allow to influence your children, begin with your own siblings. Examine what you’re doing, if anything? True, you will not be in control of every mind you raise. To be conservative, our genetics go back over a few 100-to-1,000 years. Families only talk about the socially safe and allowed to be applauded ones. Still, there are devils, too, no one talks about. Some exist in cultural content and values in the very admired and applauded. At least give them the arsenal of logic to debate the world around them and us. Selected Books are a good start, with the annoying everyday proverb.