Sometimes I have a tendency to write separate comments for a specific scene of an episode. The bone reading is one of those scenes that attracted me and that I enjoyed watching. The TV adaptation clarified something not apparently defined in Dragonfly in Amber: talking to bones. When I wrote my reread post about Raymond’s ossuary, I came close to interpreting it. I was not able to decipher it fully, but I was on the right track when I made a guess of what could it be. This post details what both the TV adaptation and Chapter 16, book 2, reveal.
At the beginning of the episode, Claire experiences a poisoning attempt. Fortunately, it turns out to be bitter cascara instead of poison. The person who comes to her mind first is St. Germain, who most likely holds a grudge against her for the destruction of his cargo in Episode 201. As a result, Claire looks for Master Raymond, who sells bitter cascara instead of poison to his customers. He tells her that usually the servants do the purchase for the nobles making it impossible for him to trace the person responsible for the attempt. Their conversation is interrupted by Master Raymond’s “African” employee. She notifies them that they are being watched. Then Raymond leads Claire to a “safe place,” his ossuary. He reveals that the King is not fond of the occult. The ossuary includes a collection of different types of bones, even of extinct species. Raymond notices that there is something worrying Claire. She tells him she is concerned about Frank’s future. Raymond proceeds in doing a bone reading, using sheep knuckles. He tells Claire that she and Frank will meet again even though he cannot see his fate. Of course, Claire’s face reveals her astonishment about this news. Raymond gives her a necklace with an opal for free (I enjoyed watching him wink at Claire). He says that the gemstone changes color in the presence of poison. In the books, Raymond also tells her that the gemstone is for her protection, implying what Voyager reveals about them in regards to time-traveling.
Here are my observations regarding this scene.
- The Ancient Celts used to practice animism. Raymond is one of them. Traditional societies with animistic beliefs practice divination. It seems that bone reading is a skill that Raymond learned in his own time.
- Another possibility is that he could have been in Africa. His employee has the look. Claire even mentions that she has seen a similar procedure in Africa while traveling with her uncle. Some cultures of Africa still practice divination using not only bones but other objects: African Divination. The use of bones is not culture-specific. The Shang Dynasty used bone oracles to contact the spirit of ancestors and predict the future.
- The TV adaptation hints that Claire might evolve the gift of bone reading or fortune-telling. At this stage, she could be a considered an oracle due to the knowledge she has from the twentieth century.
- Readers tend to think (that includes me) that every time that bones are mentioned that they represent a charm. This episode has made it clear that bones can be used to “communicate” with the spiritual realm. I would also like to add what Phaedre in a later book tells Claire: her grandmother used to talk to bones to get information about the future.
Of note are the differences between book 2 and this episode in regards to this scene. I wrote a post about two weeks ago about Raymond’s ossuary. Here is the link: Raymond’s Ossuary. I will include only those references that are relevant to this post. When I read Dragonfly in Amber‘s Chapter 16 for the first time, I noticed there was a hidden meaning in the bones. I could not tell what it was at that point. In my reread post, I decided to make a guess based on the knowledge that I acquired in a socio-cultural anthropology course many years ago. Raymond relates:
“Well, they are company, of a sort, while I pursue my work.” . . . “And while they may talk to me of many things, they are not so noisy as to attract the attention of the neighbors. . .”
The notion that inanimate objects, in this case, bones, talk is related to animism, a hint that Raymond is probably an ancient Celt. The bones have spirits that communicate with him. Of interest is the fact that Claire might evolve the ability to communicate with inanimate objects (cut and paste from my other post):
. . . “I feel a good deal more sympathy with our friend the elk.” I patted the high jutting nose with some affection.
“Sympathy?” The soft black eyes regarded me curiously. “It is an unusual emotion to feel for a bone, madonna.”
“Well . . . yes,” I said, slightly embarrased, “but they don’t seem like just bones, you know. I mean, you can tell something about them, and get a feeling for what the animal was like, looking at these. They aren’t just inanimate objects.”
It seems that this trait of perceiving the soul of inanimate objects is inherited. I tend to suspect that this gift helps Claire to determine the manner of death while holding Geillis’s skull in Voyager without the use of any scientific approach.
Finally, I would like to share a link to a blogger who considers herself an animist. She includes pictures of bones in the following post. She talks about the spirits inhabiting them. I think she uses Scottish Gaelic at the end of her post.
I will be writing a second post about “La Dame Blanche.” It will be published tomorrow night.
All images are from Outlander-Online.
Sources
Gabaldon, Diana. Dragonfly in Amber. New York: Bantam Dell, 1993. Print.