In the Arms of Immortals

by Ginger Garrett

  I think book three will be, by far, the most difficult book to write in the series. But it is my belief that we are indeed “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” These women of our past are waiting for us to make courageous, dangerous decisions … or suffer again as they did.

  4. Did you exaggerate the symptoms of the plague? It seems that people died very quickly. Were you just in a hurry to finish the book?

  Eyewitness accounts claim victims could die within a matter of minutes. Many stories were of a plague victim walking down the street, and if someone went out to meet them, the healthy person died within minutes of contact. Some historians and scientists refuse to believe these claims, for the claims do not fit our modern beliefs of the plague.

  We also assume past generations were not as smart as we are. (This applies to the Bible as well. Although the books that compose the Bible were written by eyewitnesses, we refuse to believe what they tell us because it doesn’t fit our modern beliefs.)

  One question I try to ask myself as I research is, “What if it is all true? What if those eyewitnesses were right, and some died within minutes?” We would be able to immediately rule out all the plagues we know, which take much, much longer to kill. We would be left with no explanation … and we are of an age that cannot bear to live without explanation.

  Which was, for me, the greatest problem of the Black Death and this novel: the question of why? Why did God allow a plague to sweep in and decimate the world? We often hear the estimate that the Black Death killed up to half of Europe. That’s true, but we should also say that the plague wiped out a huge number of people all over the world, including Africa, the Middle East, the Far East, and even remote frozen islands. Why would God allow that? Was He mad? After all, every plague mentioned in the Bible was associated with a divine punishment for bad behavior. God had set a precedent of sending plague as punishment.

  When the plague struck, everyone asked, “Why?” They immediately began pointing fingers. The Jews, in particular, were blamed. Thank God, the wise Pope spoke out against this belief and ordered that Jews be left unharmed. (But he was unable to stop many mass murders.) I can only begin to explain this violence when I remember the AIDS epidemic at its beginning. The hate and violent speech directed at gays stunned me. Those claiming to be Christians said they “knew” as a biblical certainty that God had sent AIDS to punish gay people. (Children were dying, too, but this was conveniently ignored. Was God mad at them or did His divine wrath just have a scattershot pattern?)

  So much damage is done by Christians when we attempt to answer the question of why. No answer suffices, no words can heal that wound. It is a sacred suffering.

  Perhaps if God gave us answers, we would find comfort in them instead of Him. How many senseless words are spoken at bedsides and funerals? “It was God’s will.” “This was God’s plan.” “Everything happens for a reason.” We find comfort in them and we shouldn’t. There may be a truth in those statements, but none of them is the whole Truth. We have to find comfort in the mystery of God, and there are no human words that can reach into that place and illuminate it.

  We were not created with minds that allow us to comprehend the ultimate answer, yet God left us with the capacity to question. That’s the mystery in itself, I guess.

  5. You say the Black Death was the death of the angels. How did you see this reflected in art from the period?

  In the art that was created after the Black Death, Christ became more “human.” Crucifixes began to show a suffering Christ, a God in pain who was naked and bleeding. Christ was still portrayed as divine and “untouchable” in many paintings, with gold and illuminating light, but we now needed to emotionally connect with His suffering. Art also began to show Death walking among the living, walking with priests, menacing unsuspecting women from dark shadowy corners. A fascination with demons crept onto our canvases, while angels went from strong, sizable defenders to chubby babies who could barely hold their heads up, much less carry a sword.

  Art from this period has profoundly impacted our spiritual lives today. We still picture angels as sweet, innocuous beings, while we imagine demons as powerful creatures to be feared. We are out of balance.

  6. How long does it take to write a novel?

  I don’t know. I’ve never written one. I have, however, written a lot of sentences. I write one sentence, and then do this over and over, day after day, until I find I have filled up hundreds of pages. Then I begin deleting sentences, one by one, over and over, day after day, until I find I have deleted dozens of pages. Then I send it to my editor and bury myself face first in a plate of chocolates.

  If I begin thinking about writing an entire novel, I’ll choke from stress. Novels are big undertakings. But sentences? I can write those.

  Discussion Questions

  1. The plague was merciless. Suffering was extreme. Everyone was in anguish. Why do you think a merciful God would allow this suffering? How can we call God merciful when thousands, or millions, are brutalized?

  2. How can we learn to live without answers? Does this make us fools or faithful? Explain your answer.

  3. What are we to do with the anguish we feel when we (or those we love) are victimized without reason and there is no justice to be had on earth?

  4. Only Lazarro, as priest, was allowed to hear confession and give last rites (Last Unction). As the plague progressed, the pope allowed all women to assume this role too. Priests could not attend to all the dying, so women were allowed to comfort others in the name of Christ. This was the first time women were allowed to speak in God’s name to a dying world. Why was this moment important in women’s history? Do you see any ripple effects of this decision down through the ages and in society today? If so, name a few.

  5. What does it mean to be healed? Is it only physical, or is there more to it? Do you believe there can be total healing on earth? Why or why not?

  6. In his final scene, Del Grasso tells Gio to never ask the question “Why?” Instead, ask the question “How?” In your life, have you ever been tangled up in the question of why? If so, tell the story. In what way(s) have you let go of the whys and started exploring the hows? “How, then, shall you live?” (Bonus points for anyone who can find the Scripture verse that inspired this line!)

  7. The Black Death was called “the death of the angels.” It was the time when the Age of Fear began. Which rules your life: faith or fear? Why? Why is it easier to respond to a crisis out of fear, rather than out of faith?

  8. If you could change the ending to In the Arms of Immortals, which two people would be alive and married to each other at the end of the story? Why would you choose this ending?

  9. If you could go back in time and witness any event in history, what would it be and why?

  10. If you could talk to your guardian angel, what questions would you want to ask?

  How to Survive the Black Death

  From my research,

  I have collected the following helpful household hints:

  Breathe only good air.

  Inhale deeply the fumes of urine and excrement, preferably straight from a sewer.

  Practice moderation in food and drink.

  Avoid lovemaking.

  Eat no fruit.

  Eat only fruit and vegetables.

  Think happy thoughts.

  Avoid stress.

  Build a circle of fire and stay within its center.

  Whip yourself until you bleed (if you punish yourself first, perhaps God won’t have to).

  Pray, especially to Saint Sebastian.

  Elevate your bed.

  Bleed a pint of blood out.

  Balance your humours.

  Analyze your urine by smell to select a proper remedy.

  Check your pulse—avoid a racing heart.

  Send someone else to run your erran
ds.

  If none of these methods appeals to you,

  do what many people in the plague did:

  abandon all caution, reason, and morals.

  Eat, drink, and be merry …

  for there is no escaping the Black Death.

  Careers That Pay Well During the Black Death

  • Trench digger

  • Body hauler

  • Body inspector (often elderly women, these inspectors were in charge of looking at corpses and determining what had killed them)

  • Guard (to keep the enforced quarantine and prevent looting)

  • Quack physician

  • Quack spiritual adviser

  • Quack supernaturalist (to help you chat with the deceased, in case the dead forgot to tell you where the will is)

  • Lawyer (any surprise there? Estates must be settled, deeds must be transferred, etc.)

  • Thief and looter

  • Messenger and personal assistant (the rich could afford to send servants out into the plagued masses, and thereby reduce their own exposure)

  • Celebrity chef (because herbs and spices are powerful medicine, the rich and famous must hire the best chef in town, who knows how to season food both for taste and health)

  The Medieval Herbalist’s Medical Kit

  As a medieval medical professional there are a few items you must keep about your person. I’ve listed those below.

  Where noted, you will find a few medieval remedies that are still regarded as beneficial. Note, however: these are medieval medicines and not for modern use. If you try a remedy against my wishes and die a gruesome death, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

  Now, for those who love to reenact medieval life, if you want a medieval career in medicine, you have some choices to make. You may prefer surgery to the healing arts, but you should know that surgeons were regarded as crude tradesmen who cut and sliced, rather than practicing the more sophisticated form of medicine: healing. Also, specialists were seen as rather dull-minded. A truly great healer could treat any condition. If you specialized in one area of disease or the body, it was because you lacked the talent to treat anything else.

  Medieval medicine relied on the certain truth that the human body was controlled by humours and crafted out of the elements. As such, we are all composed of earth, fire, water, and wind. (Authors are all wind.) These elements translate roughly in the humours that control us:

  Sanguine: associated with the element Wind and the bodily fluid of blood. These people are, accordingly, flighty and free, blown easily in new directions. Sanguine humours are both wet and hot. If a patient is too sanguine, treat with dry, cold herbs.

  Choleric: associated with the element of Fire and the bodily fluid of yellow bile. These patients are fiery, sometimes sour and caustic, but always interesting. If an excess of bile is suspected, treat your patient with herbs to induce a cooler, wetter body environment.

  Melancholic: associated with the element of Earth and the bodily fluid of black bile. Although black bile had never been seen, and doesn’t actually exist, they needed a fluid to associate with Earth. Black bile tends to shift around the body, much like Hippocrates believed a woman’s uterus tended to do. When the uterus got lodged in our brain, we suffered from “menstrual derangement.”

  When black bile accumulates around the brain, a patient will have muddled thinking. Black bile around the heart brings depression. Melancholics are given to morbid reflections, excessive sensitivities, and composing poetry. Melancholic patients need herbs to introduce more warmth and moisture. Again, black bile has never been discovered in the body. However, scientists needed a rational explanation for the existence of poets.

  Phlegmatic: Associated with the bodily fluid of phlegm and the element of Water. Phlegm, as you might expect, is wet and cold. A patient suffering from an excess of phlegm needs dry heat supplied through your cures. Since phlegm has a reputation for being, well, nasty, the medievalists tried to associate a few positive traits with it. Such as, phlegm is always there when you need it. (So phlegmatics make loyal friends.) However, the appearance of phlegm (or a phlegmatic) is well known to put a damper on a party, so phlegmatics are shy. Phlegm rarely changes throughout your life. Phlegmatics may have a hard time with change and prefer a predictable routine. This can make them dependable companions, however.

  Basic Ingredients to Keep on Hand

  • Coarse salt: good for use as toothpaste. Also used in washing newborn babies. (Wine was used to wash newborns as well.)

  • Jasper stone: good for “diabolical dreams.” Jasper stone was not ingested but used as an amulet.

  • Valerian root: good for insomnia, especially when added to a cup of warm wine. (Valerian is still used today for insomnia. You can find it as the main ingredient in herbal sleep preparations.)

  • Cinnamon: excellent all-around spice for balancing cold, wet humours. Wonderful for sinus infections. Today we know cinnamon is also good for supporting healthy blood-sugar levels.

  • Onions: cut into slices and stuff down your stockings when you have a cold.

  • Hyssop: good for those with liver disease.

  • Fennel: a good all-purpose remedy. Fennel can be added, whole or crushed, into boiling water to make a tea. This tea is useful for digestive disorders, fevers, infections, and pain. (Modern herbalists swear by this remedy. Fennel tea is available at all major grocery stores.)

  • Sage: if you have a “rotten stench” emanating from your body, snort some dried sage. If it doesn’t work, you won’t be able to smell yourself anyway. Sage, when boiled into a tea, is also good for arthritis.

  • Thyme: wonderful when both eaten and applied to skin for skin ailments.

  • Parsley: used for chest pain and fevers, when boiled. Made into a poultice (paste), parsley can be applied to joints afflicted with arthritis. It is also recommended for “menstrual derangement.”

  • Black tea: useful for curing diarrhea, especially when taken with cooked apples. (This remedy is still recommended today by natural healers, and many would attest that it works.)

  Art Supplies

  Many herbalists also collected raw materials to use in pigments for the great church paintings in progress all over Europe. So, as you collect your herbs, keep an eye out for supplies, including:

  • Lapis lazuli and azurite: can be finely ground for blue pigment.

  • Malachite: used for green/yellow pigments.

  • Turmeric and cumin: to create gorgeous gold hues.

  • Dirt: if the dirt has an interesting color, as the earth in Italy does, take some with you.

  • Bones: when bones are burned for hours, you can scrape the black powder off them to make a rich black pigment.

  Bibliography/Suggested Reading

  Images of Plague and Pestilence

  By Christine M. Boeckl

  2000, Truman State University Press

  Kirksville, Missouri

  The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devasting Plague of All Time

  By John Kelly

  2006, Harper Perennial, New York

  Medieval Sicily: The First Absolute State

  By Henry Barbera

  2000, Legas Publishing, New York

  Return of the Black Death: The World’s Greatest Serial Killer

  By Susan Scott and Christopher Duncan

  2005, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, West Sussex, England

  After the Black Death: A Social History of Early Modern Europe

  By George Huppert

  1998, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana

  Medieval Art

  By Marilyn Stokstad

  2004, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado

  The Power to Heal: Ancient Arts and Modern Med
icine

  By Rick Smolan, Phillip Moffitt, Matthew Naythons

  1990, Prentice Hall Press, New York

  About the Author

  Ginger Garrett is the critically acclaimed author of Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther, which was recognized as one of the top five novels of 2006 by the ECPA; Dark Hour; and Beauty Secrets of the Bible. In the Arms of Immortals is book two of the historical fiction trilogy Chronicles of the Scribe.

  Ginger creates novels and nonfiction resources that explore the lives of historical women. A frequent media guest and television host, Ginger has been interviewed by The New York Times, Fox News, National Public Radio, Billy Graham’s The Hour of Decision, The Harvest Show, and many other outlets.

  In 2007, Ginger was nominated for the Georgia Author of the Year Award for her novel Dark Hour. A graduate of Southern Methodist University with a degree in theater, she is passionate about creating art from history. You can learn more about Ginger and her work by visiting www.gingergarrett.com.

  For more information about the Chronicles of the Scribe series, visit the Web site dedicated to the books and to the world of medievalists: www.ChroniclesoftheScribe.com.

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