French writer and traveler, Jean-Marie Gustave Leclezio was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2008 as “an explorer of the essence of man outside and within the dominant civilization.” Several years spent among the Indians of Central America influenced, by Leklesio’s own admission, all of his work and his very way of thinking. The result was the book “The Feast of Spells” - an attempt to find in the mysticism of the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica answers to the eternal questions of existence and the challenges of today.* * *A romantic and humanist, Leclezio lived for several years among the Indians of Central America. These years influenced all of his work and his very way of thinking, which resulted in the “Festival of Spells” - reflections on Mesoamerican civilization, on the bright and cruel mythological history of once powerful and prosperous peoples, of which today only names and fragmentary mentions in the chronicles of the conquest are often preserved . This book is “a study of the essence of man outside and inside civilization,” for which the writer was awarded the Nobel Prize.* * *The spirits skipped and flew, the sound of their steps merging with the noise of foliage lashing the ground. But then the singing becomes louder and louder, the voice becomes incredibly thin - in such falsetto they sing in other worlds. Haibana dances near the house, walking around the patient and the gifts brought, stamping her feet, shuddering, her face grimacing in the glow of the oil lamps. In his features, replacing each other, flash tenderness, bordering on voluptuousness, and threat, and crying. All other participants move in the dance behind the sorcerer, their bodies follow the rhythm of the melody, where gradually the sounds of “shiru” - flutes, each of which sings a single note.* * *Original title: J.M.G. LE CLEZJOLA FÊTE CHANTÉE. Et autres essais de thème amérindieri