Equiano

Passage: 6.9 While I was in this place a very extraordinary occurrence befell me. I had been told one evening of a wise woman, a Mrs. Davis, who revealed secrets, foretold events, &c. I put little faith in this story at first, as I could not conceive that any mortal could foresee the future disposals of Providence, nor did I believe in any other revelation than that of the Holy Scriptures; however, I was greatly astonished at seeing this woman in a dream that night, though a person I never before beheld in my life; this made such an impression on me, that I could not get the idea the next day out of my mind, and I then became as anxious to see her as I was before indifferent; accordingly in the evening, after we left off working, I inquired where she lived, and being directed to her, to my inexpressible surprise, beheld the very woman in the very same dress she appeared to me to wear in the vision. She immediately told me I had dreamed of her the preceding night; related to me many things that had happened with a correctness that astonished me; and finally told me I should not be long a slave: this was the more agreeable news, as I believed it the more readily from her having so faithfully related the past incidents of my life. She said I should be twice in very great danger of my life within eighteen months, which, if I escaped, I should afterwards go on well; so, giving me her blessing, we parted. After staying here some time till our vessel was loaded, and I had bought in my little traffic, we sailed from this agreeable spot for Montserrat, once more to encounter the raging surfs.

The genre of spiritual autobiography has played a major role in how Equiano fits himself into the world. Equiano’s spiritual narrative was the structure of who he was spiritually and of his physical enslavement. There is an inner conflict in Equiano’s narrative in discovering his physical world as something he has the power to fix, physically. Equiano has to understand his physical reality so that he is able to understand the power of his own physical liberty. Immersing himself in Western Society beliefs omits himself from understanding the inhumane practices of slavery. It is arguably stated that Christianity was proslavery. Christianity brought enslaved Africans a profound sense of hope. In this passage we see that Equiano’s spiritual beliefs is tested when he is met with a psychic Mrs. Davis who had seen in his dream. He did not believe in psychics because those beliefs went against Christianity. In Leviticus 19:31 it asks those who seek wisdom from the bible to not “turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and make yourselves unclean by them…” Since, Equiano had such a huge spiritual disposition with the faith of Christianity, he was still interested in what she had to say. Equiano had the power to be free and whether it was God sending him a message through his dream, he was always protected in some way. If he did not accept this message by the psychic Mrs. Davis, he would not had understood the physical reality of his life as a slave and find a logical way on how to escape this circumstance.

Bibliography:

The Bible: King James Version. Collins, 2008.