The Trembling of the Veil, Book III. Hodos Chameliontos, Summary and Analysis

Yeats found a sponsor in his uncle in Sligo. The uncle was a traditional-minded man who did not like talk of the obscene or radical politics. However, the uncle was quite knowledgeable in the mystics because of his second-sighted servant, Mary Battle. Yeats taught his uncle about cabbalistic symbols. When Yeats would work with his uncle, it would often be at night while Mary Battle slept. However, Mary would always wake having seen the same symbol the men were working on during the night. Sometimes when the story told by the symbol was complex, each of the three would see a different symbol, and together it would make a bigger story.

These episodes often left Yeats with many questions that he would discuss...