Theories about Bree's religion and health
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 3:47 pm
Unless she's not as religious as she claims, it seems unlikely Bree subscribes to Thelema. As I understand it, one of the tenets of that tradition is not intentionally circumventing the natural purpose of other forms of life. In contrast, she seemed to very much enjoy killing the water bugs at the riverside in the swimming episode.
Plus, the picture of Crowley over her nightstand seems too likely to be a red herring, and I don't see how the radically altered diet would fit into Thelema or any other neo-Pagan tradition, unless her father insisted she go on some sort of diet because she has a nutritional deficiency, e.g., iron, and he wanted her to build her strength for the ritual.
In fact, focusing on her health for a moment, let's take what Daniel said at face value and assume Bree is taking pills for iron (and let's assume that she had gauze on her arm, because she was given an iron injection). Most meats, dairy products and green vegetables contain more than enough iron. Even if she had gone on some crazy diet for a few days/weeks to prepare for the ritual, I don't think she'd need such radical iron treatment in such a short span of time.
There are, however, countless diseases and disorders that can cause poor absorption of iron, including several types of cancer. If Bree did have cancer, that would explain her constant need for iron supplementation, as well as her father's reluctance to let her get too close to Daniel (particularly if the cancer were terminal), go on a physically taxing hike, etc. (He used to let her spend plenty of time with Daniel alone in her room, so why else would he object to the hike?)
Returning to her religion, I noticed she mentioned the need to memorize a long-dead language for the ritual. I think the most likely culprits here are Latin, Sanskrit and perhaps even a language once spoken by an extinct or dispersed Native American tribe. She may have been referring to Ancient Hebrew or Ancient Arabic, but I tend to doubt it. She made it seem as if it had little contemporary relevance.
Any thoughts?
Plus, the picture of Crowley over her nightstand seems too likely to be a red herring, and I don't see how the radically altered diet would fit into Thelema or any other neo-Pagan tradition, unless her father insisted she go on some sort of diet because she has a nutritional deficiency, e.g., iron, and he wanted her to build her strength for the ritual.
In fact, focusing on her health for a moment, let's take what Daniel said at face value and assume Bree is taking pills for iron (and let's assume that she had gauze on her arm, because she was given an iron injection). Most meats, dairy products and green vegetables contain more than enough iron. Even if she had gone on some crazy diet for a few days/weeks to prepare for the ritual, I don't think she'd need such radical iron treatment in such a short span of time.
There are, however, countless diseases and disorders that can cause poor absorption of iron, including several types of cancer. If Bree did have cancer, that would explain her constant need for iron supplementation, as well as her father's reluctance to let her get too close to Daniel (particularly if the cancer were terminal), go on a physically taxing hike, etc. (He used to let her spend plenty of time with Daniel alone in her room, so why else would he object to the hike?)
Returning to her religion, I noticed she mentioned the need to memorize a long-dead language for the ritual. I think the most likely culprits here are Latin, Sanskrit and perhaps even a language once spoken by an extinct or dispersed Native American tribe. She may have been referring to Ancient Hebrew or Ancient Arabic, but I tend to doubt it. She made it seem as if it had little contemporary relevance.
Any thoughts?