| A | B |
|---|
| Who is the author of Incantation? | Alice Hoffman |
| Where is the Raven from? | a village in Spain called Encaleflora,stands for the lime flower |
| What is the name of her dearest friend that looked like her sister? | Catalina,she was also 16 years old |
| What were their pet names since birth? | She had been called Raven and Catalina had been called Crow |
| What were the soldiers burning in the plaza? | books |
| Where was the crying old man with a red circle on his coat from? | The alajama which is a part of town where Jews lived that some called Juderia |
| What decree did the town council pass? | No Jewish books, no medical books, no magic books |
| Who was Abra? | Her mother who taught her that all people are made from the same dust. She was known for the yarn she sold. |
| Why did her mother warn her to never look at other people's bad fortune? | If you do, it will come back to find you instead of its rightful owner. |
| Who was Joe de Madrigal? | Her grandfather who was a respected teacher. Only the brightest boys from the village came to study with him. |
| Who was Luis? | Her older brother who was studying at the seminary and was her grandfather's favorite. He was a compassionate and kind, a brilliant student. Being at the seminary was an honor, and Luis had past many difficult exams before he was chosen. |
| Why did Abra consider herself to be married for all eternity? | She still wore the emeral ring that her husband had given her on their wedding day |
| Who was Dini? | special pet that hid under the porch away from the noise at the Plaza |
| Who was Carmen? | Raven's grandmother who noticed only what was wrong, never what was right. She called her Senora out of respect but also out of fear. Nothing she did was good enough for her grandmother. |
| Why did Catalina look down on her father? | He was a quiet man, a cobbler who sat beside a pile of boots. A man who fixed other people's shoes was worthless. |
| Who would Catalina marry someday? | her cousin Andres who had come to live with her family when his own parents died of fever. Andres is smart and will take over her father's olive grove and make the family rich. |
| What did Esther's grandmother give her on the evening of the burning in the Plaza? | Since she was now 16, she had given her a perfect strand of pearls. |
| What was Esther's recurring dream? | She was lost in a garden with a gate made out of bones. She was lost and the only thing that remained the same was the garden, lush and emerald green |
| Why wasn't her people allowed to go into the alajama? | You needed to be a person marked with a red circle |
| Where was the Muslim part of town? | on the outskirts, since the Mudejars, like the Jews, were not allowed to live side-by-side with Christians |
| What was the miracle lily? | a flower that grew from true devotion. The doctor's wife's perfect love had turned the lily red when she planted it in the ground and said a blessing over it; now it was once of a kind. |
| What were Moriscos? | Muslim converts but like most Conversos, they still weren't considered equal. |
| Why did Abra put her cards away for a long time? | It told of the future of the Muslim's doctor's wife. Nothing helped to cure the doctor's wife so the one thing left to do was to ask fate what would happen. |
| Why did Abra call the beginning of each lunar month Rosh Hodesh? | It was the time of hope and possibility |
| What was the most important thing that her mother taught her? | It was alright to say no. The power to think my own thoughts and believe in myself. |
| Why did Raven want to name her daughter Angelina? | For little angel, a girl who does everything right and has none of my faults, somebody who could please her grandmother. |
| What was the first time that Raven had lied to Catalina? | When Catalina had asked if she was staring at Andres. |
| What was burkas? | grape leaves filled with feta cheese |
| What was Ladino? | a mix of two languages, Hebrew and Spanish |
| Who was Friar deLeon? | priest from our church (Chapel of All Saints); he had recommended Luis to the seminary and came to our house for dinner. |
| Why was Raven avoiding dinner at Catalina's? | Her stomach hurt because of Catalina. She wasn't quite sure that she knew Catalina down to her soul. |
| How did Luis respond when Raven asked him if he was sure the seminary is what he wanted? | His answer had not meant yes. He stated that he wanted to protect and serve our people. His grandfather wanted this furture for Luis and as a loyal grandson, Luis' life was in their grandfather's hands. |
| What did the day when the arrests began remind Raven of? | the day of the burning books when the air was filled with sparks, when something bad crept out onto the Plaza from the deep, evil place, something so strong that no one could catch it or beat it down or lock it away. |
| Why was the Arrias family arrested? | They were Conversos, New Christians. Their families converted a hundred years ago when the Jews were being expelled from our country. Now they are accused of practicing their religion, of being Marranos. |
| What is a Marrano? | A secret Jew. |
| Who was St. Esther? | She was a queen who had to pretend she was someone other than her truest self in order to save her people. She was so beautiful that the persecutors believed whatever she told them. |
| What was the shadow inside the Aria's house? | Catalina and her mother were going through the drawers on the tall wooden bureau, taking the linens Senora Arrias had stitched. Also, the silverware and candlesticks the family used on Friday nights. |
| What did Catalina ask Raven to give her to seal the promise that she would return the next day for needlepoint lessons? | her pearls |
| What decree went up in the Plaza posted directly across from the well of heaven? | citizens were to report anyone they suspected of being false Christians to the court. If they did not, they themselves might be found guilty of heresy, jailed, and judged. |
| What was the list of ways to tell who was a hidden Jew? | clean clothes on Saturday, light candles on Friday night, fast twice a year, tell stories of Queen Esther, do not eat pork, name children after those in Old Testament, turn in one and share half their property with the court. |
| What did the star on the grave of ther father remind Raven of? | Her name, Estrella. My father's dark star. |
| How did her grandmother deal with the riots in the Plaza? | not go there and not think about it |
| Why did Raven ask her grandmother if she was Esther and the grandmother was Sarah? | She suspected that they were Jews. The grandmother responded that they are Jews and always have been, but the only way for use to survive is to pretend to be something else like marranos (pigs) |
| Why did they tell Luis and not Raven? | They did not want her to carry the burden before she had to. Luis will take over for Friar de Leon someday so he can protect our people. |
| Where did Abra take Raven in the woods? | to a wooden rainwater holder called a mikva, a bath. It was only for women to purify us and make us stronger. All of the women in our church shared our secret; all journeyed here when they came of age. |
| Why didn't their great-great-grandparents leave this place instead of living false lives? | The court took the children when they cast out the Jews. They wouldn't give them back until the people of your great-great-grandparent's time converted. |
| Why wouldn't Catalina give Raven her pearls back? | She claimed that Raven made her take the pearls. She needed them more. Andres went in and returned with her pearls. |
| Why didn't Raven tell Andres that she could not promise herself to him so easily? | because it was less difficult than telling him the truth. |
| Why couldn't Andres and the Raven get married by law? | because Estrella was a hidden Jew not a Christian like he was. By law, they could not marry or share a meal; if they dared to do so, it was heresy, the worst offense imaginable. |
| What did the Muslim boy leave inside the boxes? | The Muslim's doctor's wife had died. Before she passed, she had told her husband to send the chickens to my mother as a gift. |
| Why did people come and go in the middle of the night? | Her grandfather was not only a teacher, he was a surgeon and that was not allowed. |
| What is Kabbalah? | It's a way of reaching out to understand the mysteries of God.It is the only way of learning how to be one with the world. The way of light and knowledge. The ten gates that lead to the garden. The ten mysteries of the tree of life. |
| Why did her grandfather hand her a piece of paper with a name and adress? | This man in Amsterdam can help you get onto a boat. He decided that she would be the one to go. |
| What were the ten gates made of? | crown, wisdom, intelligence, love, judgment, compassion, endurance, majesty, foundation of the world, kingdom |
| What is the tree of life that grows in the garden? | It is truth. It is joining with the force that is the heart of everything. You name the gates, then you go through them. |
| What dream did Estrella have about Catalina? | She was on one side of a gate and she was on the other. She was looking for her, calling out her name but she did not answer. She was falling; all she had to do was to reach out to save her and she didn't. The gate was made of black feathers and she knew that if she moved, the entire gate might fall apart because if was fragile. She stayed where she was and was silent. |
| What did Andres do after Estrella told him the truth about who she was? | he kissed her |
| Who turned in Estrella's grandfather to the court inside the Duke's palace? | Catalina-accused them of having a secret life, a magic school, practiced Judaizing and witchcraft. |
| What crimes were the court charging the grandfather of? | Heresy, judaizing, magic, medicine, murder, blood. They called him a sorcerer. |
| How did the court decide to test whether or not her grandfather was a sorcerer? | They brought out a sausage made of Dini. He spit the pig at them. |
| What did the court give Catalina as a gift for her betrayal? | Estrella's pearls |
| What did the court do to get her grandfather to speak? | arrested her mother |
| How did they kill her grandfather? | They beat him to death with stones and broke his bones one by one. They tried to make him confess but he made no cries and was only silent |
| Why was the green wood being burnt? | to burn everyone in the prison for heresy and let them burn in agony |
| What did Abra throw out the window to her daughter? | A piece of wool with a rotten onion inside and inside that was her emeral ring. |
| What gift did the Muslim doctor offer for her mom? | two tablets made of white powder to let her choose her time so that she flies away from the pain |
| What did Estrella give to Andres to pay for the passage to Amsterdam? | Her mother's emerald form the chain on her neck. It was the one thing that lasted. |
| What did the soldiers do to her brother? | tied him to a wooden post like her mother. |
| What did her mother do with the tablets? | She gave them to Luis so that he could no longer feel the pain. |
| Why did Estrella tell her grandmother that they had to survive? | to remember otherwise everything we were would disappear.Those people we loved would fade as though we never loved them, as if they'd never walked and talked and burned. Forgetting them was the real evil. That was the hole of darkness. |
| What was the thing that freed you and put you in peril? | knowledge |
| What were the ten gates that were there for Estrella? | ashes, bones, grass, heart, stone, love, sorrow, blood, earth, sky |
| What did King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella request in 1492? | All Jews be expelled from Spain, thousands more became Conversos |
