This morning Mambo C and I finally set a date to meet on Wednesday afternoon. I am very excited and a little nervous. Excited because I have so many questions. Nervous because this is very important to me. Not too nervous, though. I have a very positive impression of the Mambo from her emails.
Also, I may be a little closer to verifying the identity of the old woman spirit who my friend Angel sensed near me. On Sunday I tried one of the simpler readings with the Buckland tarot deck: the 12-card astrological circle spread. My question was about the identity of the old woman.
I’m not going to describe the entire reading here, as that would be tedious for me to write and for others to read. But here are what I consider the significant highlights:
Th first card represents the querent (in this case, me). It was the 4 of Chivs, which indicates a “colorless” person with deep desires that, along with his feelings, he keeps well hidden.
The third card represents education, communication, and short journeys. It was the Knight of Koros (Cups), which can indicate a message, invitation or proposition. I was recently invited to a Fet Gede, which could mean significant progress in my Vodou studies.
The ninth card represents religion, philosophy, spirituality, long journeys. It was the Hierophant, reversed, which can indicate unconventionality, unorthodoxy, and openness to new ideas. I have never really been a conventional anything, so it will be interesting to see how this Vodou journey turns out. Some practitioners I’ve encountered tend to be rather rigid in their beliefs, and I am very non-rigid. In the Buckland deck, the hierophant is portrayed as a blacksmith shoeing a horse. This is interesting because, in Vodou, a possessed person is referred to as a horse. When a lwa possesses a person, they are “riding the horse.”
The twelfth card represents secrets, secret friends, secret enemies, and is also the last card in the spread, which I take to represent the answer to the question. It was number 11 of the Major Arcana, Justice. In the Buckland deck, justice is represented by the Romani kris, the Gypsy Court of Justice. I didn’t really see how this related to the identity of the old lady, but I’m learning to step back and wait when things do not immediately make sense.
This morning I was reading a Vodou discussion board, where one of the members referred to Baron Samedi as a judge. In Kenaz Filan’s The Haitian Vodou Handbook, the Baron’s wife Maman Brigitte is described as “the consummate judge, and those who have been wronged will often go to her cairn of stones seeking justice.” In the Buckland tarot, the High Priestess (which so closely resembles the spirit that Angel saw) is described as “the arbitrator of disputes,” in other words, a judge. The name Brigitte is similar to the impression that Angel had of the old woman’s name (see post “Lwa connections“):
Angel: It’s almost like Rita.. but not.. just has that sound in it . . . I think there is a sound before that. Something ITA . . . the name definitly had that ITA sound. Or RITA. Not sure and something in front of it.
I’m not feeling one hundred percent certain that it was her, but it’s possible. This may turn out to follow the general pattern of my connecting with the lwas: They make contact, either I or someone close to me correctly guesses their identity, I second-guess the information, and then it turns out to be correct. Time will tell, but I do have a sort of pre-existing fondness for the Baron and his wife. At this point in time, I’m not sure how many model skulls and skeletons I own.
The Hermit's Journey 