Page 55 of Girl Between
This is why I came here, she reminded herself.
Grief was a mountain. The only way to summit was through grace and space.
Looking around at the room full of strangers, she realized she’d managed to find space. Perhaps grace would follow.
53
Dana followedCadie and the rest of the women into a small shed-like building at the rear of the property—a prayer room, she realized. She and the other women each carried armfuls of Kremas, placing the bottles at the base of a large wooden pillar in the center of the room. As they did so, they bowed and placed their hands on the pillar, reciting praise to “Manman.”
Dana knew it was the word formotherin Voodoo culture.
Marjorie George stood proudly watching her daughters and sisters. Dana couldn’t help but admire the woman. She was a commanding matriarch in every way, yet her hospitality toward outsiders went above and beyond. Dana couldn’t express how grateful she was. Not just for the rare glimpse into the potomitan ceremony, but for being included.
Despite her efforts not to, she’d longed for a family ever since losing her own. Pushing the painful thought away, she focused instead on the opportunity before her.
Dana had researched a great deal about Voodoo culture during her tenure as an occult historian at the Smithsonian. She may have come to New Orleans to continue her research in vampirism, but she wouldn’t be the leading expert in her field if she passed up anopportunity to witness the intimate inner workings of a practicing Voodoo priestess.
There was no doubt in Dana’s mind that Marjorie George was the group’smanbo.
The rest of the women knelt around her as she moved to the center of the room to stand next to the pillar. Dana followed suit, kneeling on the floor between Cadie and her sister, Rose. Once the women settled into a circle around the wooden pillar, the room fell silent.
It was obvious they were waiting for something, but Dana wasn’t sure what. It gave her time to appraise the space she sat in.
The ounfò, or prayer room, was simple. Bare wooden walls, studs still exposed, revealing it had been a late addition to the 19thcentury shotgun style home. There was one window, shutters thrown open, to allow the fading sunlight in. The glass panes had been opened as well, a practice, she knew, meant to invite the lwa in.
Dana had always been fascinated by the lwa, or spiritual deities, Voodoo devotees served. From her understanding, it was a rewarding relationship between the living and the dead, in which the lwa were served with love, respect, and fear in return for blessings and protection.
Next to the bottles of Kremas was an assortment of lidded rattan baskets around the base of the central pillar, which most likely held offerings and prayers from the women in the room.
The heady smell of incense and wax bore evidence that the room was used often and not just for grand ceremonies like this one. Dana’s gaze was fixed on the intricate carvings on the pillar. Keeping with tradition, it was decorated with a beautiful spiraling snake, a symbol meant to connect earth with the heavens, hence the serpent, stretching from floor to ceiling, creating a magical axis allowing the lwa to ascend or descend as needed.
Voodoo often got a bad rap; misconstrued as a violent sacrificial cult thanks to cinematic folly melding sensationalized witchcraft and other supernatural phenomena with the generally peaceful religious sect. Being here to witness Cadie’s pre-wedding ritual furtherreinforced the importance of Dana’s work. Bringing to light that which was made dark.
This was nothing more than a cultural pre-wedding blessing circle.
The women took turns sharing blessings, affirmations, and anecdotes about the couple. Cadie glowed as she silently received each gracious sanctification. In a way it was very similar to the widely accepted tradition of family and friends making speeches and toasting a couple at their nuptials.
Looking around the room only reignited Dana’s passion to continue her work to ensure these women could practice ceremonies like this in peace and without ridicule.
As suspected, the sun was the cue they’d been waiting for. It dipped low enough to fill the room with golden light, illuminating the etchings on the wooden pillar. The carved serpent seemed to glow with life as the sunlight flooded it. All at once the women fell silent, linked hands, then began to chant.
Dana let Cadie and Rose pull her into the rhythm as Marjorie opened a large leather-bound bible and placed it at the base of the pillar, signaling another part of the ceremony had begun. Dana watched the priestess flip through the fragile pages until they stopped, revealing the true treasure inside.
Dana stifled a gasp as she realized what she was witnessing.
A poison bible in the flesh!
The ingenious manuscripts had been devised to hide tiny vials of herbs and tinctures vital to Voodoo practitioners during a time when their beliefs were persecuted. The practice of hiding such belongings dated back to precolonial witchcraft, further linking the two occult beliefs.
In her line of work Dana had only seen two such poison bibles, and never one so well preserved or in practice. They were highly guarded and often buried with the priest or priestess who wielded them as offerings to their lwa.
Dana was so enthralled with the occult relic she hadn’t noticed that one of the offering baskets had been opened until the serpentinside slithered out. Its obsidian scales caught the fading sunlight, drawing Dana’s attention. The snake wrapped its corded muscles around the pillar, its tongue darting out to taste the air as it climbed.
Once the reptile made a full rotation, it paused, locking eyes with Dana. She held her breath as it seemed to assess her, pondering its next move. She watched the creature look between Dana, Cadie and Rose. All the while Dana told herself the snake wasn’t targeting them, but that notion became harder to ignore when the beast abandoned its leisurely trip around the pillar to slither directly toward them.
Dana willed herself to remain still, the faint childhood echo of her father’s words filling her mind.Don’t show fear.
But the antiquated notion evaporated the moment the snake began to gather itself to strike. Cadie squeezed Dana’s hand, but she didn’t find the reassurance she needed in the face of such danger. Reptiles were not Dana’s field of expertise. She had no way of knowing if the creature coiling before her was friend or foe.
