said you agreed to conduct a wedding
ceremony for me and Gualter. He's heard a lot about you."
"I'd be happy to do a wedding ceremony for you and your fiancée. Do
you understand that I will require you and Gualter to meet with me a couple of
times before the ceremony?" Granny had emphasized that it was a religious
ceremony; therefore, a mambo had a responsibility to ensure the participants understood
the commitment they were making.
"Yes, Mambo. Can we meet with you later this week?" She sounded
like a little girl in a candy store asking for her favorite sweets. I got out
my appointment book and arranged for a seven p.m. appointment on Friday. She
bounced out the door, smiling.
Later that day, I sold several gris-gris bags. I kept several cloth bags
of various colors and a chart showing the ingredients for each effect the buyer
wanted. For example:
For luck—four leaf clovers and herbs such as daffodil, Devil's
shoestring, galangal, grains of Paradise, holly, huckleberry, Irish moss, and ivy.
For spirituality—crosses, saints'
medals, and herbs such as cinnamon, iris, yerba santa, and wood aloes.
And, for prophetic dreams (used in
your sleep pillow), herbs such as chamomile, jasmine, lavender, marigold, nutmeg,
peppermint, St. John's wort, and clary sage.
By keeping herbs and items such as
crosses, the customer could use the chart to fill his or her bag with the
appropriate items. Most customers didn't take it seriously but thought of it as
an interesting souvenir from New Orleans. It frequently resulted in selling
herbs to help with some condition or other.
* * *
Elva and Gualter arrived a few minutes early.
"Mambo Renee, this is my fiancée Gualter. Gualter, this is Mambo Renee,"
Elva said as I opened the door.
"It's nice to meet you, Gualter. Y’all come on in and have a seat at
the table." Before I could advise the couple, I had to find out a little
about them. "How long have y’all known each other?"
With my encouragement, they spent the next hour talking about themselves.
They had met three years ago at Elva's high school graduation. Gualter had come
with a friend who had a sister who was graduating from the same class. Over the
next two years they only saw each other a few times a week, mostly on Saturday
and Sunday. They had only started going steady the past year and had been
having frequent sex for the past six months. Gualter had a job at a packing
plant and was a regular member of Houngan Olabisi's congregation. Elva hadn't been a regular attendee of any
services, but had gotten interested since she met Gualter.
"Alright, I think that is enough for tonight. I'd like you to attend
my biweekly ceremonies, so I can get to know you better and for you to know if Vodou
is for you and whether you want to belong to my congregation. We'll meet next
Friday at the same time."
"What do you charge, Mambo?" Gualter asked.
"I don't charge for counseling you or the wedding ceremony. If you
want, you can give me a donation either at the biweekly meetings or before or
after the wedding ceremony." It wasn't the Vodou way to charge for our
services. A true mambo existed to help people, not to make money. Of course, we
needed money to help pay for the expense connected with conducting some of the
services. I felt good about our first meeting. I had learned a lot about them,
which would help me guide them to understand marriage was more than sex.
* * *
I met with the couple several times over the next six weeks. They planned
to have a baby soon after they married, so I asked them to prepare a budget.
They were to calculate their current salaries separately, then estimate the
amount for rent, food, transportation, clothes, etc. The first time I reviewed
it, I had them add items they had overlooked and revise some of the estimates that
were obviously way too low. The last time we met the budget looked reasonable
if they could stick to it and no emergencies occurred. So we added a small
amount as saving for
ceremony for me and Gualter. He's heard a lot about you."
"I'd be happy to do a wedding ceremony for you and your fiancée. Do
you understand that I will require you and Gualter to meet with me a couple of
times before the ceremony?" Granny had emphasized that it was a religious
ceremony; therefore, a mambo had a responsibility to ensure the participants understood
the commitment they were making.
"Yes, Mambo. Can we meet with you later this week?" She sounded
like a little girl in a candy store asking for her favorite sweets. I got out
my appointment book and arranged for a seven p.m. appointment on Friday. She
bounced out the door, smiling.
Later that day, I sold several gris-gris bags. I kept several cloth bags
of various colors and a chart showing the ingredients for each effect the buyer
wanted. For example:
For luck—four leaf clovers and herbs such as daffodil, Devil's
shoestring, galangal, grains of Paradise, holly, huckleberry, Irish moss, and ivy.
For spirituality—crosses, saints'
medals, and herbs such as cinnamon, iris, yerba santa, and wood aloes.
And, for prophetic dreams (used in
your sleep pillow), herbs such as chamomile, jasmine, lavender, marigold, nutmeg,
peppermint, St. John's wort, and clary sage.
By keeping herbs and items such as
crosses, the customer could use the chart to fill his or her bag with the
appropriate items. Most customers didn't take it seriously but thought of it as
an interesting souvenir from New Orleans. It frequently resulted in selling
herbs to help with some condition or other.
* * *
Elva and Gualter arrived a few minutes early.
"Mambo Renee, this is my fiancée Gualter. Gualter, this is Mambo Renee,"
Elva said as I opened the door.
"It's nice to meet you, Gualter. Y’all come on in and have a seat at
the table." Before I could advise the couple, I had to find out a little
about them. "How long have y’all known each other?"
With my encouragement, they spent the next hour talking about themselves.
They had met three years ago at Elva's high school graduation. Gualter had come
with a friend who had a sister who was graduating from the same class. Over the
next two years they only saw each other a few times a week, mostly on Saturday
and Sunday. They had only started going steady the past year and had been
having frequent sex for the past six months. Gualter had a job at a packing
plant and was a regular member of Houngan Olabisi's congregation. Elva hadn't been a regular attendee of any
services, but had gotten interested since she met Gualter.
"Alright, I think that is enough for tonight. I'd like you to attend
my biweekly ceremonies, so I can get to know you better and for you to know if Vodou
is for you and whether you want to belong to my congregation. We'll meet next
Friday at the same time."
"What do you charge, Mambo?" Gualter asked.
"I don't charge for counseling you or the wedding ceremony. If you
want, you can give me a donation either at the biweekly meetings or before or
after the wedding ceremony." It wasn't the Vodou way to charge for our
services. A true mambo existed to help people, not to make money. Of course, we
needed money to help pay for the expense connected with conducting some of the
services. I felt good about our first meeting. I had learned a lot about them,
which would help me guide them to understand marriage was more than sex.
* * *
I met with the couple several times over the next six weeks. They planned
to have a baby soon after they married, so I asked them to prepare a budget.
They were to calculate their current salaries separately, then estimate the
amount for rent, food, transportation, clothes, etc. The first time I reviewed
it, I had them add items they had overlooked and revise some of the estimates that
were obviously way too low. The last time we met the budget looked reasonable
if they could stick to it and no emergencies occurred. So we added a small
amount as saving for
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