This is another entry in my travels and experiences in New Orleans in April 2011.
One of my things that I wanted to do during my brief stay in New Orleans was to get a reading. Now, some of you may wonder why someone who reads for others would want a reading from someone else? Why not D.I.Y (do-it-yourself)?
Some people do read their own cards for themselves, but I have not been convinced that what I am picking up is really a ‘message’. That is why I am so hesitant to read for my children and close friends that I know many details about their lives – you just don’t know when the psychic images go away and “Mama” starts giving advice!
So, I chose to visit three of the more popular places that tourists go to get a reading while in the French Quarter – Erzulie’s, Voodoo Spiritual Temple, and Bottom of the Cup Tea Room.
I chose late Tuesday afternoon, figuring that most would want to escape the humidity, it was middle of the week with less weekend tourists and happy hours on Bourbon Street. I wanted to go to Erzulie’s especially, since I have been fascinated with but not very knowledgeable with the beleif system of Voodoo. No luck, as Erzulie’s is only open from Thursday through Sunday during the time I visited. I guess the Quarter gets lively starting on Thursday, making it more advantageous to be open when weekend tourists fly in.
Next on my list was the Bottom of the Cup Tea Room, which has been around for a very, very long time. I have never seen or experienced a tea leaf reading, so I thought this would be a great adventure. The shop was filled with tall cases of may crystal and rock globes and other common spiritual supplies like herbs and incense. It reminded me more of a cross between a lawyers office and a new age shop with a bit of a botanica thrown in. The gentleman behind the counter told me that I would have over an hour wait since the reader was just sitting down with someone else and that they close a short while later after that and before the ‘wild and crazy’ party people get too tipsy.
I then worked my way through the streets to another shop, Rev. Zombie’s Voodoo Shoppe, but it was too chotic for me – a mixture of botanica candles, african zulu gods and Height-Ashbury hippie-punk.
So the next day, I visited Miriam Chamani’s Voodoo Spiritual Temple, which site just outside the Quarter and down from the St. Louis Cemetery. Nicholas Cage was filming a moved in one of the buildings on the street and we had to cross through stopped traffic and back again to get to the Temple. The High Priestess was in and had a brief conversation with me, but was unable to see me for a reading because she had acconting to attend to as a deadline was looming. I was able to to visit the temple room with all of it’s altars, and I left a small offering for Agwe before leaving. As I was exiting the shop, the person Miriam was waiting to see arrived – the tax man! Strike three at the Voodoo Spiritual Temple!
So, this reader did not get her reading from any of the famous sites for readings in New Orleans. Maybe next time will be the charm.
