This particular morning was not unusual for mid June in Santa Fe. The temp was already in the eighties & it was just a little past 7. The Jag was running well & it had been a relatively uneventful trip down from frisco.
I had been staying in the guest house up at Joe and Mercedes property since arriving. They owned one of the finer homes in the area and the guest house was very comfortable with views out the back over the pool all the way to Albuquerque.
I had been rising early and getting out, trying to squeeze as much as possible into the day. I had come down to make some investments and was feeling good about the progress so far. Santa Fe was strikingly different from those times around 1970 when I was here attending school. Driving through, the “city” was quiet and the air was still and the magic I remembered from days when Santa Fe was still a “town” seemed plausible.
I was stopped at a red light; lovely morning, top down, still air, real fine. There was a sense of almost being alone. Why even wait any longer at this light. Why was I waiting at this light.
She was there sitting on a bench or maybe it wasn’t a bench and there was an overgrown lot with a broken down fence alongside the road near the corner. She was already collecting herself and making her way toward the car as I became aware of her and focused on her and her stuff.
“Take me to my sisters” she rasped as she moved toward the car. “I’m not going that way” I stated emphatically, eyeing her progress uneasily as she made her way to the car. Without hesitation she proceeded to get in piling her assorted bags, grips, and cases in on top of her, then shut the door. “Take me to my sisters” she repeated.
Hmmm. There was something decidedly out of the ordinary about this encounter. “Where is it then”, I said eyeing her suspiciously but still somewhat amused by this strange affair. “Go that way” she said, as the light changed. We went that way, straight through the light. “How far is it”. “You know”. “No I don’t. How far is your sisters house.” She was busy somewhat preoccupied next to me in amongst all her stuff, some of which was on the floor, some piled on top of her. She looked to be searching for a certain object, specific and suitable for the occasion.
“Where are we going “. “You know where we’re going” she said, turning toward me with the most evil and sinister look, causing the hairs to raise on my neck. I was now able to place the voice. It was the voice Linda Blair used in the Exorcist when the devil spoke through her. Coincidence, maybe; because when I finally asked her, “who the hell are you anyway”, her response was distinctly unpleasant.
“You know who I am”. “No I don’t” I said aloud, now thinking I could get along nicely without knowing. “I’m The Devil, don’t you recognize me”. As she uttered these words in her hellish voice, it became clear and unequivocal and with a look of consummate evil she flipped the talisman which she had been fumbling for in my direction.
No, this cannot be happening, I remember thinking but I also remember sensing an overpowering feeling of dread; like I had just picked up The Devil in the form of a witch who had been on the side of the road waiting for me. She then cursed me maliciously and with intent. Why. Why had she been there. What caused me to go by streets which delivered me right to the spot where she was waiting. Who or what was behind this malevolence.
Ok, but get a grip. My next move was instinctual. I slammed on the brakes with the effect of almost counter-acting gravity. My passenger was virtually levitated by the hard braking and she semi-floated above the seat with all her stuff as the Jag slid. About the time the car had nearly come to rest I reached over unlatched the door and kicked her out.
“Then get out of my car Devil” I commanded, in a voice I hoped was informed by the weight of The Lord.
She grabbed the rest of her stuff as I groped for the apparent object of her intent. It had fallen to rest on the floor of the drivers-side when she had tossed it with a practiced flip of her left hand. I picked it off the floor and flung it at her where she stood now on the side of the road among her things.
I drove off thinking this had not been a chance encounter.
The rest of the day unfolded in a way one might have expected given the circumstances. And the apprehension I felt at being cursed by The Devil or his emissary was soon to be validated.
But exactly how did I feel. Surely this was territory in which I was completely unfamiliar. I in fact would have considered myself nearly a skeptic although I do believe in “forces”, most specifically karmic forces. Especially this and I do try to make an effort to protect my Karma and keep it neutral to positive.
The notion of witches, spells, curses and the like I have simply accepted without prejudice. Indeed upon recently making the acquaintance of Aleeda at a party in S.F. I was somewhat amused by her vague allusion to her “powers” and claims of “dabbling”. She certainly looked “witchy” though with her long, dark, wavy hair which had the most unusual but extremely subtle deep red highlights, as well as a narrow single streak of grey. She was very attractive however and quite sexy. We had gone out a few times just prior to my coming down here and I have been in contact with her most every day. Now I will consider her claims in a somewhat different light and with a bit more trepidation as well. There are obviously forces one should not fool with. This has become very apparent to me this morning and would be reinforced many times over as the day progressed.
Yes the day. It would be fairly tedious to recount all of the mischief which visited itself upon me this day so I will simply say; by the very end of it and when I was finally back sitting quietly alone in the guest house I could only reflect on the sinister turn of events and abysmal outcome of most if not all of my endeavors.
The night passed uneventfully and yet there was still the sense of dread, subtle and indefinable. There was a distinct but almost imperceptible awareness of an indescribable sense of change which had been laid on me and which now weighed heavily upon the very essence of my being. I can’t tell you how or what made me so acutely aware, but I knew beyond any doubt I had been marked by the hand of The Devil. I had been cursed and I had no clue how I was to remedy the situation.
I rose at my usual time and drove down into town. This morning I would go straight in toward my normal place for coffee hoping to avoid another weird encounter. Pulling into the parking lot I drove around through the lanes of cars looking for a space. I found one but over shot a bit so putting the car into reverse I slowly backed in and stopped, turned the key then sat looking out at the world. I needed a minute to collect my thoughts or more accurately slow them down. My mind was chaos and a confusion of random images streamed through my head. There was something which eluded me, some connection, something she had said. Something Aleeda had said or was it the women from the previous morning. Which.
I looked up from my tormented thoughts as my mind fixed on the word “sister” and the implied protocol. At this very instant with my mind racing toward a conclusion which was always there waiting in the recesses, my eyes focused on the man and his son walking toward me along the line of cars in the lot.
The man and his son. How at once I seemed to know all about them. Their lives together. The man so constant and humble with a simple and profound integrity. Always present in the life of a boy who never seemed to belong or even possess faculties which would allow him to function normally, at least not on this plane of existence. For the boy was pure, and unmarked by the exigencies of the rational world. I say boy but he was approximately 35 years of age and his father close to 70. They lived together only the two of them. The man always there to shepherd his son yet the boy, seeming to radiate with the presence of The Lord, walked with the innocent confidence of a child.
All this came in a flash of understanding as I glanced up. The sublime countenance of expression so remarkable was made even more so by the startling change as the boy met my gaze.
“Bless you” he was looking right at me with an expression of utter sincerity and concern. “Bless you” he repeated earnestly “bless you, bless you, bless you” he repeated his hands pressed together before him almost beseechingly. “Bless you”, again and again. My eyes looked to the man questioningly but he could only shrug imperceptibly as he looked towards his son. The man never said anything at all. Not one word.
I was out of my car now as they approached, the boy never taking his eyes from me. What manner of providence caused their car to be parked adjacent to mine and backed in as well, so the boy had to walk right to the spot where I was standing.
“Bless you” he implored, “bless you, bless you, bless you”, constant. I took the door handle as he got into the car and closing I looked in through the open window; “bless you, bless you” almost hopefully.
I looked across at the man who had slid in behind the wheel. He returned the same bemused expression as before then turned to look curiously at his son. “Bless you” he was looking up at me now expectant, waiting. Putting my hands together, somewhat bent over, looking in through the car window, I responded finally … “and bless you”.
He sat back in the seat, relaxed, satisfied, a serene look coming over his face. I glanced over at the man as I straightened and finally looked a last time in at the boy. He was sitting quietly, looking straight ahead.
Turning away I managed only a few steps before I knew and don’t ask me how I knew but I knew … the curse had been broken and I was released from its spell.
This story is a true one & I have faithfully tried to record events, exactly as they occurred.
