Jekyll & Hyde

Chapter 7

In the fall of 1987 Mari and I were geared up and looking forward to a Halloween wedding, but not just any wedding. The union of our souls on that witches’ holiday—exactly two years from the night we met—was the perfect night for this dark ceremony that would bind us together not in the sight of God but in the sight of Satan.

A fellow warlock in the religion offered the use of his basement for the ceremony, and as the calendar moved toward October 31 I felt excitement stirring in my veins. In twenty-five years, only two previous weddings had been performed like the one about to take place. That’s how diabolical the commitment of an espiritismo wedding was; most others didn’t dare to take those vows. Word spread about the evil nature of our upcoming wedding, and none of my family or Mari’s family attended, so we had a separate traditional ceremony for them to attend.

Stepping into the basement that night was like stepping into hell, with the atmosphere on fire— not only from the people attending but from the different spirits gathered there to witness the diabolical wedding taking place that night. The basement was decorated with twenty-one colorful handkerchiefs representing the twenty-one paths of the dark side. An altar made out of leaves and tree branches stood at the front and center of the room. As we waited for the ceremony to begin, my heart pounded as I knew what was about to take place really was a ceremony of “till death do us part.”

Aunt Maria, possessed by the demon principality that ruled Haiti, stood in front of the altar and leveled her dark eyes at us. “The ceremony is about to begin—there’s no turning back!” the demon inside her shouted, her voice guttural-sounding.

Mari and I both wore the protective colors of our main demon spirits—she in a blue and white cape, and I in a red cape. Aunt Maria sprayed rum and blew cigar smoke on the wedding bands, lit them on fire, then turned to me and said, “Do you agree with the contract?” I said yes. Then she turned to Mari and said, “Do you agree with the contract?” and she said yes. In that moment the contract was sealed. After the ceremony two candles—male and female figures in white—were united face to face, tied up with red and white thread, and buried under the ground at the back of the house.

Twenty-one people with different ranks of powers stood on either side of the altar to bless the wedding. It was a wedding of demons, congos, negros, madamas, indios, and gypsies that came down that night to celebrate and prophesy about our marriage. We celebrated until five in the morning.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 775