“I went to Reverend Zombie’s...and while I was checking out, the clerk informed me that there was a woman giving readings in the back room.”
While writing my novel, Voodoo Butterfly, I visited New Orleans in the name of research. During the trip I had hoped to get a psychic reading, but avoided the fortune-tellers in Jackson Square because they can be overbearing and charge way too much. So I kept my eyes open for one that intuitively felt right. On the morning of our departure, I went to Reverend Zombie’s Voodoo Shop to find some ingredients to inspire spells in my Voodoo Butterfly series. While I was checking out, the clerk informed me that there was a woman giving readings in the back room. Bam! My intuition said, “Let’s do it!”
So I walked to the back of the voodoo shop and stepped behind a heavy curtain to a space small enough to seat eighty-something psychic, Irene, and me at a card table. Over the course of fifteen minutes, she did a palm reading and read my tarot cards for twenty bucks. These are the things Irene told me–without any hints from me, because I tend to keep a poker face when I’m with a psychic. It’s the skeptic in me and, hey, I’m from the Show-Me state of Missouri.
Note: I’ll put her statements in quotation marks and follow those statements with how it connects to my life.
Palm Reading
“You have a happy home.” Family is the center of my life and I strive to make my house welcoming. Many visitors to my home say that they feel so comfortable in my house.
“You and your husband are CRAZY (her word) about each other.” This is absolutely true. We’ve been married for almost twelve years and I still kiss him in public, hold his hand, want to be with him every day, and we don’t fight. It’s not for show, either, it’s real.
“I see a baby girl and boy in your life.” At that point, I was pregnant but not far along enough to know the sex of the baby. It was also interesting to note that I had a young son at that time, but never mentioned him because I wanted to know her perspective and I didn’t want to give her information. She confirmed that I was pregnant with a girl in the following tarot reading, too. I know she had a 50/50 chance in choosing the sex of the baby in my belly, but ultimately she was right. I have a baby girl and boy.
“You have a long life line which means you’ll see 100.” Irene explained that this is becoming more normal because of medical advances.
“Your life line is double, or overlaps, which means that even if one path doesn’t work for you, you get a second chance to try something else out.” I am the type of person who needs an “out” or a back-up plan in case the first option doesn’t work out.
Tarot Card Reading
At this point she asked me if I wanted to know about something specific. Since I was researching for my book–which didn’t have a publisher at that time–I asked about its future in publication and possibly film.
“Your book will be published. And I see a movie being made quite a while after the books come out.” I always intended for Voodoo Butterfly to be a series and I need to write more books, so I’m okay with having a long timeline for a movie or TV series to come out.
“You will be successful with your life.” Hearing this made me feel so, so happy. Being a SAHM, I dedicate so much of my time to others that I feel like my needs and desires can get lost along the way. I didn’t ask her about success, but I definitely needed that validation.
“Your husband will be very successful, too, and will keep moving up the ladder to be at the top. Then he’ll start his own business so he doesn’t have to work for anyone else.” Hubby and I have spoken many times about him owning his own business in the future. He’s an engineer with people skills, so that’s a rare and helpful trait for someone like him to move into management and keep climbing that corporate ladder.
I did ask her if I’d be able to spend more time with him. As I said earlier, I love my husband so much that I could, literally, be around him all day long. (I know this kind of love grosses some people out, but as Buddy the Elf says, “I’m in love! And I don’t care who knows it!”) She said, “Eventually, farther in the future, you’ll get to spend more time with him.” This disappointed me, but I won’t let it rule the course of my life.
“There will be national and international travel in your future. Possibly a short move abroad with a job.” This would absolutely suit us as a family. My husband is from Malaysia and all of his family still live there, so we visit them. We’ve actually talked about moving internationally with work just to have an adventure for our family.
Are these things really in the cards for me? It seems like Irene hit the nail on the head with her readings. I’ve been read by psychics maybe ten times in my life and I tend to approach the experience with skepticism but have been pleasingly surprised by how accurate a few of them have been. Like any other professional field, there is a spectrum of talent among soothsayers, I suppose. Some legitimately have abilities and some are just con artists. I talk about this in my book, Voodoo Butterfly, especially in the chapter called “The Fortune-Teller and The Prophet.”
Camille Faye | Author of Voodoo Butterfly
Experience love, purpose, and the paranormal in New Orleans.
*Originally posted on the website of author Tami Lund
*Photos courtesy of Mary and Holly Gollnick from Flickr Creative Commons