E. A. Koetting and Baron DePrince - The Spider and The Green Butterfly

E.A. Koetting/Baron DePrince
The Spider and the Green Butterfly
woman stood behind the counter, neither greeting John nor
asking if he could be helped, but simply silently waiting for
his amazement to subside and for him to ask what he had
come to ask. Finally, John asked to see Baron DePrince.
"He is busy with another client right now," she said,
a hypnotic accent seeming to flow from her. "He'll only be
a few more minutes. Feel free to look around."
Everything in the room was entirely alien to John,
save for the saints. He asked the woman why the saints
would be displayed in a den of Black Magick. She laughed
and explained the connection between the saints and the
Vodoun Loa, giving the names only a few of the more
common Loa, and telling John a little about the powers and
personalities of each. He listened to her without comment,
bespelled by her entirely.
The trance was broken with the shattering ring of a
sharp bell from behind a closed door at the back of the
store.
"DePrince will see you now." The woman opened
the door and pointed John towards a large room beyond it.
He walked through this first, large room, trying to make his
footsteps as silent as possible, looking at the Veves and the
Saints that decorated the walls. Baron DePrince greeted
him from the center of the room, standing from behind a
large table.
"Welcome to my Temple," he said, smiling at the
obvious questions echoing through John's mind as he
walked further into this strange world than he had ever
intended. "I greet you, and all of the spirits here greet you
in peace. I noticed your interest in all of these pictures.
The one behind me is Erzulie Freda. The one above the
door is the symbol for Papa Legba, and the twins at the side
of the door are called Marassa. They are sacred in
Vodoun." John didn't respond at all, but continued to look
around the room as if searching for sweeping spirits there.
"This room is what we call the "Guinea Room,"
DePrince continued, hoping that becoming familiar with
where he was standing might allow John to relax a bit
more. "Guinea is the name that we use for the spirit world.
All Vodoun Temples must have a Guinea Room to work
with the sacred spirits, as well as to keep them protected
from the evil Loas, which we work with in a separate room
called the 'Petro Room.' We might go in there later, but
we'll see."
John finally sat across the table from Baron
DePrince. Without John saying word, DePrince poured
some whiskey in a white bowl and lit the liquid on fire.
Out of a small, black bag, he also shook some white
chicken bones onto the table. John looked into the flaming
whiskey, the fire seeming to churn in the bowl and just as
he thought that an image was appearing in the flames, their
dance stopped like a violent ocean instantly calming.
DePrince disrupted the silence by announcing,
"You have an Expedition placed on you, my friend. These
are some of the most powerful curses used in Vodoun, and
can only be removed by a Master Houngan. The spirits of
the dead surround you and are working against you day and
night."
As if a mental fog instantly cleared in John's mind,
he told DePrince about a janitor who had worked for him a
few years ago. The man kept to himself, not making an
impression either way on John, until one morning when
coming into his office early, John found the janitor sitting
at his desk eating breakfast and talking with his wife on
John's phone. John dismissed the man immediately, telling
him not to return to work.
The janitor's wife came to the office a few days
later, begging John to give her husband his job back.
Annoyed with her persistence, John snapped at her for
wasting his time by insisting that her husband be allowed
back into the building. He called security to escort her out