Venturing off the streetcar named Desire

After 24 hours in New Orleans I can say I have not done what most folks do when they come here.  Yes, yes, I did walk down Bourbon Street where I took this picture (probably the most PG rated one to find), but I have not succumbed to the Bacchus-infused culture that is the French Quarter.

Part of that has to do with the reason I’m here, connecting and meeting people through Reiki, not alcohol.  Although I do promise to have a toast before I go.

As I walked through the dark and haunted streets to the Mississippi River last night, I felt like there was ‘a Devil’ on my tail, wanting me to indulge, go hedonistic, surrender to the darker side of being human.

This morning, I headed by streetcar in the opposite direction to the Garden District, where I felt some of that darkness begin to lift, even at Lafayette cemetery,

where the spirits were more grateful in feeling, seeming to like all the visitors there paying tribute, snapping photos, like this one of orphaned boys.  It was a very tangible feeling of respect.

So then I prepared for what I thought was a Voodoo center, by its name and website, Gris Gris Lab, which translates into what a Voodoo Doll means….but inside was an incredible art gallery and healing room where the two disciplines of healing arts meet.

This picture doesn’t do it justice, but there is a map of New Orleans and flags where all the people who have come into the gallery have marked as their own personal sacred spaces, and the reasons they exist are on the right.  It’s a powerful piece that shows that people can and do feel where they need to go within their community for healing.  The only part of the French Quarter that was mentioned was the waterfront park…away from all the people and drinking….

Meeting with the artist-in-residence, Li, we talked about art, community, healing, and Seattle (where she had moved from) and got ready to go into Reiki class with the Gris Gris center’s founder, Gia Hamilton.  Gia is  dynamic, focused, powerful.  She created the term ‘Social Magic’ to define the ‘voodoo’ that is done at Gris Gris, connecting people together  through healing and art.

They both talked about how New Orleans has a ‘Trickster/Devil” spirit that will attempt to  infuse you when you first get here, and if it ‘likes’ you, will invite you back or make an opportunity for your to come back.

They talked about N.O. being a ‘Scorpio’ and ‘Phoenix’ city in that it goes beneath the surface and that everything dies in the summer…which is why the hedonism reigns supreme..to counter the energy of ‘death’.

We all worked together for several hours in Reiki and then I attuned her 3 sons, ages 3-10 in Reiki I with some instruction.  Humbling.

Shifting gears (slightly) I then went to give a book presentation at Maple Street Bookshop to an international group hungry for Reiki healing.  The manager, Gladin, gave me a ride back to my hotel afterwards and talked to me about his whole experience living through the evacuation of New Orleans during Katrina.

This last story was the final exclamation point to my day.  He and his aging father left by private plane as the lake near the airport began spewing waves of water over them, like out of a movie.  They retreated to Dallas for 2 months and on their return, the city was eerily absent.  He likened it to a city after nuclear destruction…no electricity, people vacant from the streets & stores, the National Guard and President Bush the only presence… but eventually, the people came back and the hardship of rebuilding was apparent and despairing at all the work needed to be done.

The good news has been that all the federal monies have gone into making the French Quarter that much prettier and kept up, that restaurants got make-overs and that tourism has returned, and right now, as I write this in an outdoor cafe, is all but thriving in my estimation.

Tomorrow I’m traveling up the Gulf coast to Biloxi, MS, I’ll see the remnants of Katrina and also the effects of the great spill.  More Reiki to be done.  No hedonism in N.O. this trip.  But that’s OK, its a venture off the streetcar named Desire.