Crystal balls, English accents and tea leaves

It’s hard for me to write a post that mentions my neighbor (let’s call her Mary – because she’s a far, far cry from the virgin mother) without including a picture. But I do want to keep her anonymity. So, I’m linking you to the ‘Shoes’ video since she dressed up like that girl (or guy?) for Halloween. 1. I think it will help you get the point of how wacky she is, and 2. She looked exactly like him/her. Exactly.

I will tell you however, because it’s her most intense feature (besides the fact that she smells like hooch and incense) that her real hair is huge and long and sometimes black or brown or red or yellow and curly. Kinky, ‘fro-like curly. It’s intense – and I think its existence is a pure extension of the creativity and juiciness that lives underneath – you know, in her head.

But, anyway…the other day ‘Mary’ came over to tell us that she’d had her tea leaves read. She was at a crossroads of some sort, so she went for some psychic capitulation. I’m a fairly nice person, but this sort of crap is something that I usually mock, make fun of and roll my eyes at. But, there was something about Mary’s recap that caught my attention, like a hook in a fish cheek.

• The accuracy with which the Tea Reader nailed Mary’s situation?
• Mary’s total confidence in herself and her path as a result of the reading?
• The fact that she ended her retelling to us with, “And the tea leaf reader has an English accent, so you have to believe her.”

And, so, I called and made an appointment. Yes. Yes, I did. And I only felt a tad bit silly, until my dear friend, Sarah, said to me, “divination is just another opportunity for you to access what you already know.” And that made sense to me. You know how you could give 100 people – all very different – the same horoscope and they would easily make it ‘like totally apply’? We all know our stories like the back of our hands – and when a psychic, a crystal ball or tea leaves tell us things – it simply gives us a new perspective with which to explore the things we’ve already been going round and round about.

So, what did I learn at my tea leaf reading?

• Nothing new. Which is good news – because it means that I wasn’t brainwashed or high-jinxed or duped. Still, some of my ideas and thoughts (that I habitually swat away on a regular basis), were raised into the spotlight and deeply affirmed.
• My muse is not the woman I always assumed her to be, but a man from the 1100′s, waving scrolls at me, telling me to write for the good of the people – to educate, guide and support those in need. Oh, and he has a pet falcon.
• And, yes, it’s true. British accents really do something to and for us Yanks.

Image Credit: Jodi Green

Filed under How To, Myth or Reality, Writing | Tags: divination, muse, tea leaves, writer, Writing, writing process | Comments (8)