~ Voodoo Priestess Estate © ~
Curandero's, 1.52 ct., Faceted Oval, Mexican Fire Opal Money Draw Good Luck Gem

A Black Pyramid Vèvé Room Find

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This is another of our very long listings with an abundant text and 8 photographs, so please sit back and read the listing through. If you have come this far, we are sure you will find it was worth the wait. It has now been just over twenty-two and a half years ago since we were called to do the estate that had been closed up for seventeen years.

The Voodoo Estate!

This type of call usually gets us excited as they are a treasure trove. Located here in Florida, there was no electricity or running water so we rigged our own lighting and in we went. If you have ever seen the Adams Family you will have some idea as to what we were greeted with! Then the attorney handling the liquidation gave us some background. The estate had belonged to an alleged powerful Voodoo Priestess/JooJoo Exorcist, grand daughter of a Marie Laveau, and favored daughter of a Marie Glapion. These names meant nothing to us, but the late night talk of Voodoo and exorcism in the old mansion was enough to make us decide to spend the night in a hotel and return in the morning to assess the estate. The rest is history. Our research has shown that this woman was what she claimed and was indeed descended from a long line of well known Vodoun family originating in New Orleans in the early 1800's. We were pretty unnerved by this until we discovered they were also devout Catholics! Although I have to admit this was unlike any Catholic home we have ever been in and some of the items found inside were a little more than unnerving. There was no feeling of dread or unwelcome in the mansion, however there was quite a bit of contraband and other items we can or will not sell here. This is one of a few pieces from this estate we will be listing this week, so check our other listings. We will, upon the new guardian's request, issue a named Letter of Authenticity with each piece from this estate, complying with the terms set forth to us by the estate's attorney.

Some Back Story

Found in what we have named "The Black Pyramid Vèvé Room." This room was an interesting work of architecture. Windowless and located just above the Main Ballroom in the center of the mansion, it was only accessible through a large trapdoor and cast iron spiral staircase from the storage room above it. The floor was four feet below the Main Ballroom ceiling, well concealed by the baroque architecture. The architect had concealed the room in the floor above by surrounding it with four guest suites, it was dead center in the mansion. Measuring exactly twelve feet x twelve feet with a twelve foot ceiling, the room was well concealed, but it was stifling down there as there was no ventilation, the only air coming from the trap door above and that was not very much. Painted black, with ebony flooring and paneling, the contents of the room consisted of seven, LiDiex Black Glass and Silver, charging pyramid boxes and their contents. Only a few of us went into this room to recover and inventory the contents and none of us could stay in there for more than a few minutes, it was, well, disorientating. This was another room with no wiring for electrical power and on the floor were the remnants of previously used vèvé's that we assume were drawn with the chalky powder found in one of the pyramids. The remaining six pyramids contained an interesting assortment of jewelry, gems, mineral specimens and a host of eclectic curiosities that she kept inventoried in a separate journal concerning the ceremonies conducted in this room. The pyramids ranged in size from 9" x 9" x 7" to 3' x 3' x 2.2', so this was a massive undertaking as most of these were too big, heavy and/or fragile to get out of there safely, full as they were. In these journals she makes some fantastic claims concerning these items. She continues with entries that read, " I have used these pieces to awaken psychic perception and mystical awareness and have found them to strengthen my memory and as an aid in dreaming. I continue to receive insight and inspiration from these pieces." And; "many of the ones awakened have sought refuge here, most being complacent in their worlds. They will come if called to a blood match." ~!~ We can attest that pieces from this room have shown to possess some remarkable attributes or association with what might be called paranormal activity. Some of those who have had access to these items or even their photographs have said they have felt disorientated or ill, some perceived, felt, saw, sensed, dreamt of, etc., at the very least movement in the stones, many times directly related to them, but you be the judge. ~!~

Curandero's Mexican Fire Opal

This is one of thirty-four faceted oval fire opal gems recovered from the fourth pyramid of this room which her journals tell us were procured from her longtime friend she names as "Jose, Don Jose, and Don Lucio" over the course of a forty year period that began in 1938.

Her journaled inventory tells us he was known to her in 1938 as Jose, a Yajalon Curandero and Walking Shaman. He was not the only one of his kind that minerals and gems recovered from this estate were attributed to, often making it difficult to differentiate them as they occupied some of the same timeline's and geographical locations.

In this case, Jose, aka Don Jose, aka Don Lucio is identified through the mention of the sourced opal and the rings she had procured from him.

The 1938 entries concerned a group of opals he had accepted as an offering. He had vowed to go their place of origin, the opal mines of Querétaro, Mexico to stock up on this opal. We assume he was motivated by whatever she paid or traded him. He is again mentioned in 1949 entries, as now being known as Don Jose, healer and opal trader and a sizable amount of "Don Jose Opal" was recovered from this estate.

According to her entries, he had walked the seven hundred miles from his home in Yajalón to find fortune in Querétaro pursuing his trade as 'Healer, Opal Collector and Trader'.

Don Jose, now known as Don Lucio in 1958, is also now known as 'Granicero Healer, Silversmith, Opal Collector and Trader', which is the time these faceted opals first appear in her inventory.

This was also an obviously successful endeavor as her journals and inventory tell us she had received over one hundred of his stones that year and at least that many and an assortment of his rings over the course of the next twenty-four years culminating in 1982.

Only a small portion of these were all that remained for us to recover from this estate by the time we got there.

Don Lucio's new title of Granicero, makes him an atmospheric ritualist, or in this particular case, a lightning ritualist, it having been said he had been struck by lightning numerous times in his lifetime.

The Gem, and more commentary...

This being one of the above mentioned thirty-four gems mentioned above, she goes on to provide us with detailed descriptions and histories of their use to which we have added commentary of our own.
Of this sourced opal she writes; "These stones bear an energy that is predisposed for use in magic spells. They achieve invisibility for us against all malicious magic and are a source of protection in themselves."

"A money draw, it is as if a magnet to draw in wealth. It is also a healer and a stone of protection. It can be relied upon to relieve deficiencies of energy while stimulating the libido and adrenal glands."

"He (Don Lucio), afforded cure to his patients suffering from fever, jaundice, indigestion, sore throats, neck swelling, hemorrhoids and depression, but he had won renown for his Susto, Mal puesto and Mal ojo works."

She goes on to describe these, "works" in a number of entries which describe the cause and symptoms of these spells, such as, "Susto is a fright sickness caused by traumatic and frightening experiences often emplaced during the victim's dream state. Look for insomnia, lethargy, depression, irritability and anxiety as symptoms. Effective treatment can be affected by covering the head with a Holy Water immersed cloth keeping it moist with periodic sprinkling in addition to spitting alcohol into the patients face unexpectedly and irrigating them internally with herbs".

She writes of, "Mal ojo" as being the evil eye cast by one blessed with the, "strong eye." Those that admire children without touching them are easily afflicted. The symptoms here are often diffuse so it is best to attempt cure by passing a fresh laid egg over the patient's entire body before placing it in a bowl under the patient's pillow overnight. In the morning, if the egg is cooked then treatment for mal de ojo is in order."

She also writes of "Mal puesto" as the use of sorcery to invoke disease. This is a true hex used by bruja throughout Mexico, Central and South America. Here the Symptoms vary, as does the cure. This involves, massage, herbal treatment, prayers and invocational chants performed in conjunction with arm crossing (anointing with oil and chili powder in the sign of the cross) and herbal pepper enemas."

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The story of how Don Lucio, who was once Jose, the Yajalon Curandero, had come into possession of the original opals that had started this fervor was related to her and she made detailed note of it for us, "Given to his father, by his father before him, it had been worn in a gold pendant belonging to a witch who was acting as guide for the Spanish as they made their way north. This was most likely a trek from Chile in the 16th. century!"

"In his own words he related, 'they lay in surprise trap for these invaders, falling upon their camp in the early hours of dawn to free them of their lives."

She also notes of his group having numerous, "helms and breastplates taken from this massacre being used as reformed cooking utensils 300 years later by the villagers."

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This Gem

Examination reveals a 9.525 x 7.9375 x 4.7625 mm, 1.52 ct., faceted oval Mexican Fire Opal gem of fine cut and polish.

The gem displays an intense inner predominantly pale yellow/green with some orange and green fire like play of color when viewed under single sourced light.

It is certainly a nicely aged vintage opal gem with an extraordinary provenance that is much nicer than our photographer has been able to depict.

~!~ Concerning the photographs, are these excerpts from the written statement of one of the principals; "When we first entered this room we used pocket led flashlights, commonly known as tactical lights, this room lit up like a light show as we directed the beams, the three of us said "did you see that?" Among other things." "When we ran 2000 watts of light down there, the lights shut down, period. They just would not work in the room. We checked the generators and the lights worked fine out of that room, but in it, no go. Regular, battery operated flashlights went dead in there too, fresh batteries went dead in a second." To date, Energizer has not responded. Little more thought was given this until one of us more or less became the caretaker of this lot, more because he was the only one able to get to the warehouse alcove where the balance of this estate is kept. Although the photographer is no longer commenting on his use of a directed, high intensity light in taking some of the photographs, the staff member who retrieved many of these items from "the hole", the warehouse alcove where the balance of the items from this estate are being stored, offers some insight as to what has transpired. "It was typical to be back there and have the power go out, but this can easily be attributed to our weather conditions and sorry excuse for a power company, but I had taken one of my pocket tac-lights with me and the first time I used it back there was, well, nothing short of phenomenal & overwhelming. This is not a joke, they like the light!" ~!~ We have been contacted and visited by a number of people who were interested in the items from this estate since our first batch was listed. Among the buyers have been known psychics and practitioners. More than one, after adorning themselves or handling their purchase, stated "this is a woman of power!" Many of our customers, after receiving items from this estate have reported dream contacts and other unexplained phenomenon. Unusual, authentic Voodoo Priestess Estate piece and at a bargain price! This is truly a rare opportunity to own anything with attributes to this estate. The majority of this estate is now gone. Most of what we had left, and it was considerable, has been split up and sold to a couple of private, foreign collector practitioners and will never be available to the public again. We made the decision to do this as we have had some pretty strange visits from even stranger individuals and there have been enough unexplained phenomenon going on in the warehouse where her things were kept that many of our employees refused to go in there. The pieces offered and sold here are some of the few remaining pieces that will ever be offered to the public. Nice addition to any collection, altar, wardrobe or decor, displays really well. Really doesn't get any better than this. There are 8 photographs, so please give them time to load, and enjoy the listing. Buyer to pay our discounted shipping rate of $4.44 for Insured USPS Ground Mail with Tracking, handling and lagniappe.

We Combine Shipping.

Rest assured your order will be carefully packed to withstand the onslaught of the most deranged of Postal Workers.

International Buyers, Please email us for a Shipping Quote. Check our other listings as new items are usually listed daily. Payment is due at listing end.

©Text and Photos Copyright 2001-2024 bushidobuce, all rights reserved. ~!~

©Text and Photos Copyright 2001-2024 bushidobuce, all rights reserved.
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