This piece is back story for a
novel that the Tasty Sauce quatrain is writing independently and as a group.
Each participant has adopted a character, and Louee is mine. Louee was born a lover
of the esoteric and unusual. She’s a New Age/60’s devotee who believes that the
world finally caught up with her during that period of time. It is 1964 and she
is about to start college at UC Berkeley.
One of her best friends, Emma, and Emma’s finance, James have driven
Louee to school. After getting Louee her
room assignment, the unsuspecting duo are roped into helping her bless her room
so that the energies can be just right.
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Louee, Emma, and James walked down
the hall noting room numbers and names. “You know,” Louee said, “713 adds up to 11,
and 11 is a master number. It has a very high vibration.” She beamed at Emma
who beamed right back. James, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. Louee spotted
this and retorted, “Numbers are very important. As a matter of fact, I think
you should let me help you pick a date to make sure that everything is in
alignment on the day of your wedding.”
“Hmmm. That might be a really good
idea,” said Emma kindly. She looked up at James, smiling who looked back at her
with his forehead furrowed.
“Don’t look at me like that. I
think Louee’s idea might be fun.”
James put his arm around Emma’s
neck and whispered into her ear. “You are too nice. And I mean that, too nice.”
“No I’m not. I really do think it
would be fun.”
“We’re here!” exclaimed Louee
pointing to the black metal numbers bolted to the door.
The two names, Louise Robinson and
Judy Lucknower were carefully hand printed on yellow construction paper and affixed
with masking tape.
Louee stood silently looking at the
names. She closed her eyes, put her hand on her heart, took a deep breath,
opened them, smiled. She put the key in the lock and turned it revealing the
small room. “I’m really surprised about this,” she said pointing to the sign. They
asked me what I wanted to be called, and I wrote Louee.” She took a purple
marker from her purse, crossed out Louise and wrote with a flourishing hand: Louee.
“Why
don’t you legally change your name? That way they’ll have to put Louee on
everything,” asked James.
“I’m using
it as a test. How I react when I see the name Louise written out gives me
information about how I’m doing spiritually. I was actually okay seeing this, I
didn’t feel annoyed at all.”
“Then why don’t you just leave it?”
“Because I don’t feel like a
Louise, and I don’t want people to start out by calling me Louise, so I changed
it.”
“So
spiritually things are groovy right now?” asked James.
Both Emma
and Louee looked at him. “Groovy?” said Emma putting her hand on James’
forehead, “I’m a little concerned; if this place is affecting James like this,
then what’s it going to do to you?”
“I will
just become more of who I am! Let’s get started!”
“No, no,
no. Let’s go eat. I’m starving!”
“James,” said Louee, “I really want
to do my room clearing first. I have a Snickers Bar if you want it.”
“Yes,” said James. “I want it.”
There were two tall dressers and
two skinny closets in the room. The beds were bunk beds and Louee chose the
top.
“What
happens if you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?” asked
James.
“I won’t. I sleep very soundly. Besides, it’s an energy thing. Bunk beds can be weird. My sister and I had them and when she was on top I got into her dreams, and in the morning I never felt quite right. It’s like her energy was leaking down into me. It’s easier for me to deal with energy that floats up than leaks down.”
“I won’t. I sleep very soundly. Besides, it’s an energy thing. Bunk beds can be weird. My sister and I had them and when she was on top I got into her dreams, and in the morning I never felt quite right. It’s like her energy was leaking down into me. It’s easier for me to deal with energy that floats up than leaks down.”
“Oh,” said James, “of course. Where’s
the Snicker’s bar.”
“Jeez, you are impatient!”
“Hungry. I’m hungry.”
“Look,
there’s a great ladder on the side at the foot of the bed, and a cute little
shelf next to the top bunk. That’ll be a great place for my stones.”
She looked around “Ug! Where am I
going to put my suitcases? Could you guys take the big one back home and my
parents can just store it for me? I won’t need it for a while, and the little one
will fit nicely under the bed.”
“Sure.”
said James.
“Okay. Before
we put anything away I want to smudge the room and set up some stones. Then we
can go get dinner somewhere, maybe there’s a cafeteria opened, or we could go
back to those cute shops on Campus Drive.”
“I vote
for cute shops on Campus Drive,” said James.
“I’m okay
with either, said Emma.”
“Then
cute shops it is,” said Louee.
Louee
opened up her carpet bag and pulled out an ornate box inlaid with beautiful
swirls and Asian-like designs. She also pulled out a Snickers bar that she
handed to James. She placed the box on one of the chests of drawers and
reverently opened it. She looked down and smiled at the contents. She pulled
out and deeply breathed in the scent of the three long blue smudge sticks made
of dried sage leafs tied together with red string. She then took out of a gold
mesh bag and lovingly handled several dozen stones of various shapes and sizes.
She placed them gently on the lid of the now closed box. She had stones to
enhance luck, bring clean and clear energy into the space, enhance
communication and connection, and one stone for love. She had never used this
stone because she had never felt that the time was right. But it was now. She
could feel it. She knew that her Soul Mate was right here on the Berkeley
campus. “I’m so happy to be here. It feels so good, and I love my roommate’s
name Judy Lucknower. It’s like someone who has luck now. This is going to be a
very important year for me. This is going to be the year when my Kundalini
really begins to rise. I need to find a great yoga teacher.”
Louee
rummaged around her suitcase and found an elegant multicolored shawl with gold
and silver threading throughout. She dramatically yet elegantly placed it on
her shoulders. James and Emma held tight to one another’s’ hands. James was
obviously having a hard time keeping his face in a neutral stance until he
looked at Emma’s longing eyes. He knew she wanted to go to college. Not
Berkeley, never Berkeley, but she did want to get an education. She was smart.
She was probably smarter than Louee, and perhaps even smarter than he was, but
she was stuck at home with her family. Without a mother, she became the mother.
It was amazing to James that Emma was even willing to take this three day
get-away.
He turned
to Louee who was beaming. “Bless you both for being here and being witnesses
for me as I begin my new life! I love you so much!” and she spontaneously hugged
them both.
Louee had always been far out and
esoteric. She’d always counted on cards and stones and ancient Runes, and her
own strong and sometimes wacky inner guidance to make decisions and run her
life. She generally did not seem to judge others and most people saw her as Teflon.
Some kids called her the Teflon goddess and they could be cruel. There were a
group of kids interested in the esoteric side of life, and she participated in
her share of séances, classes, and encounter groups, but she often found that
these turned out to be blame sessions and opportunities to reveal and then get
stuck in the negative aspects of life. She preferred to forgive and move on.
She could find something to
appreciate in almost everyone. She was not blind to how she was perceived, and
things did, sometimes, get to her. The people she could really be herself with
were Emma, Kate, and Georgie. They were the only ones who got to hear her doubts
and fears, but generally she was the one who bolstered spirits. The four girls
had been friends since early elementary school. They knew, accepted, and trusted
each other completely.
Louee let
go of Emma and James. “Really, thank you two for doing this with me. Three is a
much more powerful number than one. I’ve got everything ready,” said Louee, and
she did. The candles were lit. There were three sticks of sage, and the stones
ready to be placed all over the room. She placed these things on a beautiful silver
tray on the floor in the middle of the room. She then took out a small cassette
tape recorder from her suitcase set it up on the dresser, and hit the start
button. Chanting and flutes filled the small room with meditative music. Louee
took a deep breath. This was heaven to her.
“What do
we do?” asked Emma.
“Let’s
all sit together right here on the floor with the candles in the middle. I’ll
start placing the stones, but first, let us call in the spirits of light to
bless us. Now James, I know you’ve never experienced one of my rituals, and you
might think that it’s a little weird, but that’s okay. All I want you to do, if
you can, is to keep your mind and heart open because you could have a magical, mystical,
wonderful experience. And if you don’t, at least you’ll have had an interesting
experience so your life won’t be just water polo and insurance!”
“I’ll do
my best,” said James. Emma smiled at him, relieved. She had never fully shared
with James some of Louee’s odder quirks and obsessions with all things
spiritual, and was hoping he would just be patient and understanding.
“No, this
is great. I’ll get to know the Louee my girl knows and loves,” and he put his
arm around Emma.
“James.
We each have to sit apart in a triangle, each of us making one of the points.”
“Oh, sure,
that makes sense.” he said trying to be a good participant by taking his arm
off of Emma’s shoulder and moving to create the third point. “Sorry.”
“No
problem. It’s all good. I’m so glad to have your love and your masculine energy
here in my room.” She closed her eyes, and put her hands on her knees with her
thumb and middle finger touching. James looked at Emma quizzically. She nodded
that he should do it too. Her fingers were already in the pose and she was
ready to close her eyes. James closed his eyes and then opened one to see what
was happening.”
Louee
began. “Take in a deep breath and let out any old and stale energy from the
day.” She took her own deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “Now, take in
another deep breath and feel the energy in your body. Focus on your heart. Feel
the blood moving through your veins. Feel the joy that is there. Oh Goddess
Mother, Spirits of Light, Angels and Guides, we ask that you bless us all. Bless
me, Emma, James, our friends and families who are with us in our hearts. Bless
all the Souls who have inhabited this room in the past, and clear from this
space any old energy making room for everything that is new and wonderful for
me, Judy, and anyone else who might share this space with us on all levels. We
are so grateful for your guidance and your blessings. Amen.”
She began to chant the Ohm, and
Emma chanted along. James’ eyes popped open
and he closed them quickly and quietly also began to chant. After five
or six times, Louee began to speak again. “Thank you angles and guardians. We embark
upon this blessing with gratitude and loving.”
Louee opened
her eyes and smiled at James and Emma. Their eyes were already open.
“That was really lovely,” said
Emma. I really felt the energy that time. More than I ever have before.”
“That’s fantastic Emma,” said
Louee. She grabbed her hand and squeezed it as a broad smile played upon her
face. I’m sad that Kate and Georgie couldn’t be here, but it’s wonderful to
have you here James. I’m so happy you’re with us. Thank you for agreeing.
“My pleasure. Are we done?”
“Oh no! We’ve just started! First I
place the stone and then we smudge. THEN we can go to dinner knowing that all
is well. Would you two please sit there
and either out loud or inside, chant the ohm while I place the stones?”
“Sure,” said Emma enthusiastically.
James looked at her. He didn’t quite know this Emma.
Louee gasped and her eyes widened. “Why
don’t you sit knee to knee and hold hands. I think that would add some wonderful
relationship energy into my room!”
They did as they were bidden. Louee
took the pouch and carefully took the stones one at a time and placed them in a
clockwise direction starting with the door. She hummed softly and had a dreamy
look on her face as she chose each stone specifically for each spot. When she
was done she counted the stones left. She closed her eyes, chose three from the
bag, and placed them in front of the door. Her forehead wrinkled as she looked at
the three stones. Out of the remaining stones, she gave one to James, one to
Emma, and kept one for herself. “These
are for you to keep. I’ll tell you about them at dinner.”
“Angeles of light and life be with
us now as we cleans any old, stuck energy, and strengthen the positive, loving
energy that is already in this place.”
She gave them each a stick of Sage
and they followed her lead, lighting the tips of the greenish blue leafs in the
candles. Before long there were three glowing tips of light emanating thin
streams of sage smoke. Louee stood up, joyful but solemn. Okay, just follow my
lead. Say what I say. First we’ll stand in the center together, then we’ll turn
our backs to each other and walk out from where we are. Take your sage stick
and run it along the surfaces of the walls and furniture. Don’t touch the sage
to anything, but just let the smoke touch the surfaces so that it will release
from the wood and other surfaces whatever is not appropriate for the current
energy of the room. Make sure you don’t step on the stones. Oh. Let’s take our
shoes off and smudge them first. Like this.” She demonstrated running the
smoking stick around the shoes as she held them one at a time. She then smudged
an area near the wall and put her shoes there. James and Emma followed suit.
James would roll his eyes and smirk whenever he caught Emma’s eyes and Louee
wasn’t looking. Emma would look at him sternly as if to say, stop it, be serious. This is important to her. Shoes placed
against the wall, the threesome, backs together raised their smudge sticks in
the air in front of them.
“Okay, just say what I say after I
say it, okay?”
“Sure,” said James.
“Okay,” said Emma.
“Holy of holies we ask for your
presence here today.”
“Holy of holies we ask for your
presence here today.” Louee continued, and Emma and James repeated after her.
“We thank you for loving presence
and for the work you are doing through us now.”
This went on for way too long
according to the look on James’ face and the tone of his voice.”
“And so be it,” declared Louee.
“And so be it,” repeated Emma and
James.
“Now we move out away from each
other and smudge the areas we are near. Move in a counter clockwise direction
until you wind up back where you started. Take your time. Be in touch with your
heart and your inner healer. Even though you two won’t be living here, you’ll still
benefit from this ritual. It will help guide you when you are back home
embarking upon your own next step journeys.
The three of them went around the
room smudging. Louee was so involved that she didn’t notice what Emma and James
were doing. James was pretending to be a ballerina and tippy toeing as if he
were Tinkerbelle with a wand. Emma would sometimes see him and admonish him
with a finger wagging, but it took all of her self-control not to burst out
laughing, especially since when he caught her eye he also added exaggerated facial
expressions.
At one point Louee, exuberant with
her own process, turned to see her friends who immediately went back to serious
smudging. Louee saw the quick movements and assumed that they were just
enthusiastically smudging their portions and it made her smile. She took a deep
breath, put her hand to her heart and kept working on her own section.
Louee started to sing her favorite
Beach Boy’s song over the mystical music on her tape recorder…
There's a world where I can
go
Emma
smiled and joined in with her…”
And tell my secrets to
In my room
In my room
In my room
In my room
In this world I lock out
All my worries and my fears
In my room
In my room
All my worries and my fears
In my room
In my room
Do my dreaming and my scheming lie
awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing laugh at yesterday
Do my crying and my sighing laugh at yesterday
They were
back where they started and Louee began to make up her own words as she turned
off the cassette player.
Now it's dark but I’M WITH FRIENDS
SO I’LL NOT BE AFRAID
In my room
In my room
In my room
I’m so glad that you are here
I never will forget
My dear friends
My dear friends.
My dear friends
My dear friends.
She
embraced them both and started to cry. “I’m going to miss you guys so much. I
love you so much. Thank you for being here with me.”
Emma’s
eyes started to tear up and the threesome broke up and Emma and Louee embraced
“Any time you need me, you just call. I’m just a phone call away. You’re going
to have a great year Louee. Enjoy yourself. Find your passion here and follow
it. You’re so good at that anyway.”
James
cleared his voice. “Can we break up this little love fest. We have stinky,
burning sticks in our hands. What do you want to do with these Louee other than
trying to set each others’ hair on fire?” He had removed the burning sage
plants from each of their hands while they were embraced one another and
rocking from side to side.
“You’re
so practical, James! I’m glad you agreed to come with us!” said Louee, tears
staining her face. She dried her eyes with the back of her hand. “Dinner. Let’s
go find some pizza or something.”
“Thank
God!” said James. “What do you want to do with the stones that are all over the
place, especially the ones that are in front of the door.”
“Oh, I
need to leave them over night. We can move the ones out from in front of the
door. We’ll put them back in front of the door when we come back.”
“You
know, since Judy isn’t coming in till tomorrow, if you want to have a chance to
be alone in your room,” said Emma, “James and I can leave after dinner.”
“No! I
want you to share my space tonight. We’ll go out for a nice breakfast in morning,
my treat, and then you can go home.”
“My stomach is not very happy right
now; it needs to eat something,” James said pretending to be the Frankenstein
monster, hands outstretched and coming for the girls!”
“Okay,
okay, we’re going!” said Louee laughing and running out of his reach. “I’ll
meet you at the elevator. I just want to make sure everything is set before I
leave the room,” she said. Emma and James, hand-in-hand walked down the hall
toward the elevator. Louee blew out the candles, made sure the sage sticks were
no longer burning and placed everything back on the tray in the middle of the
room. She then raised her hands and face up toward the sky, closed her eyes and
a little shudder ran through her body. With a smile on her face she said, “And
it is done!” She looked joyfully around the little room obviously delighted
with everything she was seeing, walked out of the room, locked the door, and
joined her friends at the elevator.
