Word: papaleba
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Dates: during 1955-1955
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...name. She had mysteriously arrived at the height of the voodoo season, and the U.N. figure accompanied her to a celebration of native rites. The Witch Doctor, as he is called, immediately recognized in Mrs. Garrett the one white woman ever to be a favorite of the Haitian god, Papaleba. It is at this point, actually, that her uncanny and mystical experiences commenced...
...sooner had the Witch Doctor, or Unga, divined certain extraordinary qualities of Mrs. Garrett than she fell into a trance. The "healing stones" sacred to Papaleba were tossed into a fire, and Mrs. Garrett was ordered to fetch and lay them before the altar of Papaleba. She accomplished this feat without burning her flesh; and thus, as she says, she passed her "trial by fire." As illustration, Mista Shabine sang for the audience the introductory chant to Papaleba...
...Garrett soon returned to her home in New York, bringing with her the healing stones and an altar. For she had accepted not only the pleasures but the obligations consequent on being the chosen of Papaleba. Every day she placed flowers before the altar to keep the god happy. But something was wrong. Many mornings the flowers were strewn about her living room floor, and other such wild disorders occurred frequently...
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