Out_of_the_Devil_39_s_Cauldron

That night Mari’s life would never be the same as my aunt told her to cut the deck of cards in
three—past, present, and future. As the first deck was laid out, the nightmare began for Mari, with
Aunt Maria telling her about her childhood, her broken home, and the dysfunctional family she was
brought up in. As Mari heard my aunt speak these words, not knowing a thing about her past, she
choked and tried to hold back her tears. Aunt Maria went into the second deck of cards, and that’s
when the gypsy spirit dug deeper into Mari’s soul and exposed the charade she had going with
Carmen.
“You and your so-called sister Carmen, you aren’t really sisters are you?” Aunt Maria said,
her black eyes penetrating through Mari like she was transparent.
Mari looked at her in despair, swallowed hard, and with a small voice said, “No, we aren’t.”
“And you also have a live-in boyfriend,” Aunt Maria continued, smirking. “You’re a pretty
good liar. Does my nephew know about this?”
Mari looked down, not daring to look Aunt Maria straight in the eye, and with a small whisper
she said, “No.”
Suddenly my aunt stood up from the chair, glared down at Mari, and pointed her long finger at
her face. “I am a high-ranked witch. If anything were to happen to my nephew, if even a hair is
missing from his head, I will destroy you piece by piece and your family one by one with my powers,
and I will send you straight to hell,” she said, her voice low and cunning. “So we’re going to call
John into the room right now. This card reading has come to an end, and you will tell him everything.”
And that’s exactly what they did. Before that night was over, I learned everything there was to
know about Mari, her secret boyfriend, and the girl who claimed to be her sister. From that point on,
Aunt Maria and I formed a tight relationship because that was the night I made a pact with the devil
and the power of espiritismo.
I loved having the power to control and the idea of pretending to be one person, yet being
another. It was like leading a double life. It drew me closer and more involved in a relationship with
the devil and his demons. That night Mari decided she would break up with her live-in boyfriend, but
only if I forgave her and was willing to commit myself to a serious relationship with her. I said yes to
both. Mari’s first decision was to move in with her mother, and her friend Carmen supported the idea.
Mari stayed with her mom for awhile and sometime later moved in with me and my family in
the housing projects. She and I stayed there for a short time until we saved enough money for our own
apartment. We went out in the evenings and worked hard by day, fixing up our new apartment with
style. Between the furniture, the freshly painted walls, and the artwork we had chosen, our place
became one-of-a-kind. Friends and family loved it every time they came to visit.
Things were going so well we knew we were destined to be together. After dating for awhile,
Mari came out one day and said, “John, I think we should get married on Halloween.” We had talked
about it back and forth but never made serious plans before. “We met on Halloween, so it’s a perfect
day to tie the knot. What do you think?”
I didn’t hesitate a second. “Wow, that sounds like a great idea. That’s the day we’ll get
married then.”
Later, Mari and I also attended secret ceremonies and witchcraft parties held in people’s
basements or apartment houses. She got pulled into the religion gradually, over time, because of the
excitement it had to offer. Here was something totally different in her life—different from being
Catholic. In her mind it was just white magic; black magic was only used when she needed to defend
herself—at least that’s how she justified it. This demonic world of espiritismo and Santeria is very