The Stranger I Met Today

I met a Yoruba priestess last week. I don’t get to say that a lot. In fact, I’ve never been able to say that. I met her at a writer’s conference. I was intrigued and peppered her with questions about the process of becoming a priestess. (I also slipped in a few questions about the snippets of her writing that I was able to read. It was fantastic stuff.)  She explained how the research for her novel turned into her training and that the priestess training would be lifelong. This woman, who we’ll call Alice, was gracious and answered my questions with patience and poise. 

It’s a fascinating and scary thought to consider, that even when you’re in a familiar setting, you can encounter something completely foreign. Yoruba was a word that I had never even heard. I wasn’t familiar with the Yoruba religion, which originated in Africa, or the role of the priestess within it. After the conference, I started poking around the internet for more information about the Yoruba beliefs and some of the other things Alice spoke about – Santeria, Voodoo, and other spiritual traditions. I had no idea that a priestess becomes ‘initiated’ and that the Yoruba religion reached the Americas through the slave trade. Now, I do.

Lesson Learned

It’s important to meet ‘Alices’ as often as possible. There’s so much to learn out there in the world. Anytime we start to feel confident about how much we know, we should hop in our car, drive at least an hour from where we live, and walk through the doorway of a place that we’ve never been before. If the idea of randomly checking out a new place causes you any distress at all, then you DEFINITELY should go get in the car right now.