by Anna

It seems that on the surface Jesus and Lafayette come from two different traditions, Jesus belonging to the ancient South American-traditions of Mexico and Lafayette linked to the African traditions that his ancestors brought over on the slave ships. Jesus is a follower of Santeria as he recognizes the image of Chango on the altar at Lafayette’s and he also knows about the rituals and sacrifices involved as he tells Lafayette that the Orishas need to be appeased.

When Lafayette and Jesus are playing pool on the wall behind them is a sign which says dos equis.

Apart from its urban slang definition, equis is also the Latin for horses. When an Orisha takes possession of someone they may ‘seize the head’ of a person (or ‘mountthem’ as if they were a horse), and pass on various messages. After offering the Orisha “something else” during the V trip both of them learned things that they didn’t know.

During the V trip we meet two important female figures in Jesus’ life both of whom are curanderas or healers.

Mimi’s oils have saved people from evil.

Cecilia is able to cleanse people’s essences.

The curanderas trace their traditions back to the Toltec and Olmec civilizations which are as old as that of the Druids. Curanderas cure people by working on the spiritual level as well as the physical as there are good and evil powers and evil forces can cause illness. Jesus calls the Virgin of Guadalupe Tonatzin, her name in Nahuatl the language of the Aztecs.

His grandfather, abuelo, on the other hand is a practitioner of the dark arts, a brujo.

Jesus was born in Catemaco renown for sorcery whose practices come from the Toltecs and Mexico is also known for its shamanic tradition. Jesus says of him self that he is the polar opposite of Satan but like Ruby Jean who has been diagnosed as schizophrenic he seems to have two sides to him.

During the V trip Lafayette’s great-great-great-grandmother Mae and her daughter Winnie use magical knowledge brought from Africa.

The role of the conjurer on the plantations was an important one as they were the spiritual leaders of their community and were also often respected by their white masters. Conjuring practices were often used by slaves as a defence against slaveowners and their mystical powers were based on the use of roots, herbs, powders and incantations.

Lafayette’s power would seem to come from Mae and African witchdoctors were also healers who used witchcraft to cure people’s bodies and souls. Skills were passed down through families, and conjurers often had second sight and were known as “two headed.” African traditions form a major part of both Santeria and voodoo, and voodoo’s most well known female conjurer is Marie Laveau.

In theory Tara might be able to access some of the same power as her cousin. It’s also possible that the darkness that runs in the family could be a consequence of the skills and the training being lost, and Lettie and Ruby not being able to use their gifts and channel their latent abilities away from the dark.

Though Lafayette calls Jesus a shaman, it seems to be Lala who has the knowledge of how to travel between the worlds and understands how a V trip “can take you much,much deeper.” It can also connect him with whatever magic and power that he’s got that makes him so attractive to the witches and vampires that Ruby Jean warns him about. Jesus warns Lafayette that all the energy he has can go dark if he lets it, but it’s the trip with Jesus that takes them both to the dark place of the brujo. Lala wakes after the trip and sees assorted dolls talking to him.

It would seem that the good forces want him to come with them

and need him.

but the forces of evil, linked to the images of Jesus’ grandfather, are also trying to get him.