I actually had this dream back on 10/22/08, but just never got around to posting it. Initially, I was walking with my older sister, her daughters, and my female cousin. My cousin took me into a Botanica that I have never been in before. The owner of the Botanica was a beautiful carmel-colored woman who looked very much like the illustration I did of Oshun (dressed almost the same too, except her colors were somehwat subdued). She approached me and mentioned something about me being out-of-sync, and asked, "When had I become a Babalawo?", or "Since when was I a Babalawo?" (Or something like that) She proceeded to take a brown paper bag fill it with things: an offering bowl, some candles, two tiny sticks on incense, etc. She also gave me a doll (like the circus cupie dolls), except that it was brown-skinned, and dressed exactly like her. There was also something very odd about the doll's face. It had what appeared to be sparkling whiskers drawn on it.

While still in the store, a dark-skinned man came up to us. He was smoking a cigar. I could not see his face. His features were completely undecipherable. He blew his smoke into the bag. It was at that moment, that I realized that she was Oshun, and he was Chango. I knew that I had to take the bag somewhere. I suddenly found myself at the remains of an apartment building that had been mostly consumed in a fire. My cousin was with me as well. I began heading towards a room that was getting flooded by outdoor light because pieces of the ceiling were missing. There was sparkling ash in the air. I saw the man again as I walked past the remains of the stairs. He was standing in a doorway on the second floor, still smoking his cigar... just watching. In the center of the lit room, was the remains of an enormous white stone or marble crucifix with the figure of Jesus still on it. It was almost untouched by the fire, despite the fact that it was a the floor covered by ash and burnt wood. It was also surrounded by the remains of candles and incense... As if many rituals had taken place here. Countless ones. That's when I started taking the contents of Oshun's bag out and placing them around the crucifix, as if I had done this before. I was working some sort of spell... But what? Then I woke up.

Notes: Ọṣun (or Oshun, Ochun) in Yoruba mythology, is a spirit-goddess (Orisha) who reigns over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth and diplomacy. In Cuban Santería, Oshun is an Orisha of love, maternity and marriage. She has been syncretized with Our Lady of Charity (La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre), Cuba's patroness. In Yorùbá religion, Ṣàngó (also spelt, Sango or Shango, often known as Xangô or Changó in Latin America and the Caribbean, and also known as Jakuta) is perhaps the most popular Orisha; he is a Sky Father, god of thunder and lightning. A Babalawo, literally meaning 'father or master of the mysteries' in the Yoruba language, is a Yorùbá title that denotes a Priest of Ifa. Ifa is a divination system that represents the teachings of the Orisa.