I posted about this on my author Facebook page a few months ago, but I figured I’d do an expanded version here.
Back in early August, I was heading back from my favorite writing haunt, the local Panera. Why Panera? It’s generally quiet, nobody bothers me, and I get to sometimes act as Mom 2.0 to some of the kiddos working there. It’s a win-win, and I get a free coffee each time I go (no, not a scam…I’m a member of their Sip Club…one free basic drink a day).
I usually play music when I drive, and will alternate between the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s stations. Basically, my thinking is that at least one of them will have something worth listening to at any given time. These are all pre-sets on my car and my parent’s car, which I was using this night. As I’m pulling out of the parking lot, that’s when stuff got weird.
The satellite radio started rapid-fire shifting through stations, though the display didn’t change…it was stuck on the 1960’s station, which is what I was listening to when I turned the car on. It had to have gone thought a dozen stations in the space of about two seconds as best I could tell. This was unnerving for a few reasons. First, this wasn’t my car, and I want my parents to have a functional vehicle. Second, while there are dead spots in Jefferson City where the satellite radio doesn’t play nice, this was not one of those spots. They tend to be more clustered around the capitol proper, where the bigger buildings can block reception. This area was pretty open. My next thought was that the subscription needed to be renewed, but then I remembered that my father had just renewed it a month or so prior. This is also not a car that has had any history of electrical problems, and you can bet that came into my mind almost immediately.
And here’s where it gets really creepy. The station craziness stopped for 1-2 seconds, and what follows were the only discernable chain of words that I heard in this whole event. It was still displaying the 60’s Gold channel, so I have no idea what the actual station would have been.
“Orisha of the Crossroads.”
The voice saying those words was female, and had a very pronounced accent. Best guess was that it sounded Southern, Louisiana-esque. Another comparison for those old enough to remember would be that psychic lady, Miss Cleo, would would advertise when I was young. Then the station kicked back to the 60’s, and hasn’t done any bizzarro behavior like that since.
I did a bit of research when I got home, and am still mystified as to why this particular deity came up. The Orisha of the Crossroads is Eshu, and is seen as the trickster deity who controls fate, crossroads, and the choices we are presented at those crossroads. I am not a practitioner of the Yoruba or Santeria faiths, though I am more familiar with the Norse god with similar attributes/behaviors…Loki. Strange, that.
Edit: At the time, I was on the brink of starting a new job teaching middle school after teaching high school science for over a decade. I thought the change would be good. It…wasn’t. After one year of middle school, I’m going back to teaching high school chemistry. For quite a few months, I thought that whatever came over the airwaves was referencing that. Now, with more recent events, I’m not so sure. I am at a crossroads in my life in multiple respects, and maybe this was something trying to give me a heads up.
Well, it worked. Now to see what else is coming down the pipe. Because something clearly is.
Hilary