Neilikka
08-29-2008, 04:07 AM
Russian women enjoy a whole range of esoteric weapons to change their lives. The irony is that the feeling of despair can lead them to many different places.
My friend Zhanna was going to get divorced. She said she had to do it because she could no longer stand the constant fights with her unfaithful husband, even though she loved him and was dreaming of spending the rest of her life in his company.
One of her husband's colleagues was fighting for the same thing from him, so the details of the conflict were as clear as the ending of the story predictable (especially since my friend's husband completely lacked any willpower).
The divorce was inevitable. First, Zhanna was crying on everybody's shoulders and then she practically disappeared for about four weeks. Nobody wanted to bother her during this great crisis and depression (in fact, everybody at this time was fed up with her suffering), so nobody knew anything about her condition during that period of time.
Later, when Zhanna finally rang me up I was surprised by the cheerful tone of her voice. She invited me for dinner at her place.
"Anna, my husband and I would be happy to see you at the birthday party of our son."
"Your husband?" I asked. "But..."
"Yes, I'll tell you the whole story later, she said. "You are going to be shocked!"
So during the party (where, by the way, I saw Zhanna's happy husband gushing over her), Zhanna led me to her kitchen and told me the whole story of how she went to visit "Maria," who is - if not a witch - then at least a good fortuneteller.
"Maria told me everything about me, him, his colleague at work... I was impressed. She was wise in all the things she was saying to me."
"Did you?" But she interrupted before I could even finish my sentence.
"Yes. I cast a spell on him."
Of course I've always known you could type "bewitch a man" into any search engine and find a variety of books with tempting titles like, "How to Bewitch Him For Your Whole Life" and etc. But I never really believed that it could work.
What Zhanna told me was amazing: her husband and she were one step from signing all the divorce papers; he was already packing his stuff to move to a hotel room he was going to rent...
Then Maria burnt some candles, uttered some incantations, and Zhanna's husband crawled back to her in 24 hours.
After some time, Zhanna insisted she take me to Maria.
I waited for 5 hours in a narrow corridor behind a line of women all waiting for a chance to speak with Maria (some faces seemed familiar to me). Since I could not think of anybody to cast a spell on, I decided just to talk to Maria about her rather unique job.
I entered a small, cozy room that had icons all over the walls. Then I saw a charming Armenian woman sitting in her armchair by a round table cluttered with crystal balls and candles and pins and other magical things.
"Hi, Anna," she said. "Please sit down." She was eating a cheese sandwich.
"Hi," I said. (I am going to miss this part of the conversation since I could not resist the temptation of asking some things about my life)
"So, Maria, how many clients do you have a day?"
"Well, it depends on the day, but as a rule nearly 15-20. Many of them are regulars; some are famous - so I let them jump the queue."
"What kind of problems do people usually have?"
"Officially I'm a healer (she shows me her diplomas hanging on the walls), so half of people come to me with their health problems. Others have problems in relationships. I do not actually caste a spell, what I do is make some improvements in a situation. I can cast a spell as a last resort, when a man is leaving his wife (if she is a housewife) and three children or something like that. Some people just want me to tell fortunes by cards."
"What's your religion?
I'm Orthodox. And I believe God gave me and my mother (and my grandmother) the gift of fortunetelling to help people. That's the reason I'm working six days a week from 10 a.m. until the last client. And I'm ok with that. By the way, that Scorpio you'll meet next week is very rich."
I left Maria's room and passed through a corridor full of different women: young, old, beautiful, charming and ugly, simple and glamorous... You never know what a woman can do "to improve the situation..."
Anna Ozar
My friend Zhanna was going to get divorced. She said she had to do it because she could no longer stand the constant fights with her unfaithful husband, even though she loved him and was dreaming of spending the rest of her life in his company.
One of her husband's colleagues was fighting for the same thing from him, so the details of the conflict were as clear as the ending of the story predictable (especially since my friend's husband completely lacked any willpower).
The divorce was inevitable. First, Zhanna was crying on everybody's shoulders and then she practically disappeared for about four weeks. Nobody wanted to bother her during this great crisis and depression (in fact, everybody at this time was fed up with her suffering), so nobody knew anything about her condition during that period of time.
Later, when Zhanna finally rang me up I was surprised by the cheerful tone of her voice. She invited me for dinner at her place.
"Anna, my husband and I would be happy to see you at the birthday party of our son."
"Your husband?" I asked. "But..."
"Yes, I'll tell you the whole story later, she said. "You are going to be shocked!"
So during the party (where, by the way, I saw Zhanna's happy husband gushing over her), Zhanna led me to her kitchen and told me the whole story of how she went to visit "Maria," who is - if not a witch - then at least a good fortuneteller.
"Maria told me everything about me, him, his colleague at work... I was impressed. She was wise in all the things she was saying to me."
"Did you?" But she interrupted before I could even finish my sentence.
"Yes. I cast a spell on him."
Of course I've always known you could type "bewitch a man" into any search engine and find a variety of books with tempting titles like, "How to Bewitch Him For Your Whole Life" and etc. But I never really believed that it could work.
What Zhanna told me was amazing: her husband and she were one step from signing all the divorce papers; he was already packing his stuff to move to a hotel room he was going to rent...
Then Maria burnt some candles, uttered some incantations, and Zhanna's husband crawled back to her in 24 hours.
After some time, Zhanna insisted she take me to Maria.
I waited for 5 hours in a narrow corridor behind a line of women all waiting for a chance to speak with Maria (some faces seemed familiar to me). Since I could not think of anybody to cast a spell on, I decided just to talk to Maria about her rather unique job.
I entered a small, cozy room that had icons all over the walls. Then I saw a charming Armenian woman sitting in her armchair by a round table cluttered with crystal balls and candles and pins and other magical things.
"Hi, Anna," she said. "Please sit down." She was eating a cheese sandwich.
"Hi," I said. (I am going to miss this part of the conversation since I could not resist the temptation of asking some things about my life)
"So, Maria, how many clients do you have a day?"
"Well, it depends on the day, but as a rule nearly 15-20. Many of them are regulars; some are famous - so I let them jump the queue."
"What kind of problems do people usually have?"
"Officially I'm a healer (she shows me her diplomas hanging on the walls), so half of people come to me with their health problems. Others have problems in relationships. I do not actually caste a spell, what I do is make some improvements in a situation. I can cast a spell as a last resort, when a man is leaving his wife (if she is a housewife) and three children or something like that. Some people just want me to tell fortunes by cards."
"What's your religion?
I'm Orthodox. And I believe God gave me and my mother (and my grandmother) the gift of fortunetelling to help people. That's the reason I'm working six days a week from 10 a.m. until the last client. And I'm ok with that. By the way, that Scorpio you'll meet next week is very rich."
I left Maria's room and passed through a corridor full of different women: young, old, beautiful, charming and ugly, simple and glamorous... You never know what a woman can do "to improve the situation..."
Anna Ozar