Who is The Dark Lady?
The Dark Lady is a mythical, magical Woman, the heart of our shop and it’s patroness as well as it’s protector…. but who is the Lady herself?
We draw the name of our shop from the immortal Cher, of course! Her 1973 song, Dark Lady, tells of a New Orleans card reader and an unfortunate series of events….
“The fortune queen of New Orleans
brushing her cat in her black limousine
On the back seat were scratches
From the marks of men her fortune she had won
Couldn’t see through the tinted glass
She said, “Home James” and he hit the gas
I followed her to some darkened room
She took my money, she said, “I’ll be with you soon”CHORUS:
Dark lady laughed and danced
And lit the candles one by one
Danced to her gypsy music
Till her brew was done
Dark lady played black magic
Till the clock struck on the twelve
She told me more about me
Than I knew myselfShe dealt two cards, a queen and a three
And mumbled some words
That were so strange to me
Then she turned up a two-eyed jack
My eyes saw red but the card
Still stayed black
She said the man you love is secretly true
To someone else who is very close to you
My advice is that you leave this place
Never come back and forget you ever saw my faceSo I ran home and crawled in my bed
I couldn’t sleep because of all the things she said
Then I remembered her strange perfume
And how I smelled it once in my own room
So I sneaked back and caught her with my man
Laughing and kissing till they saw the gun in my hand
The next thing I knew they were dead on the floor
Dark lady would never turn a card up anymore”
It’s really quite an amazing song, and if you dont know it, we HIGHLY suggest looking it up and rocking out alongside us!
The Dark Lady is also the Spirit that our shop is dedicated to, a Lwa that comes to us through Haitian Vodou named Erzulie Dantor. Dantor is our beloved Mother, a fierce defender, patroness of women and protector of children, small business, and magic. She is syncretized with the Catholic image of Our Lady of Prompt Succour, the Patron Saint of the city of New Orleans. Her statue is prominently featured at the center of the store’s Grand Altar, where our lamp ceremonies and candle-lighting magics are set.