Two nights ago I moved into my Creole cottage, hereby nicknamed Rogue Château. I started sleeping on the baroque sofa bequeathed to me by the previous inhabitant. The next day a mattress was delivered to my home; so was a Mexican.

Mauricio, the shaman, was on my doorstep at last. In Mexico City he was my host and guide; here in New Orleans, I’m his.

That makes Mau the latest addition to a growing band of spirituales. Also in the city right now are Urban the Vodouisant and Saumya the Vodou/Hindu hybrid. We wander the city with a variety of local misfits and miscreants, crashing our worldviews and laughing.

Happy Holidays from the Rogue Chateau

The week has been busy. Tonight is the most important holiday I celebrate, Samhain. It’s our new year and our Christmas rolled into one. Of course, tonight is also Hallowe’en, quite possibly the biggest street party New Orleans can summon up from its métis depths.

Then tomorrow is Day of the Dead, but it’s also Fête Gede, the Vodou celebration of the death lwa, Gede (one of my favorites). Last year Gede led me on serious misadventures. The celebration at the peristyle (Vodou temple) will likely be long, intense, and hilariously fun—and it will end up at the cemetery.

The day after that is a ceremony at le château. It’s a housewarming for the place, but with the number and variety of savants showing up I’ve deemed it housewarping instead. The blessings will be heaped higher than my neck.

It’s a painfully busy, delightfully crazy week and a very perfect start. There are unknowns. Can I earn enough money? Will I get published? Where are the gods, and if I feel them, why can’t I touch them?

Happy holidays all. Many of you celebrate these beautiful days like I do. Your family might not remember, they won’t send you cards, but that’s part of the tradition now. Build up your tribe, find your own miscreants and heap your own blessings. We are the average of the five wolves we run with.