It was 2006, I was visiting family in Lima, Peru with my family . My grand aunt (cousin to my maternal grandmother) graciously welcomed us to her home, where her daughter and grandson stayed with her. The house was grand, and quite old, it had several floors where other family members lived in, (separately), it’s hard to explain but it was more like a small building, where my aunt’s parents used to live, and they inherited the building. It was a tall building with a rooftop deck, and that’s where I would usually hang out. It was the top floor, where they had an apartment, including an office with a computer, and that is where we would check our emails and social media.

One night, I had gone up to use the computer, as I sat down, I felt as if someone was behind me, so I turn around to check, and nobody was there. I had been in that room a few times before and hadn’t felt or seen anything, until that night.

I heard a woman’s voice whisper my name, in Spanish, she says, (I will translate this in English) “Priscilla, I am here…”

My body reacts, by getting goosebumps and my heart starts to race, I hear this spirit so clearly, but I don’t see her, I look around to see where she is.

“I am in the cabinet, at the bottom right…”

I go towards the cabinet behind me and open the door, I realize how rude it is to go through my aunts private space, but spirit this spirit was intense, so, I open up the right side of the cabinet, and I see a human skull!

“That’s me, I need you to get your aunt quickly! Tell her you found me!”

I run down the narrow stairs, hoping that my aunt is still awake, as I approach the lounge area, I see her quietly watching t.v and she looks at me, her eyes open wide , and asks, “Whats wrong?! You look very serious..”

I inform her of the spirit in the computer room and she quickly gets up and as our conversation gained traction, her daughter and my cousin get involved, we run upstairs, to the office.

Upon arriving, I see the spirit by her skull, she’s small, whispy, and transparent. I tell my aunt I can see her, so i begin to describe her as indigenous, sweet elderly lady. Everyone was in heightened awareness, looking to see if they can catch a glimpse of the spirit too.

The spirit then says to me, “Tell her that she doesn’t need to worry, tell her she picked a good skull to protect her family and home.”

I relay the message to my aunt, and she responds, “Thank you, I have always wondered if I picked a good spirit to protect my family and home! I hid the skull because I wasn’t sure how you would all think about a human skull in the house, but it is a tradition for some of us, here, in Peru.”

The spirit continues to talk to me, and says, “I need you to let her know that there is a curse on her family, and I know where the cursed item is!”

My aunt, with her eyes wide open, explains how she has felt cursed in her life and asks me to show her where the cursed item is in her home. I follow the spirit, and everyone else follows behind me, and we get to a locked room, on the same floor, my aunt opens the door, and the space is small but loaded with boxes. The spirit points to a box at the bottom of the shelf, and tells me to open the box. She tells me there’s a painting in the box, and sure enough, there’s an old painting. My aunt grabs it, tells us it was a gift from a woman she said was a “witch”. The spirit tells me to open the frame, so, my aunt finds newspaper which had the same date as her daughter’s birthday. She unravels the newspaper to find thick blood stains on the newspaper, I say, “I am so sorry, that is a curse to never find love” … Everyone is in shock, as they stare at the blood stains, which still looked almost fresh!

The elder spirit confirms that it is true, the curse was to ensure my aunt and her descendants never find love. She also told me that for many years, she has tried to let them know of the curse, but nobody could see or hear her, until I came along. My aunt asks me, “How do I reverse or stop this curse?!”

I remember feeling sad, because I knew that curse was real and strong. I had an inherent knowing that it wouldn’t be easy to reverse the curse, and that my aunt and cousin would never find love. My aunt threw the painting and newspaper in the garbage that night, thinking that, as long as it is not in the house, it won’t affect them.

That night was very intense and long…

I shortened the story to keep it simple and to the point. I do want to add, for texture, that my aunt and my cousins had goosebumps all night, as they watched me communicate with this spirit, more was said and more happened, but it is private.

The next day, my aunt was anxious, telling me that she had thrown the painting in the garbage out on the street but that somehow it ended up in the house again. I explained to her that she will need to burn it, in ceremony and pray, which she did later that evening, even though I had sensed that it might not be enough to be rid of that curse.

Later on that evening, I was in the computer room again and the spirit told me to open a drawer, which, like a curious cat, I did, and she showed me something that was wrapped in a cloth. I open it gently, and it was a card deck, equivalent to a tarot deck. I hadn’t ever used cards or tarot before but the spirit told me to read my aunt and my cousin. I go down to inform my aunt of the cards that spirit wanted me to read. I felt weird having to tell her again that I went through her things hahaha, but she was intrigued and sat down for the reading.

I shuffled the cards, and laid out the cards carefully, I read the spread:

I had seen her beloved younger brother in my inner-vision , I didn’t know him well, but he did live in the building, I met him once briefly, and I tell her that he is sick and that he was misdiagnosed by a doctor. She shifts in her seat and tells me that I am mistaken, because the best doctors are working on him and she trusted the doctors diagnosis.. I gently tell her that I see his respiratory and lungs being a concern. She confirms that his respiratory system was the concern. Again, I tell her that the doctors misdiagnosed him with something else, and that he will pass away in 2 weeks, if she doesn’t get him a second opinion. She doesn’t believe me, she half believes me and I leave it at that.

I did a reading for my cousin as well, and she asks about love and relationships, I specifically told her that a man in Canada will show interest in her, but that she will never be with him, nor live in Canada. She didn’t like what I had to say… (Nobody ever does lol)

Days later, I travel to Arica, Chile to stay with my grandmother. 2 weeks later, I remember sitting down one evening to my dinner, and the phone rang, my grandmother gets up to answer it. I watched her make small talk, then she looks at me intensely, I knew that my aunt was on the call, my grandmother hands me the phone, I say “Hola”

With a deep sigh, my aunt tells me, “You are right, I should have listened to you, my brother passed away today….” There was a long pause, as I listened to my aunt grieve her brother.

We hang up, and my grandmother looks at me in awe, “I knew you were gifted, I have always known….”

To this day, my aunt and my cousin are both single, and lonely… Also, a man from Canada did marry my cousin while he was visiting her, in Peru, but he divorced her shortly thereafter, and my cousin never came to Canada, unfortunately.

Throughout my adult life, I’ve had people ask me, how do I know if someone is cursed, and I kind of have answer, it isn’t as cut and dry as some people might think… for example, many people think regular life struggles/challenges constitutes a “cursed” life, but that is just the imperfect life we live.. A real curse, doesn’t look like just “bad luck”, it comes with other symptoms. I may write about it.. not sure yet.. It’s not exactly a topic I want to share lol Let’s just say that there are a few cultures, in which, have certain people with the esoteric skill to conjure up magic and curses, in which, they will have the particular ability to communicate and summon specific entities to do harm to people and even lineages. There are different levels and degrees of curses, and I have heard some extreme stories that has even shook me to my core, and that’s saying a lot.

The traditional beliefs of my ancestors and some of my present family members center around the protective power believed to be possessed by the skull of an ancestor. It is thought to safeguard the home from negative influences, harm, theft, and malevolent spirits or individuals. This practice originates from ancient Inca customs, when people would preserve the mummies of deceased emperors in their homes to provide protection.