Tarot Mercedes Dantes ((hot)) File

Mercedes Dantes—born Marcus Dupré to a Haitian father and a NOLA Creole mother—is not your typical tarot reader. For one, she doesn’t own a crystal ball. For another, she learned to read cards not in a coven, but in a cell at San Quentin, where she served nine years for a robbery she now calls “a spectacularly stupid act of youthful hunger.”

“I’ve been doing this twenty years,” she says, lighting a cigarette even though indoor smoking is illegal in California. “I’ve never had anyone pay me the secret. People are terrified of being known.” I ask for a reading. She doesn’t ask my question. She doesn’t ask my birth date or zodiac sign. She simply splits the deck with her left hand (the hand of the heart, she explains) and lays out five cards face down. tarot mercedes dantes

She gave me a shovel to dig myself out. If you’re in the Bay Area, Tarot Mercedes Dantes can be found most evenings after 7 PM at the corner of International and 23rd. Look for the purple door. Knock three times. Cash only. No refunds on the truth. Mercedes Dantes—born Marcus Dupré to a Haitian father

Her philosophy, which she calls , blends Afro-Caribbean spiritual traditions with what she learned in prison psychology classes. “In San Quentin, I had a cellmate named Miss Bea. She was 64, doing life for killing a man who deserved it. She taught me that divination isn’t about seeing what’s coming. It’s about deciding what you’re willing to do when it arrives.” The Name Why “Mercedes Dantes”? I ask. “I’ve never had anyone pay me the secret