Fetish Affection

If you want a list of the items, activities or beliefs to which I am unreasonably devoted, my family can oblige. A sneak peek at that list: tea, super-spicy gingersnaps, the conspiracy theory podcast I subscribe to...but these things just aren't all that interesting as fetishes go. And there's a fine line, when it comes to something like my tea, between fetish and addiction.

Here's the interesting bit. Fetishes as stand-ins for something else. I have a niece. I've known her since the day she was born. Early in her life, I got to spend plenty of time with her and build a relationship that sadly faded as she started school and her family's lives filled up with activity and drama. We didn't get to see one another much. But at one point, her mother called me to confide that the girl was having nightmares. Terrible, uncontrollable nightmares. I offered a few suggestions, but afterward, I went up to my room - my office/religious space/guest room. I cast my circle, called my quarters, invoked Deity and consecrated thread to my purpose. I braided the threads while reciting something I'd written for the occassion. I'd created a nightmare bind for my niece. She was to wear it as a bracelet or anklelet. It would allow only good dreams reach her. I gave it to her mother and that was the last I heard. To this day, I have no idea whether it had any impact whatsoever. In regard to the nightmares at any rate.

A few years later, I had evidence that little fetish I'd created had indeed made an impression. I had to undergo surgery. The first I'd ever had that required I be cut open. I was nervous. The day before I checked into the hospital, my sister-in-law came to see me. She pressed a length of yarn into my hand and said, "The girl wanted you to have this. She made it."
"What is it?" I asked.
"A bracelet. Like you gave her. So you'll be okay," she said.
I put it on and wore it right into the hospital where the nurse informed me that I couldn't possibly wear it into the operating room. If I did, I'd lose it. The doctor would cut it off and throw it away. So I took off the gift, but I wrapped it around the wrist of my other fetish where it has remained for the eleven years since.