Thursday, March 31, 2005
BATH AND BODY WORKS, YOU'VE GOT COMPETITION
Make room for Botanica Lucero. It may be small now, but all Jose Rodriguez needs is a slick presentation. If he ever meets a New York Ad man, your days may be numbered.
Botanica Lucero is a full service establishment. Herb bath and haircuts? No problem. Step inside. Statues of Catholic saints stand next to African-American dolls, and Indian dream catchers hang by the door. The elephant statue brings good luck, and the luv potions really work according to Yarienid Gonzales.
Rodriguez is a Catholic. A bit poorly catechized, perhaps. He's tried Pentecostalism and Islam but has returned to the faith of his childhood, with a little Santeria mixed in on the side. Boatanica Lucero, though, is a veritable United Nations of faiths, an establishment run for everyone, "a place where they'll be accepted, no matter what religion they practice." Catholic saints and Santerian deities are all the same to Rodriguez. "Like the Catholic saints, each deity--or orisha, as they are called in Santeria--works for certain things. Believers ask different orishas to assist with life's difficulties and protect them from harm." Sadly, I can see his point. An unsophisticated (and theologically incorrect) understanding of the Communion of Saints could lead to such a conclusion.
Botanica Lucero sells what Bath and Body Works sells--potions. Unlike the suburban counterpart, though, it also sells faith, which is probably what the patrons stop in for anyway. We sophisticated American suburbanites are not all that far removed from our primitive roots even if we do insist that our faith products be separated commercially from our sensual indulgences.
