By JILLIAN KRISTINA
Worthiness. Deserving. Acceptance. The instinctive primal desire to belong. Whether we’d like to admit it or not, we all crave these states of being and feeling. These states of love and grace. Sometimes, these urges become so strong and fierce that we leap headlong into what can only be described as “too good to be true.” Sometimes, we ignore red flags because the rose-colored glasses we’ve forged in the fires of desperation serve only to blind us. Deceive us.
When someone tells you who they are, listen to them. Believe them. And then run like hell.
“It’s not too late to flee, you know. You don’t belong in this family. I mean that as a compliment.”
In Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet’s 2019 riotous satanic bloodbath, READY OR NOT, we are about to bear witness to a glorious day – the day that Grace (Samara Weaving) marries into the legendary Le Domas family. Alex Le Domas (Mark O’Brien) has been estranged from his affluent family for two years and has now hesitantly returned to the sprawling estate to wed the love of his life, as is decried by the family. But nerves and tensions are high because Grace feels Alex’s family doesn’t like her and doesn’t accept her.
“Who cares what they think? They’re horrible people.”
Still, she cares because she’s never had a permanent family before. Raised in foster homes, Grace aches for the type of family and foundation that the Le Domases appear to be and to have, no matter how “moderately fucked up” they are. Even after Alex gives her one final out before they join the gathered guests outside, Grace definitively affirms that she’s all in. But even after the vows are exchanged and “I do’s” seal the deal, Grace doesn’t realize that she’s not truly accepted as one of the family. Not just yet. There’s a critical detail that Alex has purposely kept from his new bride – a family secret, a generational rite. Grace and Alex must join the family at midnight for her initiation into the Le Domas clan, into the bloodline.
“It’s just a weird family ritual, and we only have to do it once.”
Patriarch Tony Le Domas (Henry Czerny) gathers everyone around a large table adorned by candles and begins to spin the story of the family’s history, going back to his great-grandfather, Victor Le Domas. In his travels, the elder Le Domas crossed paths with an antiques dealer – one Mr. Le Bail. The two shared a passion for games, and the latter produces a box and a proposition for Victor: Figure out the secret of the box and Mr. Le Bail will finance his business venture. Victor unravels the box’s mystery, and thus truly begins the story of the Le Domas Gaming Dominion.
“So, how much have you told her?”
“Nothing, and I never will.”
“If she pulls that card, are you prepared to do what’s necessary?”
Tony produces the mystery box and passes it around the table. When it returns to him, he holds it until a small, card-sized holder pops out. He goes on to explain that any time someone new joins the family, he places a blank card in the slot, pushes it back in and Mr. Le Bail then decides what game the new initiate will play. He hands the box to Grace, and as all eyes fall upon her in anxious anticipation, the card pops out and she reads it aloud:
“It says, ‘Hide and Seek.’ Are we really going to play that?”
The air seems to be sucked out of the room. The only one smiling is Tony. Alex looks at him in disbelief, confirming that’s the game they’ll be playing. Because of course…
“Those are the rules.”
Yes, those are the rules. That’s tradition, and the Le Domas family never breaks tradition. Ever. Because they’re under the belief that if their tradition – Grace’s initiation – isn’t complete, a fate beyond measure awaits them all. However, Grace doesn’t know this, so she’s sent off to hide while the Le Domas’s arm up with rifles, a battle axe and bows and arrows, the weapons of Victor’s time, distributed to each family member, each inept, fumbling member. While Grace hides, the hunt begins.
“We must kill the bride by dawn!”
As the Le Domases clumsily make their way through the labyrinthian mansion, more than a few misfires happen. Blood is shed, just not from the intended target. Nevertheless, Grace sees it, and now, the real hunt ensues. The odds are now equal, and the latest Mrs. Le Domas is about to show this fatally eccentric family exactly what she’s made of in the most feral of ways. She didn’t make this fiendish pact, but she’s certainly going to make sure that this deal with the devil is broken by the time the sun rises.
“Fuck your family.”
Curse breakers, Monday’s solar eclipse during the New Moon in Aries is your time to shine. This warrior energy will incite tectonic shifts. We will stare down the long barrel of lifetime cycles and everything that’s brought us here and everything we’re never willing to suffer again and find ourselves pulverized by the force and rage of it all. Prepare to be shown where we’ve chosen everything and everyone but ourselves. Where we’ve created pedestals for predators and the emotional toll that has taken (or is taking) on us. In the fires of chaos and destruction, there is also creation. There is a stripping away of ego, of smallness. This cataclysmic event will melt our masks to reveal the majesty of the faces we were conditioned to hide. And even if those faces carry residue from the soot and ashes of our past, the winds of change that await us on the other side of the inferno will lick the last remaining lies from our eyes, so that they can never blind us again.
Grace becomes the eclipse as she bulldozes through the lavish halls of the Le Domas home, blood splattered on every mantle, every statue and candle and mirror and decadence that their years of brutality and blood sacrifice have bought them.
“Maybe one night when I was chanting and slicing the throat of a goat, it occurred to me that that wasn’t a completely normal thing to do. But, and this is what scared me the most… it felt normal. It did. And I realized that you’ll do pretty much anything if your family says it’s ok.”
It’s time to unlearn everything we’ve learned. It’s time to burn not just the pages, but the entire book that we thought defined us. It’s time to put ourselves on pedestals and watch from above as the long decaying bridges we should have torched lifetimes ago finally burn and buckle and crumble to the ground. And it’s time to leave that sour ground behind, once and for all.
Because make no mistake, Justice is being visited upon those who would seek to snuff out our brilliant flames. The scales will rebalance, and with this balance comes forward momentum.
The Wheel of Fortune awaits us, inviting us to find our center within the shifting sands of time and space, as our stories are both released and seeded within the darkness of the New Moon.
With the added intensity and forced night of the eclipse, we may briefly meet with an invitation to spiral instead of flow, as The Shadow Realm might tempt us to see monsters instead of magick, but we know what we’re made of because we’ve made it this far, and we’re only just beginning.
As the invitation begins to fizzle and dissipate, a mounting sense of life and change and alchemy and growth and all the things might begin to overwhelm us as the Five of Wands appears on our path. This is not a hindrance but a suggestion — a question asking us how, with our fresh faces and new eyes, can we make this newfound energy and synergy work for our betterment and advancement at this point in the journey.
As we ground into this seemingly electrified space, the Queen of Swords rises from the static, inspiring us to wield our swords of discernment, truth, boundaries and sovereignty so that we may ground ourselves into this next level – this new realm. In this new space, this space we’ve created, we’ve made way for a profound healing. A righteous reclamation.
The homecoming we’ve been seeking everywhere except within ourselves resides here as we finally allow ourselves to wade within the warm waters of the Ace of Cups. As the shields around our hearts begin to chip and crack and fall away, we release the eternal breath we’ve been holding and begin to root down into the depths and breadths of our own being. Our own voices. Our purpose. Our place in this world.
I’m curious to see where Grace’s new, emblazoned path has led her, but from the sound of it, we just might get a chance to find out. Until then, hold onto your butts! April’s going to be a while ride! Meet me back here in two weeks, where we’ll explore the themes for the Full Moon on the 23rd.
