Palo Arrests in New Jersey
catherine yronwode
retrieved from a New Jersey television station's website. Note that the
practices mentioned in this piece would also apply in part to some
hoodoo practices, for both Palo Mayombe and hoodoo have roots in Central
African religion (not Western African religion as stated below). The
statement below that Palo is not a "sanctioned religion" is egregious
racist bulls*** in my humble opinion. The statement that Palo Mayombe is
"like Voodoo" is only mildly accurate, but not worth fighting about. The
statement that Palo Mayombe is like "black magic" is racist bordering on
insane, in my opinion. Letters to the television station might be
productive of better reporting in the future. -- cat
--------------re-post of e-list posting---------------------
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 02:51:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Chris <grisgr...@yahoo.com>
Subject: Palo arrests
For everyone's information,
-- Chris.
-------
Two Arrested After Raid On NJ Home Uncovers Stolen Remains, Temple
(Newark-WABC, October 7, 2002) -
In a disturbing case, a father and son were arrested in Newark, accused
of robbing graves. The two men say they were taking bodies from
cemeteries to conduct religious ceremonies. A word of warning: Details
of this story are graphic. New Jersey Reporter has more from Newark.
The FBI and local police raided the home of Eddie Figueroa and Eddie
Figueroa Jr. on Monday. The investigators got a real surprise when they
entered the lower basement of the house and found the remains of both
humans and animals. Prosecutors say the Figueroas had taken the remains
to perform "bizzare rituals."
A decade-long mystery may be solved, as officials say they now know who
has been desecrating Newark-area cemeteries. Police say members of a
small religious group called Palo Mayombe are responsible for raiding
the graves.
Dean Maglione, Essex County Assistant Prosecutor: "They take the head
and they put in a cauldron. And after they put it in a cauldron, they
put some other ingredients in there and they sell services, they sell
ceremonies. People pay to sit in a room with cauldron."
Two alleged members of the group, 56 year-old Eddie Figueroa Sr. and his
35 year-old son Eddie Jr., were arrested. When police raided their
basement, investigators say it was set up like a temple, complete with
human remains, animal bones an altar and cauldrons.
The suspects friends would not talk to us on camera Tuesday, but spoke
to us through their front door.
Suspects' Friend: "The police said that they found bones. That's it.
There's no human remains, it was just bones. That's it. Skeleton bones."
Jeff Rossen, Eyewitness News: "Police say they were stealing the bones
from cemeteries."
Suspects' Friend: "A lot of things they say are not true."
The religious group, Palo Mayombe, is an offshoot of Christianity. It
started in West Africa and came to the US with Cuban immigrants. It is
not a sanctioned religion, but using human remains in ceremonies is
apparently part of it. Prosecutors likened the religion to voodoo
and black magic.
Maglione: "When they go out and steal a body, they have a body in mind.
There are two general criteria they look for. Either they are looking
for evil bones, and they'll target politicians, mobsters or previous
priests, or on the other hand, they'll target people based on the day
that they died, the date they were born or the date on the crypt."
Michael Perna was personally effected by the crime. Devastated to learn
that police believe his father's remains were taken by Palo members in
the late 1990's.
Michael Perna, Victim's Son: "I just want the remains back, if they have
them. I mean I want to know what happened to him. It's as simple as
that."
The two suspects, Eddie Figueroa and his son, were arraigned in a Newark
courtroom Tuesday, charged with desecration of remains and receiving
stolen property.
Copyright ©2002 ABC Inc., WABC-TV Inc.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/WABC_100802_stolenremains.html
Mambo Racine Sans Bout
> started in West Africa and came to the US with Cuban immigrants. It is
What is a "sanctioned religion", anyhow? Is there a world
organization which "sanctions" religions?
Oh, well, you can't blame people for ignorance, it's our job to get
the word out about the true nature of these religions.
Desecration of graves and receiving stolen property... hummmmmm, I
wonder what punishment they will get?
Peace and love,
Mambo Racine
The VODOU Page - http://members.aol.cmo/racine125/index1.html
cy...@visi.com
>Desecrating graves is considered "ok" with you Cat?
>
>Pull your head out of your asshole. You might find some light that way.
>
>Grave robbing, for religious or any other reason, is wrong. Period, end of
>discussion.
>
>If you want a skull for ritual purposes I suggest that you go dig up YOUR
>OWN GRANDMOTHER'S GRAVE and use HERS.
>
>I hope these assholes go straight to prison for a nice long time, and
>perhaps those who support this practice can join them.
>
>-- Grave Robbers Go to Prison
>
>
>In article <3DAFB9...@luckymojo.com>,
>catherine yronwode <c...@luckymojo.com> wrote:
>>What follows is forwarded from an e-list where it was posted after being
>>retrieved from a New Jersey television station's website. Note that the
>>practices mentioned in this piece would also apply in part to some
>>hoodoo practices, for both Palo Mayombe and hoodoo have roots in Central
>>African religion (not Western African religion as stated below). The
>>statement below that Palo is not a "sanctioned religion" is egregious
>>racist bulls*** in my humble opinion. The statement that Palo Mayombe is
>>"like Voodoo" is only mildly accurate, but not worth fighting about. The
>>statement that Palo Mayombe is like "black magic" is racist bordering on
>>insane, in my opinion. Letters to the television station might be
>>productive of better reporting in the future. -- cat
>>
(copyrighted news article snipped)
I missed it. Where did she say grave robbing was okay? She objected
to what she regarded as careless and prejudiced reporting, but I
missed her saying anything about desecrating graves being okay.
--
rbc:vixen,Minnow Goddess,Willow Watcher,and all that sort of thing.
Often taunted by trout.
Very slow on replying to email.
http://www.visi.com/~cyli
catherine yronwode
>
> Desecrating graves is considered "ok" with you Cat?
I reposted a television news article, making no personal comments or
judegements.
I believe you are the person who has trolled alt.religion.orisha
repeatedly under dozens of one-shot nyms, and, to tell the truth, i
think you are mentally ill
> Pull your head out of your asshole. You might find some light
> that way.
Aggressive scatology won't make your mischaracterization of me any more
accurate. Calm down, read what i wrote slowly, and see if you can
understand why your hostility is inapppropriate. If you still feel
hostile and all riled up on a second reading, try posting a coherent
message under your own name, and maybe we can discuss the issues that
have set you off. As it is, you are just raving.
> Grave robbing, for religious or any other reason, is wrong. Period,
> end of discussion.
That is indeed the law in the USA, but each culture has its own laws.
In India, for instance, many holy men -- Shaivite saddhus -- live in
cremation grounds and sleep among the bones and human remains,
decorating their bodies with the ashes of burned bodies. They are not
grave robbers; indeed, people around them consider them living saints
and bring them presents of food and clothing, then ask for their
blessings.
> If you want a skull for ritual purposes I suggest that you go dig up
> YOUR OWN GRANDMOTHER'S GRAVE and use HERS.
I suggest that because of your strong aversion against working with the
dead, you not undertake any sort of African diaspora religious
practices. Stay away from Hindu Shaivism, also.
> I hope these assholes go straight to prison for a nice long time, and
> perhaps those who support this practice can join them.
Conviction for biolations of local grave-desecration laws does carry a
jail (if not a prison) sentence, but in the USA there are no Thought
Police, so people who "support" illegal actions such as those are not
arrested or jailed. In America, you actually have to *commit* a crime to
be charged with one.
> -- Grave Robbers Go to Prison
Despite your missatements about me, your crude scatology, your
anonymity, and your repeated trolling, i hope you get help. You are not
doing very well, and it shows.
cat
> In article <3DAFB9...@luckymojo.com>,
> catherine yronwode <c...@luckymojo.com> wrote:
Mambo Racine Sans Bout
ceremonies. They don't intend disrespect. I even remember one Mambo
who was about to die telling her initiates who could have her skull
and who could have her femur and so on.
Of course, taking bones without permission, especially from a grave
that is still tended by a caring family, isn't very nice.
Cat's comments touched on the biased nature of the reporting, however,
not her opinion of the practice of Palo Mayombe.
Peace and love,
Bon Mambo Racine Sans Bout Sa Te La Daginen
"Se bon ki ra" - Good is rare
Haitian proverb
The VODOU Page - http://members.aol.com/racine125/index.html
(Posting from Jacmel, Haiti)
catherine yronwode
> > Cat's comments touched on the biased nature of the reporting,
> > however, not her opinion of the practice of Palo Mayombe.
>
> has made it clear that in "her" mind there is no problem with this
> practice.
You are fabricating lies again, Mr. Anonymous Trolls R Us.
Racine is correct. I spoke of bias in reporting. I gave no personal
opinion about Palo Mayombe.
> You demand that your religions be treated as "ok", "valid" and
> otherwise as Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and others
> are treated in this country.
You think you know my religion, now, do you? Kid, you're so far wrong
it's funny. I was born Jewish and the last church i was a member of was
Landmark Gospel Church.
[snip rest of rant predicated on the false premise that i am a member of
the Palo Mayombe religion.]
Good luck finding someone else to incite to anger, little troll. You're
not doing too well in this newsgroup at this time.
cat yronwode
Lucky Mojo Curio Co. http://www.luckymojo.com/catalogue.html
Send e-mail with your street address to cata...@luckymojo.com
and receive our free 32 page catalogue of hoodoo supplies and amulets
Denise Oliver-Velez
Many religions make use of articles from and of the dead - and many
cultures open graves and take items from the graves to use for a
variety of purposes - the Museums of the world - with the assistance
of archaeologists are full of grave relics.
There are numerous websites documenting the use of reliquaries by
Catholics - though I've never heard of anyone being arrested for
having a piece of a "Saint's" hair or bone in their possession.
I have no personal knowledge of the practices of Paleros - since I am
not rayado - or of this particular pair of practitioners - though the
photo attached to the article seems to show a large prenda being
carried by a policeman in a white bio-hazard suit.
I wonder what the spiritual ramifications of moving someones prenda -
entering a "Temple" and taking out the ritual articles are? Hmmm
Would be interested in reading some comments from those people who are
knowledgable.
Denise
Eoghan Ballard
Paleros do use bones both animal and human in the composition of their
spiritual vessels or religious relics. This is derived from the
ancestral worship found in varying forms among all the Bantu speaking
peoples of the Southern Half of Africa and is analogous to the
Catholic practice of venerating the bones of saints.
Palo is not a derivative of Christianity, although there has been some
syncretization in certain branches of Palo.
However, though human bones are used, there is nothing macabre about
this. It is from a very distinct cultural heritage which appears
strange to "mainstream" USA. It does not follow that all paleros are
grave robbers nor that because they utilize bones, they are to be
suspected of crime or even murder. The overwhelming majority of
paleros are law-abiding citizens despite attempts by various outsiders
to paint them as otherwise. They do not sacrifice people, and there is
no justification of even saying that paleros used to do so, let alone
do so today. They do not.
Bones are legally available and can even be purchased by mail order or
over the internet. There have always been a few "cowboys" who through
misguided desires at following tradition or because they are trying to
be macho, have robbed graves. I assure you that the majority in the US
as well as in Cuba do not do so. Any half way intelligent palero can
and will get a receipt for the bones he buys.
There are yahoos all over the place (especially on the net) who come
out in cases like this to make a big deal of it. They really aren't
worth the time to talk with.
Ray
through www.anatomicalcharts.com
ebal...@sas.upenn.edu (Eoghan Ballard) wrote in message news:<9d1cded8.02102...@posting.google.com>...
Mambo_Tomika
> over the internet. There have always been a few "cowboys" who through
> misguided desires at following tradition or because they are trying to
> be macho, have robbed graves. I assure you that the majority in the US
> as well as in Cuba do not do so. Any half way intelligent palero can
> and will get a receipt for the bones he buys.
How do you know what you are getting when you purchase mail order? If
you are going to put a person's spirit in a prenda and force them to
work for you, is it not important to know whom you are putting in
there? Are certain people not more desirable than others for certain
types of works?
Mambo Racine is correct about practices in Haiti. It also exists to a
much lesser extent in the US. Despite everyone's objections there is
certainly a history of grave robbing associated with factions of
Hoodoo, Vodou & Palo Mayombe. Just as who's gravedirt you are using to
what means is important so is knowing from whence the bones came.
I can safely state that the majority of Vodouisiant are not Bokors but
that does not mean Bokors do not exist. I can safely state that MOST
Houngan and Mambo in Vodou do not have spirits chained to pots,
forcing them to do work. But some do. Let's not salve over the truth.
> There are yahoos all over the place (especially on the net) who come
> out in cases like this to make a big deal of it. They really aren't
> worth the time to talk with.
It is a big deal. It is something we have to reconcile within our own
communties. As long as people purchase services from those who have
these Spirits, the practice will exist. Yes they work quickly and
efficiently but they also always excise a price.
The good path is the right path. The measure of how powerful a
priest/ess of any ATR is ultimately discerned through how much Grace
they possess. Not by how many djab, pwen or murderers they have tied
to pots. Unfortuntely, subtlety was never a big seller.
Tomika
Eoghan Ballard
mambo...@aol.com (Mambo_Tomika) wrote:
> How do you know what you are getting when you purchase mail order? If
> you are going to put a person's spirit in a prenda and force them to
> work for you, is it not important to know whom you are putting in
> there? Are certain people not more desirable than others for certain
> types of works?
Your remarks show how little you know about Palo, but conversely, how
willing you are to criticize things without experience.
There is not one single font of African religious tradition nor one set
of ways of viewing these things. Talk of "Grace" and the "good and right
path" come out of the rhetoric of Protestant Christianity and not
African religion.
Clearly, you take your info from the tropes circulated by those who
consider Kongo faiths to be "competition" and reinforced by misinformed
or worse, intentially misrepresenting writers such as Wippler, whose
remarks about Palo consist of fairy tales and "ghost stories".
The association of chains with "forced labor" is typical of western
observers who know nothing of Central African Philosophy and
metaphysics.
Any palero worth his salt can find out all he needs to about any bones
through the nfumbe themselves. Further, any nganga needs to be made and
consecrated with a pact between the nfumbe, nkisi and the ngangulero.
Nothing works without consent. Such views are pure nonesense and
strictly the material of legends and tall tales. These are told by
people with their own agendas or out of plain ignorance.
Which then is your excuse?
Eoghan
Tata Nsasi Masongo Quimbisa
DrCain
Can you enlighten me here? Obviously I have misconceptions about
Palo. I was under the impression that Paleros chain bones into
cauldrons with the intent of binding a spirit to do their bidding. Is
this not the case?
I realize that this is probably a FAQ to you, but I'm genuinely
curious.
--zack
Eoghan Ballard
Ngangas as made in Palo, and similar spiritual devices in many West
Bantu spiritual practices use chains. The ignorant and the uninformed
believe that the chain represents some sort of enslavement.
Many in Ocha have used this description to classify Palo as evil and
base. In fact, no nganga works without a mutual agreement, and no palero
has a nganga with which he has not made a pact prior to the creation of
the caldero or casuela. If one stops to think about this, the
condradiction is obvious.
Chains are used to bind the forces within the vessel, but it is to
create a strong physical connection and to root, as it were, the spirit
to the object, not to enslave him. That misunderstanding comes from a
lack of knowledge of Congo metaphysics. The spirit has to be able to
come or go. Only by the sealing of a mutual pact, he is obliged to work
for and with the palero.
If the spirit does not agree to the pact before hand, no bones that the
palero may have belonging to that spirit are of any use to him. All is
based upon tratado and pacto.
Eoghan
DrCain
Very interesting.
Now who exactly lives in the Prenda? Is it the spirit of the person
whose bones are in the pot? Or is the presence of the bone purley
symbolic? Does it make a difference whose bones are used, or will any
bone do? Is there any truth at all to the articles assertion that
certain types of bones are preferable?
Can one prenda be used to contact multiple spirits, or is there a
separate pot for each of the spirits? What is the relationship of the
Palero to his spirits? Are they propriated like the Orishas, or
ordered around like Goetic spirits?
--Zacl
Eoghan Ballard
za...@zackmagic.com (DrCain) wrote:
In a word, yes.
--
Eoghan Ballard
University of Pennsylvania
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Monolingualism is a cureable disease!
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Dr. Typhon.Ra
Do you have on CD the mojo blues music?
I would love to have this.
Dr. Typhon.Ra
Does anyone have CD's of the mojo blues music
of the 20's & 30's? I will buy these from you
or if you can tell me where to find them please let
me know. Thank you.
Typhon.Ra
catherine yronwode
>
> cat,
>
> Do you have on CD the mojo blues music?
> I would love to have this.
The lyrics at my site have discographies so you can locate the CDs that
interest you. Join the prewar blues e-list (at yahoo groups) if you want
to discuss 1920s - 30s blues music wiuth others similarly interested.
cat yronwode
Hoodoo and Blues Lyrics --------- http://www.luckymojo.com/blues.html
DocCain
> In a word, yes.
Oh.