Hoodoo ritual sacrifice shocks family
http://dervishcom.blogspot.com/2011/12/hoodoo-ritual-sacrifice-shocks-family.html
It was an upsetting call from a friend of Michelle Davis' son, one few mothers deep in mourning would want to hear or believe.
Someone left the charred carcass of a bound rooster on the black granite slab that marked Jonathan Bernard Davis' grave at Riverview Memorial Gardens cemetery in Cocoa, Fla.
Michelle Davis learned last month that a rootworker -- a practitioner of African-based folk magic -- used the fowl in a dramatic ritual to enlist her dead son in a spiritual battle beyond the grave. An almost empty bottle of rum and a burned-out cigar also were left atop the stone that is etched with the 23-year-old's smiling portrait.
"I rushed to get there and the first thing on my mind was getting this stuff of my baby's grave. It was very disturbing for me as a mother. It was horrific," Davis said. "I was screaming and hollering. They should leave him alone. He did enough for his country."
Jonathan Davis, who had a reputation for helping others -- from buying food for the homeless to purchasing a car for a friend with a sick mother -- was a logistics contractor in Pakistan when he died suddenly Jan. 31, 2010.
Former business partners of the spiritualist, known to followers as Dr. Cristos Kioni, identified him as the person who officiated the Afro-Cuban based ceremony. Kioni apologized, saying he chose the site because Davis' spirit "understood the plight of my client and wanted to serve again."
He said he it was not the imposing 6-foot-5 statue installed at the grave by the family that portrays Davis as a guardian angel that drew him, but rather Davis' spirit.
"I have all respect for (Davis)…this was for a religious ritual. I'm sorry to that family for the attention; forgive me for any embarrassment I caused," Kioni said, adding that details of the ritual were not intended to be made public.
Pictures of the flaming rooster -- which Kioni says were hacked from his Facebook page -- were sent to authorities. No charges have been filed, but Brevard County Animal Services investigators say the ritual casts light on a shadowy subculture where animal sacrifices, rootworks and necromancy have spread beyond the underground world of candle shops and herbalist stores into social media.
Scholars say rootworks, or Hoodoo, is an African-American folk religion involving herbs, spells and readings to conjure or influence the dead. The traditions have turned up on shows like the Louisana-based vampire drama "True Blood" on HBO and "Supernatural" on CW.
Ritual animal sacrifices, more common in South Florida among practitioners of Santeria and forms of Haitian Voodoo, are challenging to prosecute.
"Casting spells or whatever, he's got to obey the law. If he's abusing animals and causing them pain, then he would be guilty of an arrestable offense," said Capt. Bob Brown of Brevard County Animal Services. "But certain religious rites are protected if no grievous pain or abuse is done. At this point, we don't know if the (rooster) was alive or dead. We can't tell from the photographs.
"You can never catch them doing it and even then, once you track it down, you run into the Constitution and freedom of religion," Brown said.
Hoodoo man
The charismatic conjurer known as Christos Kioni was born Kenneth Fuller in 1955. He walks with an ornate, gold-handled cane and talks glowingly about his family and his work guiding people to wealth, health and justice.
The hoodoo specialist recounted a painful childhood, abandoned by his mother at a hospital, stricken by polio and bedridden until age 12.
Curiosity and love of God led him to seminary, he said. He later joined Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination that promoted speaking in tongues, prophesies and spiritual warfare. He became a pastor, but later left organized religion and got into what many Christians consider the forbidden worlds of witchcraft and divination. He has since built what Anderson called a worldwide audience in the hoodoo community.
Kioni hosts an hour-long internet program from a Port St. Lucie, Fla., home replete with bejeweled skulls and a personal altar. The show, "Tell Me My Future Now," is packed with Tarot card readings, hoodoo love spells, advice on spiritual baths, and a blend of funk and club-oriented music.
"A lot of my clients tell me they're tired of the same dried-up sermons every Sunday. They see the pastors profiting, but they're not profiting. They're struggling and doing everything the church tells them to do, but organized religion is just not giving them the answers," he said.
Graveyard ritual
Kioni was hired by a woman in her 30s pleading for help. He said someone put roots -- or a spell -- on her, leaving her welted with skin lesions, swollen legs, jaundice and heart problems.
"(Davis' spirit) is very strong. He's calling people to his grave. He was a warrior," Kioni said. "His mother should be proud."
Just before sundown, a time when hoodoo practitioners believe the world transitions between life and death, Kioni presided over the sacrifice.
The rooster, believed to be a favorite of guardian spirits, was washed in scented water, perfumed with oils and prayed over as candles flickered.
"We presented it to almighty (God)…but I did not deface a grave. This is my religion," he said.
Cemetery managers said Davis' grave site, with its unique guardian angel likeness, is a popular stop for visitors. This week, someone left two bottles of beer beneath the statute.
"(The site) stands out. He gets a lot of visitors. But we get people who come out to others and they bring a glass of wine to sit on the grave or a Pepsi. I even had a family bring out a birthday cake," said Duncan Mackenzie, the manager of Riverview Memorial. "One person's ritual is another person's religion."
Jonathan Davis' mother is sickened the site would be used for the ceremony, regardless of whatever good works her son did.
"If that's the case, why didn't this person go to one of his own family members? It doesn't make sense. I don't knock anyone's religion as long as it doesn't infringe on my beliefs. I just want my son left alone in peace."
Kioni, while apologetic, says he will continue what he believes to be God's work.
As for the ill woman, "She is now recovering," he said.
Someone left the charred carcass of a bound rooster on the black granite slab that marked Jonathan Bernard Davis' grave at Riverview Memorial Gardens cemetery in Cocoa, Fla.
Michelle Davis learned last month that a rootworker -- a practitioner of African-based folk magic -- used the fowl in a dramatic ritual to enlist her dead son in a spiritual battle beyond the grave. An almost empty bottle of rum and a burned-out cigar also were left atop the stone that is etched with the 23-year-old's smiling portrait.
"I rushed to get there and the first thing on my mind was getting this stuff of my baby's grave. It was very disturbing for me as a mother. It was horrific," Davis said. "I was screaming and hollering. They should leave him alone. He did enough for his country."
Jonathan Davis, who had a reputation for helping others -- from buying food for the homeless to purchasing a car for a friend with a sick mother -- was a logistics contractor in Pakistan when he died suddenly Jan. 31, 2010.
Former business partners of the spiritualist, known to followers as Dr. Cristos Kioni, identified him as the person who officiated the Afro-Cuban based ceremony. Kioni apologized, saying he chose the site because Davis' spirit "understood the plight of my client and wanted to serve again."
He said he it was not the imposing 6-foot-5 statue installed at the grave by the family that portrays Davis as a guardian angel that drew him, but rather Davis' spirit.
"I have all respect for (Davis)…this was for a religious ritual. I'm sorry to that family for the attention; forgive me for any embarrassment I caused," Kioni said, adding that details of the ritual were not intended to be made public.
Pictures of the flaming rooster -- which Kioni says were hacked from his Facebook page -- were sent to authorities. No charges have been filed, but Brevard County Animal Services investigators say the ritual casts light on a shadowy subculture where animal sacrifices, rootworks and necromancy have spread beyond the underground world of candle shops and herbalist stores into social media.
Scholars say rootworks, or Hoodoo, is an African-American folk religion involving herbs, spells and readings to conjure or influence the dead. The traditions have turned up on shows like the Louisana-based vampire drama "True Blood" on HBO and "Supernatural" on CW.
Ritual animal sacrifices, more common in South Florida among practitioners of Santeria and forms of Haitian Voodoo, are challenging to prosecute.
"Casting spells or whatever, he's got to obey the law. If he's abusing animals and causing them pain, then he would be guilty of an arrestable offense," said Capt. Bob Brown of Brevard County Animal Services. "But certain religious rites are protected if no grievous pain or abuse is done. At this point, we don't know if the (rooster) was alive or dead. We can't tell from the photographs.
"You can never catch them doing it and even then, once you track it down, you run into the Constitution and freedom of religion," Brown said.
Hoodoo man
The charismatic conjurer known as Christos Kioni was born Kenneth Fuller in 1955. He walks with an ornate, gold-handled cane and talks glowingly about his family and his work guiding people to wealth, health and justice.
The hoodoo specialist recounted a painful childhood, abandoned by his mother at a hospital, stricken by polio and bedridden until age 12.
Curiosity and love of God led him to seminary, he said. He later joined Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination that promoted speaking in tongues, prophesies and spiritual warfare. He became a pastor, but later left organized religion and got into what many Christians consider the forbidden worlds of witchcraft and divination. He has since built what Anderson called a worldwide audience in the hoodoo community.
Kioni hosts an hour-long internet program from a Port St. Lucie, Fla., home replete with bejeweled skulls and a personal altar. The show, "Tell Me My Future Now," is packed with Tarot card readings, hoodoo love spells, advice on spiritual baths, and a blend of funk and club-oriented music.
"A lot of my clients tell me they're tired of the same dried-up sermons every Sunday. They see the pastors profiting, but they're not profiting. They're struggling and doing everything the church tells them to do, but organized religion is just not giving them the answers," he said.
Graveyard ritual
Kioni was hired by a woman in her 30s pleading for help. He said someone put roots -- or a spell -- on her, leaving her welted with skin lesions, swollen legs, jaundice and heart problems.
"(Davis' spirit) is very strong. He's calling people to his grave. He was a warrior," Kioni said. "His mother should be proud."
Just before sundown, a time when hoodoo practitioners believe the world transitions between life and death, Kioni presided over the sacrifice.
The rooster, believed to be a favorite of guardian spirits, was washed in scented water, perfumed with oils and prayed over as candles flickered.
"We presented it to almighty (God)…but I did not deface a grave. This is my religion," he said.
Cemetery managers said Davis' grave site, with its unique guardian angel likeness, is a popular stop for visitors. This week, someone left two bottles of beer beneath the statute.
"(The site) stands out. He gets a lot of visitors. But we get people who come out to others and they bring a glass of wine to sit on the grave or a Pepsi. I even had a family bring out a birthday cake," said Duncan Mackenzie, the manager of Riverview Memorial. "One person's ritual is another person's religion."
Jonathan Davis' mother is sickened the site would be used for the ceremony, regardless of whatever good works her son did.
"If that's the case, why didn't this person go to one of his own family members? It doesn't make sense. I don't knock anyone's religion as long as it doesn't infringe on my beliefs. I just want my son left alone in peace."
Kioni, while apologetic, says he will continue what he believes to be God's work.
As for the ill woman, "She is now recovering," he said.
