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The son of a 51-year-old American woman is demanding answers following her mysterious death after she traveled to Haiti to participate in a Vodou ritual.
Dana Jackson left the US on July 1, her son Timothy Jackson, told USA Today.
Her goal had been to become a Manbo priestess – a female ritual specialist in the Haitian Vodou tradition who performs ceremonies, initiations, healings and divinations. Haitian Vodou is derived from African Vodou and was developed in the country between the 16th and 19th centuries, primarily focusing on ancestral remembrance and healing.
Jackson’s role would have also allowed her to become a spiritual guide for people who come into contact with Vodou gods through possession.
Jackson had been preparing for the trip for years, her son revealed.
“Four years ago, my mom started to do a little bit of research on the African traditional spiritual belief systems and Vodou was a part of that,” he said.
“She had kind of been on this path of just kind of doing research and practicing, or at least, just doing her due diligence as far as research is concerned.”
Timothy Jackson said his mother made the trip with a group of people who had previously gone to Boston together.
“These weren’t strangers that she went down there with,” her son said. “These are people that she’s built a relationship with.”
Timothy Jackson said that his mom sent him a message on the July 13 telling him that she was going to church for several days to take part in the sacred ceremony and so would not be able to speak to him during that time.
She said she would contact him on July 21.
That day, Timothy Jackson said his mom texted her telling him to “pray for her.”
The following day, his grandmother called him to tell him his mom had died.
She had been scheduled to return to the US on July 26.
Timothy Jackson reached out to one of the group’s leaders to confirm the news about his mom’s death and said that the person immediately wanted to know how much he knew about the situation.
Now, he fears “something sinister” happened on the retreat.
“To be completely honest with you, my initial thought was my mom went down to Haiti, they did this last piece of the ceremony, and something sinister happened,” he told the outlet.
Timothy Jackson said he was told that, during the ceremony, his mother became unwell, lost consciousness, and when she came to, she didn’t know where she was. At one point, a member of the group asked her where she was and she responded “Virginia”. Timothy Jackson said neither him or his mom had lived in Virginia for over a year.
The group eventually took her to a hospital, where she began to have seizures, suffered a heart attack and a stroke.
Timothy Jackson has raised doubts about the version of events being told by the members of the group.
He said he was told his mom forgot her medicine, prompting her declining health – yet he said he wasn’t aware of any medication his mom was taking.
He was now started a GoFundMe to help with the costs of repatriating his mom’s body to the US. According to the fundraising site, the US Embassy has not been involved in arrangements to help bring the body back.
So far, the page has raised just over $11,000 out of a $50,000 goal.
