22448: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-Hazardous Ritual (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Hazardous Ritual

By David Fleshler
Staff Writer
Posted June 21 2004

In a strip mall in Lauderhill, behind a window displaying statues of Vodou
spirits, the St. Ange Botanica sells herbs and candles to help people gain
love, money or health. It also sells mercury, a hazardous heavy metal and a
common ingredient in Caribbean religious rituals.

In Vodou, Santeria and other faiths with roots in Africa, many practitioners
sprinkle the silvery liquid on the floor, carry it with them in pouches,
burn it in candles and pour it into bath water. While these practices are
intended to bring luck or success in love, federal health officials say they
could be making people sick and contaminating their homes.

Although mercury is a legal product, the St. Ange and most other religious
supply stores keep it out of sight. When a reporter requested it by its
Creole name, vidajan, a clerk went to a room in back and returned with a
plastic bag of mercury capsules. They cost $6 each.

Ribert Mones, the store's owner, whose business card identifies him as a
spiritualist able to assist with evil spirits, jinx removal and love
problems, said clients mix mercury with a cologne called Florida water and
spread it on their bodies for luck.

"It's not dangerous," he said, standing by a counter stacked with jars of
powdered herbs. "I can put it on my body, and nothing will happen. It's not
something that can hurt people."

But long-term exposure to low doses of mercury can cause tremors (initially
of the eyelids, tongue and fingers), irritability, excessive shyness,
nervousness, insomnia, memory loss and a decline in cognitive abilities,
according to a 2002 report on the ritualistic use of mercury by the
Environmental Protection Agency. When many of these symptoms appeared among
19th-century British hat makers, who used hot mercuric acid to make felt
hats, they inspired the expression "mad as a hatter."

Many people sprinkle mercury in their homes, where it can work into carpets
and floorboards and emit hazardous vapor for years.

"That's a real concern," said John Risher, senior science adviser in the
toxicology branch of the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry. "I know some practitioners sprinkle it in their houses, near
cribs. Then you leave the house or the apartment, and somebody has just
bought a contaminated home."

Religious traditions

Vodou and Santeria are rooted in the beliefs of West African people who came
to the Caribbean as slaves. Vodou became established in Haiti, Santeria in
Cuba. Both religions have a supreme being, as well as lesser deities on whom
believers call for help with their lives. Just inside the door of the St.
Ange Botanica, for example, stood a statue of Legba, the most important
Vodou spirit, surrounded by gifts: a store-bought cake, a bowl of coins and
dollar bills, candles and champagne bottles.

Both religions use Catholic imagery, with Africa-derived deities represented
through portraits and statues of Catholic saints. Both use magic and rituals
to achieve earthly goals.

Persisting for centuries in the face of oppression from the French, British
and Spanish, these religions developed traditions of secrecy that have made
it difficult for health officials to learn about the use of mercury. Few
people who use it or sell it will cooperate with researchers, preventing any
systematic study of its impact on health, according to the EPA report.

When government and academic researchers in New Jersey and Connecticut
visited the religious supply shops called botanicas, many denied selling it
and asserted incorrectly that it was illegal. But when the researchers sent
Haitian or Cuban colleagues to the same shops, they were able to buy it.

"No one really has a clue in terms of numbers," said Arnold Wendroff,
founder of the New York-based Mercury Poisoning Project, who originally
brought the issue to the attention of the federal government. "One survey in
the Bronx found that in 1995, between 25,000 and 155,000 units of mercury
were sold."

In the northern Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti, where dimly lit
botanicas are crammed with jars of herbs, votive candles and portraits of
Vodou spirits, many stores claimed not to have mercury. Others sold it.

At the Tous les Saints Botanica on Northeast Second Avenue just north of
79th Street, a man behind the counter brought out a bottle and poured a few
drops of mercury into a vial, spilling beads of it on the counter. The vial
of mercury cost $5. At the Isidor & Carmel Botanica on Northeast 54th
Street, a woman first denied having any for sale, saying "they don't want us
to sell it no more." Then she relented and allowed a clerk to sell a capsule
for $2.

Visits to botanicas in Hialeah and Little Havana found none that
acknowledged selling mercury, known in Spanish as azogue. But health
officials say Santeria uses mercury in rituals similar to those of Vodou.

In the book Rituals and Spells of Santeria, sold by a botanica in Fort
Lauderdale, five rituals call for the use of mercury. To attract men, the
book recommends a weekly bath of parsley, cinnamon, anis seed, honey and a
"bit of quicksilver." To win someone's love, the book advises writing the
person's name on a piece of parchment, placing it in an empty tuna can,
adding mercury, mint oil, cinnamon and other ingredients, setting a wick on
the solution and lighting it for one hour.

Ernesto Pichardo, a prominent Santeria priest in Hialeah, said he doesn't
use mercury and has only rarely seen it used in rituals.

"I've seen some people use it, just a capsule," said Pichardo, whose church
successfully went to the U.S. Supreme Court for the right to sacrifice
animals. "Its use is not common. It's not significant. I don't see the
hazard. I don't see the danger."

Studying the problem

Several state and local governments in areas with large Caribbean
populations have taken steps to research the impact of ritualistic mercury
use and encourage people to find less dangerous alternatives.

New York City, for example, is working with the federal government on a
study of mercury levels of children in communities that have historically
used mercury in rituals. New York health officials have met with botanica
owners to discuss the use of mercury and have distributed brochures warning
against the practice. Most officials reject the idea of making it illegal,
saying that would simply drive it underground.

It's unclear what Florida has done. Several botanica owners in Miami-Dade
County said they had received a letter from the government last year warning
against selling mercury, but weren't sure who sent it.

Arnold Wendroff, of the Mercury Poisoning Project, said Florida officials
didn't want to deal with the issue because it carried political risks.

"There should be a major problem down in Florida," he said. "The Florida
state health authorities are well aware of this issue, as are specifically
the Miami-Dade County health authorities. And they have refrained from
investigating these exposures, apparently due to political considerations."

Virgilio Miniņo, president of the Latin American Foundation for
Environmental Protection, which tries to discourage the ritualistic use of
mercury among Hispanics, said, "I think they're just worried about the
votes. If they do anything about the mercury issue, that might hurt them."

Jack Price, environmental manager for the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, said the responsibility rested with the Florida
Department of Health. Dr. David Johnson, executive medical director for the
health department's Division of Environmental Health, said the state has
distributed a general brochure on mercury that mentions the danger of using
it in religious rituals. He said primary responsibility for public outreach
rested with county health departments, which are branches of the state
health department.

But officials with the health departments in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm
Beach counties said they were not doing any specific public outreach on this
issue.

"We can talk about the health issues of mercury in general," said Rosa Oses,
spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade County Health Department. "But when it's
something related to religion in rituals, it's not something we deal with."

David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4535.

_________________________________________________________________
MSN Movies - Trailers, showtimes, DVD's, and the latest news from Hollywood!
http://movies.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200509ave/direct/01/