Criminal Charges Filed For Importing Skull For Religious Ritual

Last Thursday at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, Florida International Airport, federal agents arrested a Vodou priestess for attempting to bring into the country from Haiti the skull of a man for use in religious ceremonies. Today's South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Myrlene Severe is accused of smuggling a human head without proper documentation, failing to declare the skull to customs and transporting hazardous materials. She faces up to 15 years in prison. Rafael Martinez, an anthropologist and expert in Afro-Caribbean religions, said skulls are commonly used in two prominent South Florida religions: Vodou and the Afro-Cuban religion called Palo Mayombe. In Vodou, it is common for practitioners to put a human skull on an altar in the home dedicated to spirits of the dead known as gede. The spirits contained in that skull are thought to have a powerful, positive influence on one's life.