Expert Scrutinizes Noriega's Rituals
------------------------------------
By, Larry Jolidon
USA TODAY

PANAMA CITY ---

Army Chief Warrent Officer James Dibble easily has the oddest task of
the U.S. invasion force here: He must sort out Manuel Noriega's
religious practices.

Dibble, here from Fort Campbell, KY., has sifted through the contents
of "ritual rooms" discovered in one of Noriega's luxury villas.
"I plan to prove that Noriega practiced ritual homicide," says Dibble,
an occult expert. [Whats this!, the Army has its own occult expert!]
Dibble says Noriega's assortment of books, beads, stones, bottles,
candles, plaster statues and dried food "offerings" -- along with an
alter to his Brazilian "mama" or priestess -- show the ex-strongman is
a follower [not a leader after all!] of Santeria folk religion.

Similar to voodoo, Santaria was brought west by African slaves.
Believers use personal offerings in worship and think their magic can
manipulate enemies.

Dibble says Noriega was "a demented man," a heavy drug user who had
gone beyond manipulation to human sacrifice. Noriega's basic method of
influencing people, says Dibble, was to put personal documents, news
clippings or hand-written lists of names in a bottle or under a stone,
glob of wax or gelatin, or wrapped around a white candle.
"Having their names stuck in a pan or wrapped around a candle," Dibble
says, "was Noriega's way of believing he controlled the people
themselves."

The papers in Noriega's house bore the names of famous foreigners --
George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Henry Kissinger, John Poindexter, Costa
Rican President Oscar Arias -- as well as many Panamanians, including
new President Guillermo Endara.

Noriega's patron saints, assigned by his "priestess", are St. George
and St. Jude. Besides offering dried food to appease them, says
Dibble, Noriega wore red underwear "to ward off the evil eye."
Dibble stil hopes to locate two items that Noriega apparently
believes keep him protected: "charm pouches" left in the pockets of
his military uniform when he changed into civilian clothes before
fleeing U.S. troops.
							-----------------------

I am sure we have yet to hear the last of Noriega's nasty dabblings!

From:    Paul Bogorodsky
To:      Anubis Egypt                             Msg #262, 04-Jan-90 04:26pm
Subject: Re: Noreiga & santeria

  >Dibble says Noriega was "a demented man," a heavy drug user who had
  >gone beyond manipulation to human sacrifice.

  Apparently, Dibble is already wrong on two accounts.  At this time
he has given himself up to the American authorities and has been
examined by doctors to see if he is capable of standing trial.  They
say he is sane and shows no sign of drug abuse.  Also, it was two or
three days before journalists were allowed into the "Witch House".
Plenty of time to set things up!  Sounds like more Anti-pagan
Propoganda.

				 B*B,
					Konstantine.


---
 * Origin: ThelemaNet San Francisco * (415) 751-9308 (Opus 1:161/93)

From:    Brad Hicks
To:      Anubis Egypt                             Msg #326, 07-Jan-90 02:13pm
Subject: Noreiga & santeria

That "expert" is full of crap.  Neither the ritual methods nor the decorations
in the photographs I've seen match those of Santeria.  They DO match the
methods (and near-total absence of religion) of a (predominantly) Mexican form
of folk magic known as Brujeria.  And thanks to religiously-motivated
missionary translators, the "accepted" translation for Brujeria is
"Witchcraft"--despite the fact that it in no way resembles the western and
Mediteranean European folk traditions and religion(s) known in English as
Witchcraft.

Lowest of the low were the "experts" quoted in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch
article who told reporters that apparently Noriega was a Palo Mayumbo, like
Constanzo and his crazy cult.  Nothing I've heard described down there matches
anything of what you'd see if that were true--nothing at all.

One thing I feel I must point out about Noriega's "witches", too--it seems
pretty clear that Noriega and his brujeros were casting curses and control
spells on Bush, the U.S. Congress, and President Endara.  Those spells sure
worked well, didn't they?  Which is why I've always said: I'd worry more about
curses and negative magic if I thought they worked at all well.

--- ConfMail V4.00
 * Origin: WeirdBase * St. Louis, MO * 1-314-741-2231 * (1:100/523)


From:    Brad Hicks
To:      Michelle Hass                            Msg #328, 07-Jan-90 02:25pm
Subject: Re: Satanists (2 of 2)

 MH> It seems that Noriega was a follower of Palo Mayombre too.

Michelle, if Noriega were a Palo Mayombre, then where were the Saints/Dieties?
More to the point, where was the cauldron?  Equally, where were the bone
tools?  The powders?

No, small amounts of animal remains plus meat and vegetable decay-oriented
magic plus candle-wrapping minus ANY evidence of saint-worship = Brujeria --
or that's how I was taught to read it by reading Gordon Melton (the world's
foremost scholar on minority religions) and listening to Frank Medina (a "cult
cop" who was himself raised Santero).

--- ConfMail V4.00
 * Origin: WeirdBase * St. Louis, MO * 1-314-741-2231 * (1:100/523)

From:    Michelle Hass
To:      Steve Crocker                            Msg #398, 08-Jan-90 12:29pm
Subject: Larouche, Noriega, and Palo Mayombre

It interests me as well. Palo Mayombre is a "black" form of the
Catholic-Afro-Pagan syncrete known as Santeria. It seems to be
popular among drug dealers in Colombia, and honors deities that
are taken from the Zairean rather than Yoruban (a tribe in
Nigeria) pantheon. Apparently the slavers that kidnapped for
the plantations in Colombia took slaves from the Congo River
Valley rather than the West African Coast, like most others.
There is also a "black" form of Santeria called "brujeria", but
that is practiced more in the US, particularly on the East
Coast (Miami and the Puerto Rican area of New York City). This
has its roots also in the rituals of the notorious "Voudoun
Queens" of New Orleans in the later 1800s and early part of
this century. Both the movie "The Believers" and "Angel Heart"
had aspects of "brujeria" in their plots.
Most Santeros and Santeras follow the "white" Santeria path,
and there is now a growing movement among Blacks to rediscover
Afro-Paganism. I know of one fellow who runs an African imports
shop in Hollywood who is a Babalawo (HP of Yoruban
Afro-Paganism) and whose classes and services are beginning to
get very, very crowded with students (predominantly
American) who want to learn about their spiritual roots.
Not a bad trend, I say.
I wonder what La Roach will have to say now, since this
connection with Palo Mayombre means that they are supporting a
real, live "satanist". As I remember, he even considers "white
Santeria" to be "satanist".

--- Ybbat (LBBS 1.00)
 * Origin: Mysteria, Tujunga Ca (818) 353-8891 (1:102/943)