A man from North Carolina is looking for clarity after the death of his mother during a Vodou retreat in Haiti.

Dana Jackson, aged 51, aspired to be a Manbo priestess. A Manbo is a female ritual expert within the Haitian Vodou tradition who conducts ceremonies, initiations, healings, and divinations, as described by Harvard University.

Vodou, which stems from the word Fon meaning “God” or “Spirit”, originated from the ancient kingdom of Dahomey, now encompassing parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. Variants of the name include Vodun and Vodoun, but “voodoo” is viewed as a derogatory term created by Western culture, according to PBS.

Her son, Timothy Jackson, shared with YSL News that this endeavor was something she was passionate about and had been engaged in for a few years prior to her journey to Haiti.

“Four years ago, my mom started to explore African traditional spiritual belief systems, with Vodou being a significant part of her research,” he noted. “She was fully committed to learning and understanding this spiritual practice.”

Jackson explained that his mom departed for Haiti on July 1 and was meant to return by July 26. She traveled with a group to engage in Vodou rituals.

“The group she traveled with, named Sosyete—which translates to ‘society’ in Turkish and Nago—were not strangers to her; these were individuals she had built connections with,” Jackson stated.

He also mentioned that the group had recently gone on a trip to Boston together in June.

Communication was halted during the Vodou ceremony

During the Vodou ceremony, Jackson anticipated a lack of communication with his mother.

“If you research that segment of the ceremony, it states that it’s very sacred and requires focus,” he explained. “She sent one final message on the 13th, saying, ‘we will talk on the 21st as I’m going to church tomorrow.’”

Jackson usually spoke with his mom daily. The absence of communication caused him anxiety, yet he wished to honor her choice to partake in the ritual. In her last message on July 21, she requested that he, “pray for her.”

“That week was anxiety-inducing due to my inability to contact her, knowing it was an important part of the ceremony,” he recalled. “On the 21st, I still hadn’t heard anything from her. I reached out via WhatsApp around 5 p.m., but received no response.”

No replies after the Vodou ceremony; son learns of his mother’s demise

The following day, Jackson still had not received any messages from his mother, and his concern grew.

“I woke up in a panic, thinking she would have at least replied to my texts by now,” he expressed.

It wasn’t until around 5 p.m. on July 22 that his grandmother informed him of his mother’s death.

“Her message was simply, ‘your mom’s not coming back from Haiti.’ I hung up and immediately called back, asking what she meant. She repeated, ‘she’s not coming back from Haiti. She has passed away.’ I was stunned and called her again for confirmation,” he recounted.

After multiple calls to his grandmother, he eventually contacted his grandfather, who confirmed the heartbreaking news.

‘Something went terribly wrong’

To verify his mother’s passing, Jackson reached out to one of the leaders of the group who traveled to Haiti with her. The first question posed to him was, “how much do you know?”

“Honestly, my first thought was that my mom went to Haiti, completed the last part of the ceremony, and something went horribly wrong,” he said.

The individual who spoke to him indicated that his mother had become very ill during the ceremony. They mentioned that she fainted and, upon regaining consciousness, was disoriented and unaware of her surroundings. When a member of the group inquired about her condition,

When Jackson asked where she was, they mentioned Virginia, he stated.

However, he clarified that his family has not lived in Virginia for over a year.

According to Jackson, they informed him that they took her to the hospital. Once there, she began experiencing seizures, and they reported that she suffered a heart attack and a stroke.

“That was the story they initially told me,” he explained. “They claimed my mom forgot her medicine. This raised a concern, as I wondered what medicine they were referring to. It felt like they were trying to spin a narrative.”

Jackson was also supposed to receive an update about his mother’s body on August 16, but that information has still not been provided.

“I haven’t received any updates,” he mentioned. “I don’t even believe the U.S. Embassy got involved, or received the required paperwork, until about four days ago.”

YSL News contacted the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince for comment, but they did not reply before publishing.

In Memory of Dana Jackson

Even though Jackson’s mother had him at a young age, her aspiration was to work hard for a better life for both of them.

In 1999, Jackson recounted that his mother began working at Pitney Bowes, a tech company from the U.S., which was setting up operations in Savannah, Georgia. During their stay in Georgia, Jackson fondly remembers having his own bathroom and bedroom, engaging in extracurricular activities, and growing closer to his mother.

Years later, he asked his mother about her decision to move.

“I inquired many years later, ‘What made you move there?’ She replied, ‘Tim, I needed that time to understand how to be a mother to my son,’” he recounted.

Another cherished memory that Jackson shared was from 2017, when they visited Las Vegas, Nevada, and had an encounter with rapper Nelly. The rapper unexpectedly turned around to speak with them before leaving the hotel, Jackson noted.

“In Vegas, as we were about to check into our hotel, Nelly walked past us. My mom exchanged glances with me, and we both just ran after him,” he shared. “That’s how in tune we were with each other.”

GoFundMe Established for Dana Jackson’s Funeral Expenses

Jackson set up a GoFundMe account to cover his mother’s funeral and upcoming expenses.

“(The GoFundMe was established for) funeral expenses, as well as costs related to repatriating her body,” he said. “I wish to conduct an autopsy as well, and I have a quote for that.”

His mother had shared her funeral preferences with him.

“We had a conversation about six years ago where she expressed her wish to be cremated and shared her final wishes with me,” he stated.

Dana Jackson was set to turn 52 on September 13, Jackson mentioned.

“We’re unsure what transpired during those last nine days, but whatever happened, my mother did not travel to Haiti with the intention of not returning to the United States,” he said.