Artiste uses snake head to ward off curse

While the average person would run at breakneck speed away from a rattlesnake, Safira Mono has no fear. For the past few years, the dancehall artiste and actress has been wearing the head of a snake around her neck for spiritual protection.

Pausing to kiss the mouth of the dead serpent, Safira Mono said that the reptile was instrumental in delivering her from a spell that she alleges had been cast by a fellow entertainer.

She said that the “doctors couldn’t cure” her after she got sick and that she had to drink the venom of the snake in order to live.

“Yow! Is a artiste weh mi look up to, enuh, but after the female come near mi, mi head just raise big suh, and is like mi go inna one different space. Mi go on the stage, and mi couldn’t sing. It was like mi tongue get heavy,” she claimed.

Safira Mono said that she fell gravely ill and was at death’s door. She said that her life was spared after she connected with her ancestors in a vision.

SUDDEN ILLNESS

“Mi grow up in church and around positive people, so mi never believe in certain things, but my ancestors, in a dream, had to grab me up and teach mi some things and let mi know seh mi have to go find a rattlesnake to protect me,” she said.

The Monitor singer said that during her ordeal, she suffered from dizzy spells, fever, and weight loss.

“Mi body feel hot, like it deh pon fire, and mi dizzy like crazy. Fat, fat me get down mawga, mawga. Mi faint and wake up inna hospital, and at a point in time, the doctor dem a wonder if a lupus mi have, but the blood work never show that,” she said.

RATTLESNAKE BITE

It was then that Safira Mono decided that she would heed the instructions of her ancestors. She told THE WEEKEND STAR that she journeyed into a desert in California to find rattlesnakes. Rolling up a sleeve, she pointed towards a mark and swelling on her left arm, which she said were caused by a bite from one of the snakes, which are considered venomous.

Experts say that it can be dangerous if one is bitten by a rattlesnake but that the snake’s bite is very rarely fatal. Safira Mono said that she was unfazed during her quest to catch the reptile.

“Anyone who follows me knows that I am always focused on wildlife because I am a Maroon, which means that I am very strong on my African heritage. I had to go on a spiritual journey before I went in the desert. The head that I have round mi neck belongs to the 13th one that I catch. I had to drink its venom inna mi juice with rum in order to save my life because the doctors couldn’t cure me because they didn’t know what was wrong with me,” she said.

Now back in the studio, she is exploring the topic of witchcraft in her latest single titled Tun Back Blow.