Epiphanytide: A reflection on the old woke devils of Florida.

Roland Flores
Jan 21
9 min read

Ave María! May Our Lady of Bethlehem, with her loving Child bless us, and together with St. Joseph and All saints, pray for us! Blessed Epiphanytide, which is the season that follows the feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord. According to the Roman Missal, the word "Epiphany" means "manifestation.” This word was chosen because according to the Church fathers, the call of the Magi to adore the Infant Christ signified the coming vocation of the gentiles to the faith. Traditionally, there are several blessing done on the feast of the Epiphany, including exercised salt, chalk, and water. Why has the Church chosen to focus on prayers against devils on this Epiphany feast, the twelfth day of Christmas? The answers is the church commemorates the calling of the gentiles to Christ. All the gentiles, our ancestors, were in a spiritual bondage to the devil: “For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils” (Psalm 95:5). The Lord Christ Jesus called all men to Himself by sending out His apostles to preach them, and baptize them into the Covenant of God. Before a place or a people are converted, they are in bondage to the devil. This includes our beloved state of Florida, which was largely liberated by these demons through the various consecrations and Missions throughout established by the Spanish. However, after the Spanish were driven from Florida and Christendom came to an end, these devils returned to rule.

The christening of Florida, a Christmastide reflection.

Florida was first Christened in 1513 by Don Ponce de Leon’s expedition, naming the new Spanish province in honor of Spain's Easter celebration, Pascua Florida. Florida was christened again by Don Hernando Soto in 1539, and again in 1559 by Don Tristian de Luna. Finally, in 1565, Don Pedro Menéndez established the first lasting settlement in America, St. Augustine. Don Menéndez claimed Florida “En el Nombre de Dios” (in the name of God) giving Floria a special devotion to the Holy Name. Shortly after this the Spanish under Menéndez pursued a French-Protestant fort that had been illegally established in Spanish Florida. The French Protestants, called Huguenots, quickly made an alliance with the local Indian tribes like the Saturiwa and Tacatacuru. These tribes were extremely savage, as we will learn in the next paragraph, and the Huguenots cared very little for the souls of these tribes. They cared more about gaining a strategic alliance against Catholic Spain. With the help of these tribes, the Hugonots established a fort on the mouth of the St. John’s River in present day Jacksonville.

Upon learning of the Spanish’s landing location, the Hugonots sent an armed fleet of ships down the coast to attack the Spaniards. This fleet however, was struck by a hurricane, wrecking them on the of between present-day Daytona Beach. At the same time, using the storm as cover, Don Menéndez attacked the Huguenot Fort. About 200 Huguenot soldiers were killed in the fighting. When referring to this attack, Father Lopez OFM, refers to the enemies: “Not as Frenchmen but as Lutherans." With the Protestants defeated, the Spanish turned their attention to evangelizing the tribes of Florida, including those who were in an alliance with the Huguenots. Jesuit missionaries arrived in 1566, and after a series of failed missions and martyrdoms, the Florida missions fell under the care of the Franciscans. In 1587, these Franciscans established Mission Nombre de Dios at the original site of Pedro Mendez’ consecration of Florida. In 1596, Blessed Father Blas Rodríguez OFM, brought Our Lady de la Leche from Madrid to Mission Nombre de Dios. Blessed Father Rodriguez would enthrone her above the altar at Nombre de Dios. This image of Our Lady nursing the Christ Child would move the hearts of pagan Natives of Florida. What an interesting reflection, just as the pagan Magi traveled to the manger to see the humble Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, so it was in Florida. For years pagan Indians would travel to the humble chapel outside of St. Augustine to the the same image as the Magi: “they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts” (Matthew 2:11). This grand conversion was recorded during. Florida’s first episcopal visit in In 1606. Bishop Altamirano of Cuba spent 4 months visiting the Missions in Florida. During his visit, Bishop Altamirano confirmed 3,500 and personally baptized 1,200 converts. Bishop Altamirano also approved the establishment of a permanent shrine to our Lady de la Leche on the grounds of Mission Nombre de Dios. Arguably, this was the first Marian shrine in what is today the United States. In 1609 the Leche shrine was completed and consecrated, which became a beloved pilgrimage site among the Christian Indians from tribes as far as the Panhandle.

During Florida’s second episcopal visit in 1649, Bishop Gabriel Díaz V. Calderón visited over 75 missions which included the Florida panhandle. Bishop Calderon reported that there were dozens of Chapels across Florida and 250,000 baptized natives living in them.

Our lady ushered in a grand age of faith and conversion in Florida which would last until the era of British aggression starting in 1702. During this systematic genocide against the Catholic Indians of Florida, thousands were enslaved and hundreds were martyred for their faith. By 1712 the faith was reduced to the districts of St. Augustine and Pensacola, with constant incursions from the Protestant British and pagan tribes from further north.

The abominable practices of pre-Christian Florida

The Mocama and Timucuans tribes, the Indians who lived in the area of southern Georgia extending to Daytona, were steeped in barbarism and sin. According to the Huguenots, and later the records of the Franciscan missionaries, mention human sacrifice, polygamy, and sodomy being common practice among the tribes. The first records of these practices were recorded in 1562 by Huguenot explorers. The Hugonots would name a few of the local tribes and places including attempting to name the St. John's River “Le Seine” and an Island they called Ille de la Somme (important later). From these accounts we learn It was customary for Timucuan tribes, specifically the Saturiwa, to offer their first born son as a child sacrifice. One example of this is Saturiwa chief Olata Ouae Utina, one of the major allies of the Huguenots during their expedition into Florida in 1565. One of those Huguenots named Laudonnière, recorded a ceremony. It begins with a ring of dancing women who surround the mother and her child would be taken to a tree stump, serving as an altar, where its brains would be dashed out by shaman.

Similarly, these tribes mostly practiced what is commonly called Two-spirits or the practice of having androgynous individuals among their ranks. These androgynous Indians often served as servants or as ceremonial servers in pagan rituals. On top of all this, according to Franciscan missionary Father Francisco Pareja, who was in Florida from 1595 until at least 1616, Same-sex relations was common among the pre-Christianized Timucuans. Father Pareja actually later served both the Saturiwa tribe at Mission San Juan del Puerto in Jacksonville. Then later at theTacatacuru tribe at Mission San Pedro de Mocama on Cumberland Island. These two tribes would see large number of conversions into the 1600s but eventually they would be wiped out by the British and their Indian allies by 1712. Thanks to the British, eventually the area returned into the hands of pagan tribes like the Creeks and Westo. Eventually, the British began to settle the area, eventually naming the island called Ille de la Somme by the French to its current name Jekyll island.

The return of the old woke devils of Florida.

In 1733, the first Governor of Georgia, James Oglethorpe, named Jekyll island after his friend and financier, Sir Joseph Jekyll, a Whig politician living in London. After this, the British established a plantation in 1738 on Jekyll island, which survived for decades until 1794 when it was purchased by Christophe Poulain DuBignon. This same family, held the island well through the civil war and in 1886 the DuBignon family began to market Jekyll Island as a winter retreat for the wealthy. Their marketing succeeded and it attracted some of the wealthiest families at that time. Some of the wealthiest members, including the Rockefellers and JP Morgan, built their own cottages, mansion-sized residences, that are mostly still standing today.

By 1904 Munsey's Magazine called Jekyll island “the richest, the most exclusive, the most inaccesible club in the world.” This set up Jekyll island as being the place where Federal Reserve System was developed during a secret meeting in 1910. Jekyll Island did house some of the barbaric rituals of the Timucua Indians.

it should be no surprise that one of the surviving ceremonial mounds on the island was owned by the Rockefeller family. In 1905 William Rockefeller Junior purchased Indian mound cottage. Perhaps it is a coincidence that the wealthiest men in the world developed the federal reserve system on an island that was once inhabited by Indians, who practiced human sacrifice and all the gender errors of our time. Perhaps it is also a coincidence that the Rockefellers estate was built next to a ceremonial mound, and this was in not isolated situation.

In 1918 John D Rockefeller purchased The Casements mansion in Ormond Beach, Florida. This mansion sat on the Halifax River almost directly across from the Ormond Mound. At the time, Rockefeller could’ve seen the mound from his porch. If these coincidences mean anything, perhaps they are related to the fact that they have been some of the ealierest supporters of abortion and the LGBT movement in America. To quote the Rockefeller Brother Fund: “The Rockefeller family, especially John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was an early advocate of Margaret Sanger’s pioneering work in birth control as a means of improving maternal and public health. In 1942, when Sanger’s Birth Control Federation of America joined the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the RBF began its own support for the organization. This was a cause in which founding trustee John D. Rockefeller 3rd took particular interest. Gifts from the Fund helped Planned Parenthood launch programs in child spacing, prenatal medical care, public education, and special projects in African American communities.” Later in 1970, Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York, Signed into law abortion up to 24 weeks, an age where a fetus can feel pain and stress. Rockefeller, despite being a Republican, supported the law and called it a victory for women's liberation. In 1974 John D Rockefeller III became a global leader in population control and founded the UN Population Council. Similarly, the Rockefellers have been supporters of the LGBT movement as early as 1913. By 1970 The Rockefeller Foundation had made large donations to seven LGBT organizations. This continues today, in 2023 three over 40% anti-LGBT bills failed to pass thanks to pressure for the Rockefeller foundation or organizations backed by them. Is there some deeper connection here? What’s the link between the Rockefeller’s interest in the pagan practices of the child-sacrificing and hermaphroditic Timucua Indians and their support for abortion and the LGBT movement? The answer to this question can be found in John D. Rockefeller’s favorite poem. A wise old Owl, Sat on an oak.

The more he saw, The less he spoke.

The less he spoken, The more he heard. Why can't we be Like that wise old bird?

In 1955 a large wooden statue of an owl was found in the St. John’s river near Hontoon island. This 10-foot tall owl totem belonged to a band of Timucua Indians called the Jororo, which roughly translates to people of the owl. This idol likely stood around the what is now called the shell Mound on Hontoon Island. It was like he hidden in the St. John’s river by its devotees when the Franciscan friars first brought Christianity to the area. Eventually the area became mission San Salvador de Mayaca in 1597 and many more missions were established in the area. In 1708 British invaders and their Indian warriors drove away the Catholics Indians and destroyed all the Missions. Today almost at nothing remains of the mission-church at Hontoon island but the Owl totem survived and was dug up in June 1955. Many have speculated the similarities between the Hontoon Owl and the 30-foot tall owl statue that is enshrined at the Bohemian Grove. Today the sins of the Timuca are wide spread and a totem of Hontoon Owl stands not only on Hontoon island but also in the old Huguenot fort on the St. John’s River.

References:

Exorcisms in the Blessing of Epiphany Water.

http://www.windsorlatinmass.org/wtnews/220102.pdf

Pedro Menendez

Pedro Menendez (U.S. National Park Service)

Mission Nombre de Dios.

https://www.trailoffloridasindianheritage.org/nombre-de-dios/

Missions in Northeast Florida.

Missions in Northeast Florida - Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)

Sacrifice of the first-born

Sacrifice of the first-born | Smithsonian Institution

Child sacrifice in North America: Timucua.