S210: The Babalawo - Secrets of Santeria

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Javier Leiva

True Crime, Society & Culture, Technology

4.7 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2018

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today's episode "The Babalawo" is about Santeria… the faith, not the song. Unlike the pop tune, not a lot of people know about this mysterious religion. Santería, also known as Regla de Ochá, La Regla de Ifá, or Lucumí, is an Afro-Cuban religion that means the worship of saints. So, you maybe asking yourself, “Javier, where’s the pretend angle here?” Well, this religion in particular gives me the heebie jeebies. I feel like people visit these Santeria priests like if they’re fortune tellers. Are they just taking advantage of people’s emotions or am I discriminating on this faith? Spoiler alert… I’m pretty sure I’m discriminating against their faith. But, I’m better than that right? Are my fears real or is this just a bunch of urban legends? Well, there’s only one way to find out. I need to travel to my hometown of Miami and embed myself in the Santeria community. First, I had to find a babalawo. What’s a babalawo? A babalawo is a Santeria priest who acts as a medium channeling the prophecy from the Orishas. Orishas are spirits who are a manifestation of the supreme God Olodumare. In this episode, we’ll get into the history and origins of Santeria. I also talk with a Santeria priest and priestess to learn more about their secret rituals. -----LIES, LIES, LIES----- Has someone ever lied to you? Have you ever lied to protect someone else? Send me your personal story and I'll post it on my Patreon channel. https://www.patreon.com/pretendradio If you'd like to submit a story, leave me a voicemail at 919-867-1871 or record your story on your smart phone's voice memo app and email it to me at [email protected]. -----MUSIC----- Theme Music composed by Joe Basile from The Chicken Music and Sound Design. Find out more about Joe and The Chicken at www.thechicken.net Additional music by Podington Bear -----PROMOS----- Promos by: Beyond Bizarre Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Creative Apple.
0:06.0	This winter, memberships will never be the same again.
0:10.0	Amazon Prime presents Eddie Murphy's new Christmas movie Candy Kane Lane and Fast Delivery
0:15.2	all for 899 a month I've got to sign up now.
0:18.4	Get great entertainment and fast delivery all for 899 a month it's on prime geographic restrictions
0:24.8	and teasencies apply 18 plus These are the sounds of my childhood
0:35.0	of my childhood my children. The sounds of my childhood nightmares.
0:40.0	You see, most kids are afraid of monsters lurking in the dark, but my monsters, they were real and all around me.
0:50.0	At school, at church, even in my neighborhood, there was no running from it.
0:57.8	As a kid, I had nightmares of spirits taking over my body or someone putting a curse on me by leaving a dead animal
1:05.2	laying on my doorstep. I'm serious. I'm not joking. I heard all kinds of stories of dead babies in jars and people digging up graves to collect human
1:15.9	skulls and bones for their secret rituals. Ooh, I get chills just thinking about it.
1:24.0	I'm talking about Santeria.
1:26.0	The faith, not the song.
1:29.0	Unlike the pop tune, not a lot of people know about this mysterious religion.
1:34.0	Santeria, also known as La Regla de Ocha, La Regla de Ifa, and Lucome, is an Afro-Cuban religion that literally means the worship of Saints.
1:46.8	I grew up Roman Catholic in Miami, Florida where it seemed like everyone around me practice
1:51.5	Santeria. Even my friends in Sunday school practice the faith.
1:54.8	You don't understand. This isn't some gimmicky tourist boodoo crap you see at a gift shop.
1:59.9	In Miami, Santaria is a legitimate, and it still scares the crap out of me.
2:07.0	Even the people in Miami who don't practice Santariya all say the same thing.
2:11.3	I don't believe in Santari Teria but I respect it. What is a little kid
	...

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