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Today's episode "The Babalawo" is about Santeria\u2026 the faith, not the song.\n\nUnlike the pop tune, not a lot of people know about this mysterious religion. Santer\xeda, also known as Regla de Och\xe1, La Regla de If\xe1, or Lucum\xed, is an Afro-Cuban religion that means the worship of saints.\n\nSo, you maybe asking yourself, \u201cJavier, where\u2019s the pretend angle here?\u201d Well, this religion in particular gives me the heebie jeebies. I feel like people visit these Santeria priests like if they\u2019re fortune tellers. Are they just taking advantage of people\u2019s emotions or am I discriminating on this faith? Spoiler alert\u2026 I\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019m discriminating against their faith.\n\nBut, I\u2019m better than that right? Are my fears real or is this just a bunch of urban legends? Well, there\u2019s only one way to find out. I need to travel to my hometown of Miami and embed myself in the Santeria community.\xa0\n\nFirst, I had to find a babalawo. What\u2019s 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\u2019ll get into the history and origins of Santeria. I also talk with a Santeria priest and priestess to learn more about their secret rituals.\n\n\n\n-----LIES, LIES, LIES-----\n\nHas 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.\xa0\n\nhttps://www.patreon.com/pretendradio\n\n\n\nIf 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 javier@pretendradio.org.\xa0\n\n-----MUSIC-----\n\nTheme Music composed by Joe Basile from The Chicken Music and Sound Design. Find out more about Joe and The Chicken at www.thechicken.net\n\nAdditional music by Podington Bear\n\n-----PROMOS-----\n\nPromos by:\n\nBeyond Bizarre Podcast\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices