Shango

And then if you need to receive initiation into Oshun, that's another three days.

And if you need to receive initiation into Shango or Ogun or Yemoja, all of the initiations are about three days or three and a half days long.

And there are many festivals throughout the year that honor the Orisha.

OK.

Matter of fact, you have to get fully initiated into Ifa first before you start receiving Orishas.

In West Africa, in Nigeria, in Echeche, you get one hand of Ifa, you get your second hand of Ifa, you're initiated into Ifa.

And then from there, if you're going to receive your guardian orisha or you're going to receive other orishas, then you move to Egungun, then you move to Egbe, then you move to Oshun, then you move to Shango or Abaluwe.

Okay? In Cuban Ifa, pretty much Babalaos will give hand of Ifa to everybody.

especially mythology.

That's why I'm thinking is Jefferson Pierce going to be an ancestral grandson to the god of thunder, Shango?

So no mythology in mind.

Ah, okay.

So in this case, I have pulled on the Yoruba pantheon.

So like Shango, Ogun, Oshun and the rest of the gods within the Yoruba stories.

I refer to them within the story as old gods.

And so our main character is pulling on the magic of the old gods to pretend as though she does have the power.

So she has fire power because there's a god who is Shango, who, if you think about in terms of Greek myth, will be like Thor.

So it's like the fire of God, the God of fire and lightning and things like that.

And so I'm thinking... that having this secondary magic system came solely as a result of answering the question, how does she survive in a world where everyone has this magic, but she doesn't, it's going to be very noticeable.

All right? And then you have traditional worshipers.

Shongo can say, I'm God.

I'm not dressed, not dressed, not dressed.

But there must be criteria because you can be powerful and not be God.

Okay, let me give you an example.

In Nigerian folklore, have you heard about the word Shango? The name Shango?

No.

God of thunder.

Okay.

Shango.

What's the color of thunder? Some are white, some are blue, some are yellow.

Okay, good.

Yeah.

And the pivotal moment happens in 2017 with the release of the Shango EP.

Shango.

Yeah.

And the title alone does some heavy lifting for his philosophy.

Shango is a deity in West African traditional religion, often associated with thunder and lightning.

So by invoking an ancestral god of thunder on a purely electronic dance record, he's instantly drawing this line that connects deep Afro-diasporic spirituality with the flashing strobe lights of a modern club.

Exactly.

I had to take major steps all the way back.

But I will say, being in community with spiritualists, humanists, mystics, hoodoos, yas, you know, some Oshun heads, some children of Shango.

Being in community, ATR's community, definitely helped me personally, helped me a lot.

Partially why I even started doing this podcast to introduce folks who I think are so impactful within the community and their work professionally and personally and just the community work.

I explained Rodriguez's discovery to Marcus and Delacroix.

Luis's blood work came back unproblematic, so Marcus investigated the medal's origins, while Rodriguez researched the connection between Santa Barbara and Chango.

Delacroix and I returned to Louise.

Good news, I announced.

But maybe Chongo isn't the end of it.

Maybe he's supposed to carry it somewhere else.

Where? Rodriguez drew a line downward from Chango.

Into something grounding.

And after two days in Ecuador, I wound up in Cuba for a week, about six months later.

And I was there for like a week long ritual, a protection ritual, and where I became the physical embodiment of my god, Chango.

There you go.

Anybody who was surprised that these two who look like they had a wonderful marriage got divorced, there's your answer.

Yeah, I wonder, he's got a god named Chungo.

Does that mean we all have a god?

I'm saying Chango.

I'm not saying Chungo or Shango.

So I'm just, you know, doing my regular ritual candle work and it was for money and, you know, promotions and, you know, just to increase the abundance, you know, the good abundance of my life, right? Understand the word abundance can mean both things, good or bad, but I'm trying to increase the positive abundance, more money, more happiness, more health, you know, more, you know, happy times and, and everything, peace.

And I decided to get an Orisha candle, Shango to be exact, and I was very confident.

I have used Shango before.

I, I've burned plenty of Shango candles in my day.

Um, but it was before I moved into the apartment that I live in now.

And the ancestor altar that I have here where I live now is a lot more sophisticated and has been sitting for a lot longer than any ancestor altar I've ever created.