Santana Heals Himself
Carlos Santana was born July 20, 1947 in Autlan de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico. His father was a
mariachi violinist. In the mid to late 50's, Carlos' family moved to Tijuana, Mexico to join
his father. The family was poor, so Carlos was forced to sell Chiclets (a Mexican gum) and
perform songs in the street for 50 cents a song. Between 1957 and 1959, Carlos met a man who
took Carlos into California, and molested him there. Carlos would bury the hurt, and be angry
for a long time.
In the 60's, Carlos would join the hippie movement, and perform his own brand of Afro-Cuban
music. One of the highlights of that part of his career was his performance at Woodstock.
By the 90's, Carlos was still quite the angry person. His wife insisted he seek therapy. Carlos
obliged, and by the 7th session, he had a breakthrough. His therapist interrupted him, and in
Carlos' own words, "She goes, 'What makes you think or believe that the world wakes up to screw
you every morning?' And that was it... "It made me realize that I was thinking wrong, like a
victim. I mean the issues of, being child molested, were surfacing..."
[Carlos Santana]
Carlos' life has changed dramatically since telling his story. He says, ""I'm free. By the
grace of the holiest of holiest, I am free from feeling guilt, shame, judgment, condemnation,
fear."
When asked why he chose to speak out, he said, "It’s about healing. Every day, people are
molested or raped. They’re either abused physically or emotionally. They’re scarred all kinds
of ways. God told me, ‘I’ve given you a lot and I want something back. Tell people about this
experience.’ [Part of] the reason Supernatural is such a fantastic phenomenon is because I
chose to face my demons, fears, and pain. I opened the window and stood naked and said this
thing happened to me and I’m not ashamed. I opened up that door to say, let’s educate our
children so this doesn’t happen to anyone else again. I don’t mean to insult anyone with my
truth. These are my views and when it rains we all get wet."
Carlos Santana is a great example of how we can all heal from abuse. Even 40 years after the
fact!
Links
As Waters Passing By > Notable Survivors > Carlos Santana