Below is an example of how to spot a fake Palero. Read through the profile that was taken from an actual website. The mistakes in thier claims are noted, and explained at the end.
Xarabanda "Omijuba" ~My name is ~Xarabanda-OmiJuba~. I am 28 and live in New Orleans. I am Cuban
American. I am a Santerio (1) in a religion known as Santeria and I am also a
Palero (2) in the much darker (3) sister path of Santeria known as Palo Mayombe.
Notes:
1) Anyone who knows anything about Santeria knows that males are called Santeros, not Santerios.
2) This person claiming to be a Palero makes some rather outrageous claims of intimacy with a male Nkisi. Without being offensive to anyone or revealing any secrets... It wouldn't happen.
3) Palo Mayombe is a dualistic path, not necessarily a "dark" path.
4) Paleros don't deal with "demons". See the Nkisi page of this site.
5) In some cases, the Nkisi will give a Palero more than they can handle, if for nothing other than to test them, but not in the power mad concept implied in the above paragraph.
6) There is no "Demon Lord" in Palo Mayombe.
7) Madre de Agua-Luna is a fictional composite entity this person created. It is a combination of Madre de la Luna, the Moon Goddess of traditonal Mexican Brujeria, and the Nkisi, Madre Agua. In nearly all her paths, Madre Agua is very gentle and nurturing... Most certainly NOT a demon.
8) Xarabanda is a corruption of Zarabanda or Sarabanda. Zarabanda is the Spirit of War and Iron, not the Divine Messenger. Again, see the Nkisi page for more details.
9) This last one really encompasses the whole profile. That particlar "prayer" was taken from the book "Palo Mayombe-The Dark Side of Santeria" by Carlos Montenegro, like most of the entities mentioned in the article. This person obviously read that book and took it upon herself to create herself a false front as being a "Palero". If this person was an actual Palero, he would have known that Montenegro wrote most of that book from a completely created standpoint or written from a so-called "dark" standpoint in order to sell books. Montenegro, himself, has long since admitted that. However, to his credit, some of the information in his book is accurate, but the information quoted by the above subject is not.
Don't allow yourself to be fooled. There are many so-called "Paleros" in this world who are only out to take,or even harm, unsuspecting victims. Munanso Siete Rayos is dedicated to protecting innocent people from these predators, and will remain so until it is no longer necessary to guard against such frauds.
I was initiated into Palo Mayombe by my father when I was just still a child.
The roots of Palo Mayombe go back to my family until atleast 1660. It has
been a tradition in my family that every male child is "baptized" in Palo
Mayombe by the age of 11. We grow up watching our fathers perform the secret
rituals and initiations and we are though almost from birth the old ways.
When a male child in my family reaches the age of 21, we then do what is
called, "Making Ocha", this is when Santeria enters the picture. It's a
natural progression from one level to another. To set the balance. Here we
are taught to worship and honor the Orishas rather then the lower spirits of
Palo. Until we learn to balance the two on totally equal grounds. The light
and the dark.
In our religion we work with a lot of herbs, stones, shells, animal
sacrifices and human skulls and bones. These give us our power. We work with
the demons (4) right along side of the saints. We become possessed by various
forces and during this possession we come into direct communication with
these forces.
We offer them sacrifice and in exchange they bestow upon us, their Ashe,
their power. By manipulating this power to achieve our desires, nothing is
out of our reach or control. But you MUST ALWAYS follow the instructions and
directions and by performing the specific rituals and offering the
appropriate sacrifices. Then the Orisha, the Spirits, the Demons and the Lwo
guarantee us more power then we can handle. (5) In Palo Mayombe and Santeria you
can truly have it all.
In Palo Mayombe I worship the DemonLord (6) known as El Cristo Negro. He is the
Lord and king of the UnderWorld. All the spirits and lesser demons on Palo
Mayombe must bow down before him. He is represented in the form of a
crucified Black Christ. My MotherDemon in Palo Mayombe is known as Madre De
Auga-Luna. (7) She is the demon and the one who rules the moon and the oceans, one of
her powers she gives her children is wealth, sexuality and grants you the
ability to have anyone you desire as a lover.
My spirit guide in this life is
Xarabanda. He is the messenger of the underworld. (8) It is through Xarabanda
that I can communicate directly with my Lord and mother in the lower realms.
He lives here with me in a cauldron in a set of human bones that have been
passed down from my ancestors for hundreds of years.
Xarabanda is also my lover who comes to me at night and takes possession of my
body and drives me into complete raw and savage orgasm. He will also mount
and possess my other various sexual partners, so that he may ravish me more
on a physical level.
My mother in Palo, Madre De Agua-Luna, becomes my mother
in Santeria known as Yemaya, also reclaiming her role as Goddess of the Moon
and the Oceans.
Well, that is enough for now, I will write back soon.
Xarabanda Brillumbi Indoki Inferno Viva Mundo(9)
Sala Malecun
Malecun Sala
~Xarabanda-OmiJuba~
Another point worth mentioning is that the entities written about above ARE NOT the Traditional Afro-Cuban Nkisi. Most of them are Mexican witchcraft dieties or, in the case of "Madre de Agua-Luna", created by the writer of the profile.