Dria El
September 28th, 2001, 04:03 AM
The Supernatural Rebirth of Carlos Santana
An interview by Zannah
Originally published in Magical Blend Magazine Issue #68 January 2000
What is the process that you enlist to invoke the blessings of angels before each concert?
Carlos Santana: I regard my preparation for performing in much the same way a surgeon prepares for an operation by cleansing his hands. Since music goes deeper than the knife, I feel it's important for us to meditate and connect ourselves to that which grants us our gift: divine guidance. We welcome the enthusiasm of the audience because the music is extremely arousing, but we ask the angels to put a hedge of protection around the experience, so nobody gets hurt. There is nothing wrong with vitality but it must be harnessed in a loving way so that all can enjoy the experience. Approximately fifteen minutes prior to opening, we go backstage, meditate, visualize, and put in our angelic request. To include the audience we enter the stage and announce, "It's a real joy to be in your presence and right now we'd like to let you know that Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel are present. We suggest that you invite them into your life and you, too, will witness some incredible changes." In the beginning they respond with some questioning, "What is he talking about?" We also continue to encourage the people to use their wings. Your wings are best exemplified by your vision and inspiration. Make friends with your wings instead of with frustration and depression. I did this for many years and I rarely spoke a word outside of my performance. Then finally, about seven years ago, I decided I needed to address people on a different level. I felt I had to let them know that they were entering a time of splendor. Splendor can be internalized only when a person wakes up to their absoluteness, all that they are. I am Irish, Comanche, Apache. I am everything. I can't afford to be just Mexican. One must become universal-the whole thing. If we embrace our absoluteness, we diminish racism.
What compelled you to start sharing this announcement of splendor? Was this brought on by religious upbringing, a unique experience, or both?
CS: Both. My mother taught me a long time ago about angels and I perceived it in much the same way a child of my generation would regard Santa Claus and Howdy Doody. It's difficult for children and teenagers to understand angels unless they really need them in crisis. But around '88 my thinking began to change. In making an album with Alice Coltrane, we addressed the angels of air, sunlight, and water. It interested me, but it was an unfamiliar vibration until I was on tour with Wayne Shorter that same year. I picked up a book about a woman from Budapest. She stated the hierarchy of the supreme God in a way that made sense to me. The imagery of a magnificent chandelier came to mind with the major light bulbs representing Allah, Christ, Buddha, Krishna, with the smaller hanging crystals catching their light and sharing the reflection, symbolic of the angels. I was content and excited in discovering this "meat and potatoes" explanation for the layman that may not yet be hearing the messages of angels.
Are you content with the music you are making right now? Do certain songs rise to the occasion with regards to angelic inspiration?
CS: I still think that "Europa" stands out as being the most divinely orchestrated. This is because there is a cry within it to reach toward the light. On a physical plane, it proved to be very effective as we got news that many women reportedly conceived as a result of hearing the music. This did not surprise me because spirituality and sensuality are really one. I like to believe that the same happens with the notes that I play-be it "Louie, Louie" or "A Love Supreme." Spiritual tones exist on every level in every musical arrangement as long as it is generated from a thought process that invites it. It's what you are thinking while you are playing the song. The divine will come through it.
Who do you hold in high regard as being fueled by divine inspiration? How do you perceive inspiration?
CS: John Coltrane is still probably one of the greatest musicians of this century. His tone truly puts demons on a leash. His gift is directly from the mind of God and is very powerful. Then there are others with principles that I am convinced must be divinely inspired: Mr. Nelson Mandela, Mr. Harry Belafonte, Mother Theresa. Those individuals that are bigger than what they represent.
Is there anything else that you bring into your musical delivery in terms of your affection for life in this universe as we know it?
CS: In the center of my universe are my two daughters, my son, and my wife. I use this center when I play my music-imagining those things that bring me great pleasure in being at home. The joy I derive in combing my young daughter's hair or memorizing the fragrance of a child's clean skin after a bath. I feel like I am standing before God. The muscles in my fingers store memory of all the touches of those that I love. When I play a great solo, it is usually because I am thinking about hugging my children or sharing a tender moment with my wife, rather than striving to experience an ego-feeding gig like a clap-junkie requiring applause to keep him going.
What turns me on is when the audience and the music become one in the experience. Where the rhythm blows through the people like the wind in a tall grassy field. They begin dancing like blades of grass, all at the same time. I keep it going by thinking pure thought forms; the first being that of my daughter, her little hands and eyes-nothing is so pure as a child. Usually at this point, something else takes over and new music begins. Often I've been asked, "Man, what were you thinking? What caused you to play different notes?"
You were obviously in a different place?
CS: Yes. You have to give the angels credit for this. If you make the effort to get to the zone, they'll see to it that everyone benefits.
Having arrived at this level of performance, what do you see for your music in the future? Where do you see it going next?
CS: I am convinced that there are musical intentions that have principles. Sometime ago in a meditation, angels requested that I use my music to wake others up from this 2000-year sleep of good and evil-to access all that is stored in our DNA and cellular makeup and memory. It's time to rise and enter the fifth dimension. In the third dimension we have good and evil, right and wrong. In the fifth we have a resonance with light and splendor. This enables one to communicate with the Earth. When the Earth perceives us as being lighthearted, she does not shake as much and we, as residents of the fifth dimension, can change the disastrous predictions of the Aborigines, American Indians, Nostradamus, and the Bible. We have the power, by God's grace, to change the course of history. This can be done primarily by two things: Sound and Color. These two elements have an immediate effect on a person's heart. Women can ascend to another level by becoming extremely aroused. Others go to another level by dancing, crying, and often laughing, and sometimes all at the same time. Black churches reach these heights every Sunday in singing gospels. Rather than being perceived as possessed by judgmental people, the evolved will regard them as accepting the Holy Spirit or as receiving their direct energy stimulus or source. This would enable that person to go into their vicinity and trigger someone else's ability to get to the next level by merely sharing a divine presentation of the way in which they cook or write poems. We are all artists and our assignment is to stimulate and encourage one another, setting off a chain reaction-ultimately effecting the masses. That's a supreme blessing. Everyone knows that this is the way life is designed, yet some just don't want to accept the responsibility.
Speaking of responsibility, you are highly revered in the music industry. You have this wonderful reputation of being a very kind and spiritual human being. Knowing that many look up to you, how do you handle this responsibility that comes with success?
CS: I give it back. And there are many ways to do this. Others like Bill Cosby, Oprah, and Sting do the same. There are many known and unknown individuals who put it back into society. My wife and I have been involved in foster parenting since we married in 1972. At one point we had close to seventeen children around the world of all nationalities. We are also a part of the support effort behind the Larking Street Center for runaways; providing twenty-four-hour nurses, shelter, books, and dentistry for young people. We also help support the City of Children in Tijuana. On my last visit, I was impressed with the cleanliness-you could eat off of the floor. They spend a great deal of time caring for children who have been victims of family and societal abuses. This often includes instructing young women on how to be good mothers. I also work with the artists in the Bay Area. As you can see by looking around this room, there are two artists displayed here. One style represents Roman's interpretation of angels and the other is Rios'. Both understand the use of color and the significance it brings to the process.
In giving it back, I hope to send a message to young people today. I suggest they position themselves like a quarterback; stay in the pocket and they won't break your legs. Staying in the pocket means staying away from drugs and from physical sensations. Remember, Man makes drugs. Mother Nature makes medicine. Medicine comes in many forms: herbs, love, colors, music-and can heal you from your separation. I found a dictionary in Germany that defined healing as "being whole and sound."
How do you prioritize your responsibilities and activities so that you personally can live a life that is whole and sound?CS: I would place them in an order of God, family and music.
Do you write your own lyrics? How much is enhanced by other contributors?
CS: Sometimes I write my own and other times, when God wants additional participation, he'll send someone in with just the right melody or lyrics-then someone else will bring the bridge. We are very respectful of one another as members of a band. We share and deliver criticism in a professional manner. It's a business and in order to be successful it has to have respect. The real success behind being in business for a long time is to honor and respect. The American Indians did this better than anyone. They honored Mother Earth. When one tree was uprooted, they planted three to replace it.
Everyone should adopt this attitude. It's a fundamental understanding in nature. You seem to enjoy exploring philosophy, metaphysics, and religion. Are there any authors that you find worthy of attention?
CS: Anyone that speaks from the heart. Anyone who has passion for the highest good of all people. I don't feel the need for gurus, swamis, or masters. I think if you want to get to the Source and hear your instructions, then just shut off your mouth, go inward, and within seconds you will receive illuminating guidance. The only real master is the Supreme Mother and Father of all. If you're not sensitive or attuned to this understanding, then talk to the angels. They're in between it all-ready to escort you.
Given the realization that many are encountering constructive and destructive cults in their attempts to get to God, what advice do you have for people who are trying to find clarity and strength from within?
CS: There are four things that God wants for us everyday: Peace, Light, Love, and Joy. I repeat these in accompaniment with the invocation of Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Ariel. It's much easier for me to be consistent in staying happy if I do this. It's time to change people's modus operandi; that which invites misery and welcomes fear, sorrow, and pain. I ask for everyone to invite the angels to escort them to God, to Peace, Light, Love, and Joy. And to remember to use your wings of vision and interpretation.
An interview by Zannah
Originally published in Magical Blend Magazine Issue #68 January 2000
What is the process that you enlist to invoke the blessings of angels before each concert?
Carlos Santana: I regard my preparation for performing in much the same way a surgeon prepares for an operation by cleansing his hands. Since music goes deeper than the knife, I feel it's important for us to meditate and connect ourselves to that which grants us our gift: divine guidance. We welcome the enthusiasm of the audience because the music is extremely arousing, but we ask the angels to put a hedge of protection around the experience, so nobody gets hurt. There is nothing wrong with vitality but it must be harnessed in a loving way so that all can enjoy the experience. Approximately fifteen minutes prior to opening, we go backstage, meditate, visualize, and put in our angelic request. To include the audience we enter the stage and announce, "It's a real joy to be in your presence and right now we'd like to let you know that Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel are present. We suggest that you invite them into your life and you, too, will witness some incredible changes." In the beginning they respond with some questioning, "What is he talking about?" We also continue to encourage the people to use their wings. Your wings are best exemplified by your vision and inspiration. Make friends with your wings instead of with frustration and depression. I did this for many years and I rarely spoke a word outside of my performance. Then finally, about seven years ago, I decided I needed to address people on a different level. I felt I had to let them know that they were entering a time of splendor. Splendor can be internalized only when a person wakes up to their absoluteness, all that they are. I am Irish, Comanche, Apache. I am everything. I can't afford to be just Mexican. One must become universal-the whole thing. If we embrace our absoluteness, we diminish racism.
What compelled you to start sharing this announcement of splendor? Was this brought on by religious upbringing, a unique experience, or both?
CS: Both. My mother taught me a long time ago about angels and I perceived it in much the same way a child of my generation would regard Santa Claus and Howdy Doody. It's difficult for children and teenagers to understand angels unless they really need them in crisis. But around '88 my thinking began to change. In making an album with Alice Coltrane, we addressed the angels of air, sunlight, and water. It interested me, but it was an unfamiliar vibration until I was on tour with Wayne Shorter that same year. I picked up a book about a woman from Budapest. She stated the hierarchy of the supreme God in a way that made sense to me. The imagery of a magnificent chandelier came to mind with the major light bulbs representing Allah, Christ, Buddha, Krishna, with the smaller hanging crystals catching their light and sharing the reflection, symbolic of the angels. I was content and excited in discovering this "meat and potatoes" explanation for the layman that may not yet be hearing the messages of angels.
Are you content with the music you are making right now? Do certain songs rise to the occasion with regards to angelic inspiration?
CS: I still think that "Europa" stands out as being the most divinely orchestrated. This is because there is a cry within it to reach toward the light. On a physical plane, it proved to be very effective as we got news that many women reportedly conceived as a result of hearing the music. This did not surprise me because spirituality and sensuality are really one. I like to believe that the same happens with the notes that I play-be it "Louie, Louie" or "A Love Supreme." Spiritual tones exist on every level in every musical arrangement as long as it is generated from a thought process that invites it. It's what you are thinking while you are playing the song. The divine will come through it.
Who do you hold in high regard as being fueled by divine inspiration? How do you perceive inspiration?
CS: John Coltrane is still probably one of the greatest musicians of this century. His tone truly puts demons on a leash. His gift is directly from the mind of God and is very powerful. Then there are others with principles that I am convinced must be divinely inspired: Mr. Nelson Mandela, Mr. Harry Belafonte, Mother Theresa. Those individuals that are bigger than what they represent.
Is there anything else that you bring into your musical delivery in terms of your affection for life in this universe as we know it?
CS: In the center of my universe are my two daughters, my son, and my wife. I use this center when I play my music-imagining those things that bring me great pleasure in being at home. The joy I derive in combing my young daughter's hair or memorizing the fragrance of a child's clean skin after a bath. I feel like I am standing before God. The muscles in my fingers store memory of all the touches of those that I love. When I play a great solo, it is usually because I am thinking about hugging my children or sharing a tender moment with my wife, rather than striving to experience an ego-feeding gig like a clap-junkie requiring applause to keep him going.
What turns me on is when the audience and the music become one in the experience. Where the rhythm blows through the people like the wind in a tall grassy field. They begin dancing like blades of grass, all at the same time. I keep it going by thinking pure thought forms; the first being that of my daughter, her little hands and eyes-nothing is so pure as a child. Usually at this point, something else takes over and new music begins. Often I've been asked, "Man, what were you thinking? What caused you to play different notes?"
You were obviously in a different place?
CS: Yes. You have to give the angels credit for this. If you make the effort to get to the zone, they'll see to it that everyone benefits.
Having arrived at this level of performance, what do you see for your music in the future? Where do you see it going next?
CS: I am convinced that there are musical intentions that have principles. Sometime ago in a meditation, angels requested that I use my music to wake others up from this 2000-year sleep of good and evil-to access all that is stored in our DNA and cellular makeup and memory. It's time to rise and enter the fifth dimension. In the third dimension we have good and evil, right and wrong. In the fifth we have a resonance with light and splendor. This enables one to communicate with the Earth. When the Earth perceives us as being lighthearted, she does not shake as much and we, as residents of the fifth dimension, can change the disastrous predictions of the Aborigines, American Indians, Nostradamus, and the Bible. We have the power, by God's grace, to change the course of history. This can be done primarily by two things: Sound and Color. These two elements have an immediate effect on a person's heart. Women can ascend to another level by becoming extremely aroused. Others go to another level by dancing, crying, and often laughing, and sometimes all at the same time. Black churches reach these heights every Sunday in singing gospels. Rather than being perceived as possessed by judgmental people, the evolved will regard them as accepting the Holy Spirit or as receiving their direct energy stimulus or source. This would enable that person to go into their vicinity and trigger someone else's ability to get to the next level by merely sharing a divine presentation of the way in which they cook or write poems. We are all artists and our assignment is to stimulate and encourage one another, setting off a chain reaction-ultimately effecting the masses. That's a supreme blessing. Everyone knows that this is the way life is designed, yet some just don't want to accept the responsibility.
Speaking of responsibility, you are highly revered in the music industry. You have this wonderful reputation of being a very kind and spiritual human being. Knowing that many look up to you, how do you handle this responsibility that comes with success?
CS: I give it back. And there are many ways to do this. Others like Bill Cosby, Oprah, and Sting do the same. There are many known and unknown individuals who put it back into society. My wife and I have been involved in foster parenting since we married in 1972. At one point we had close to seventeen children around the world of all nationalities. We are also a part of the support effort behind the Larking Street Center for runaways; providing twenty-four-hour nurses, shelter, books, and dentistry for young people. We also help support the City of Children in Tijuana. On my last visit, I was impressed with the cleanliness-you could eat off of the floor. They spend a great deal of time caring for children who have been victims of family and societal abuses. This often includes instructing young women on how to be good mothers. I also work with the artists in the Bay Area. As you can see by looking around this room, there are two artists displayed here. One style represents Roman's interpretation of angels and the other is Rios'. Both understand the use of color and the significance it brings to the process.
In giving it back, I hope to send a message to young people today. I suggest they position themselves like a quarterback; stay in the pocket and they won't break your legs. Staying in the pocket means staying away from drugs and from physical sensations. Remember, Man makes drugs. Mother Nature makes medicine. Medicine comes in many forms: herbs, love, colors, music-and can heal you from your separation. I found a dictionary in Germany that defined healing as "being whole and sound."
How do you prioritize your responsibilities and activities so that you personally can live a life that is whole and sound?CS: I would place them in an order of God, family and music.
Do you write your own lyrics? How much is enhanced by other contributors?
CS: Sometimes I write my own and other times, when God wants additional participation, he'll send someone in with just the right melody or lyrics-then someone else will bring the bridge. We are very respectful of one another as members of a band. We share and deliver criticism in a professional manner. It's a business and in order to be successful it has to have respect. The real success behind being in business for a long time is to honor and respect. The American Indians did this better than anyone. They honored Mother Earth. When one tree was uprooted, they planted three to replace it.
Everyone should adopt this attitude. It's a fundamental understanding in nature. You seem to enjoy exploring philosophy, metaphysics, and religion. Are there any authors that you find worthy of attention?
CS: Anyone that speaks from the heart. Anyone who has passion for the highest good of all people. I don't feel the need for gurus, swamis, or masters. I think if you want to get to the Source and hear your instructions, then just shut off your mouth, go inward, and within seconds you will receive illuminating guidance. The only real master is the Supreme Mother and Father of all. If you're not sensitive or attuned to this understanding, then talk to the angels. They're in between it all-ready to escort you.
Given the realization that many are encountering constructive and destructive cults in their attempts to get to God, what advice do you have for people who are trying to find clarity and strength from within?
CS: There are four things that God wants for us everyday: Peace, Light, Love, and Joy. I repeat these in accompaniment with the invocation of Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Ariel. It's much easier for me to be consistent in staying happy if I do this. It's time to change people's modus operandi; that which invites misery and welcomes fear, sorrow, and pain. I ask for everyone to invite the angels to escort them to God, to Peace, Light, Love, and Joy. And to remember to use your wings of vision and interpretation.