What Is A MUERTERO:
I was remembering one of my trips to Cuba and meeting someone who was considered to be a Muertero. His name was Juan Filom if i have that written right…lol. He resided in Havana Cuba in a Neighborhood or town called Mantilla. He came to Havana from Oriente, Cuba. He was a descendant of Hatians . When i met him it was by accident. It was through another mutual friend who would tell me stories about her uncle that he was a Muertero but that he was a Haitian. So i asked her to introduce me to him. I was raised hearing stories about Muerteros and wanted to meet one. So when i met him he was like 90 something years old. He had a simple altar. A small cabinet table with altar dedicated to Saint Martin, Saint Expedite, Saint Gerard, and a picture to Saint John the Baptist. Behind those small figures he had a picture of The Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the bottom part of the cabinet where 2 small doors that opened outwardly. There he had 3 skulls. That was it. He did not have warriors, Orishas or Ngangas. He did have a Boveda in another table but it was a simple 3 cup boveda. But that was it. Very simple. He sat on a rocking chair and drank his coffee and smoked his cigars. He read me. He asked that before i came to bring 3 candles. 1 for the spirits of the boveda, 1 for the saints, and another for the skulls. He then blew rum and rang a bell. He had a particular style of reading because it didnt feel like a reading. He would have a convo with you and he would interrupt and give you the mesaages the spirits would pass through. I was amazed by his style of reading. So he gave me my prescription. The work that he gave me was fairly easy but I asked him to prepare it for me. He smiled and said tu eres Zorro. So I brought the plants and he prepared my baths and he allowed me to use his shower so that i cant take the spiritual bath. I must say that if i learned anything was devotion from him. But my mind was still intrigued by him and his practice because i could not pin point his practice. So i would ask him are you a espiritista?..he would respond no. I would ask him do you consider yourself a palero? He would say no as well. I would ask him do you practice Vudu or are you a Papa Boko…he said no. He would reply…yo practico lo mio mijo. English: i practice my own thing. Esto en verdad no tiene nombre. English: This really has no name. I told him but you are Haitian. Is this a practice from Haiti? He would tell me it could be but it wasent like that for him. He said he was guided by his spiritual guide and his workers. His spiritual guide was of course syncritized with one of the Statues on the altar. But he would always reffer to himself as a Muertero. So i asked him what is a Muertero? He explained. A Muertero no tiene Initiation or a Muertero has no initiation. The Muertero Is someone who is choosen to work with the Spirits. Not everyone can be a Muertero. It is someone who manifest spirituality in a different form than others. He said: I didnt ask to want to help people. People just came after i would remove black magic from people. He would pay respects to the Baron Del Cementerio and ask him permission to come inside of the cemetery…But it wasn’t Vudu to him. Baron was like a Guia (Guide) that Deserved a Big Respect with him. He had alot of elements of Espiritismo cruzado (Caribbean Spiritism) in the mix of it all but it was fairly simple and powerful but to him it was not Vudu. To him Baron was literally the first person buried in that specific cementery he worked. Muerteros make pacts with cementeries to bring work to so it manifest. It is a form of owning a cemetery. He would always tell me. Yamil sigue el Muerto que ese es el que sabe y ve mas que nosotros. English: Yamil follow your spirit or the dead. They see and know more than we do. He said: ser Muertero es ser tu verdadero ser. Es ser Un Muerto Entre Los Muertos…Pero Un Muerto Vivo. English: Being a Muertero is to be one with your true self. It is to be dead amongst the dead but alive at the same time. He gave me a blessings like a sort of Baptism and gave me secrets to work with those types of Energies. I have seen Muerteros after him, But to me this Old mAn took the Cake.
Wanted to share a bit of my travels with you. Have a blessed day.