Mexican-American guitarist, Carlos Santana says he has forgiven a man who sexually abused him ‘almost every day’ when he was between the age of 10 and 12.
In an interview published Thursday, he shared how he found peace and forgiveness with the man who sexually abused him as a child.
According to the music icon, he was able to find it in his heart to stop blaming the person who committed those heinous acts.
Speaking in a recent interview with People magazine, he said: ‘My son and I were talking about this yesterday, how acceptance and forgiveness are really spiritual.
‘I learned to look at everyone who ever went out of their way to hurt me, demean me or make me feel like less, like they’re 5 or 6 years old, and I’m able to look at them with understanding and compassion.’
Santana, 75, said he was able to find peace after what happened to him by looking at the situation from a different perspective.
He explained: ‘For example, this person who abused me sexually, instead of sending him to hell forever, I visualized him like a child, and behind him there was a lot of light.
‘So I can send him to the light or send him to hell knowing that if I send him to hell, I’m going to go with him. But if I send him to the light, then I’m going to go with him also.
‘There’s this saying, ‘Hurt people hurt people. It’s my pain. It did happen to me. But if you open your hands, and you let it go, then you don’t feel that anymore.’
Santana bravely went public with the abuse in an interview with Rolling Stone back in 2000.
He said that for about two years from 1957 to 1959 when he was between 10 and 12 years old he was brought over the border ‘almost every other day’ by an American man from Burlington, Vermont.
The abuser would buy Santana presents including food, clothes, and toys while abusing him.
According to the article, it all ended when the man slapped Santana as he looked through a girl he was in love with through a window.
The Maria Maria hitmaker explained: ‘And then I woke up. I looked at him for the first time for who he was: a very sick person.’
At the time Santana also admitted that even if he was the victim, he blamed himself. He said: ‘You want to get angry with yourself for not knowing better.
The mind has a very insidious way of making you feel guilty: You’re the guilty party, shame on you, you’re the one who brought this on yourself.’
Of his relationship with the man, Santana admitted to The Guardian years later in 2014 that the man was an American tourist who had become friends with his parents.
Santana’s revelation comes days before the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of his new documentary, ‘Carlos,’ which will provide more insight into his life and iconic music career.
