Quimbanda on YouTube: Comedy, Candles, and Catastrophes

People who know me personally already expect two things from me: first, a rather twisted sense of humor, and second, an incurable love for wordplay. Puns are my guilty weapon of choice - sharp enough to sting, ridiculous enough to disarm, and ultimately perfect when you want to smuggle truth inside a joke. After all, language isn’t just for communication; itis also a playground where reality and absurdity wrestle for dominance. So if you know what I’m writing about in this post, you know!

As a writer engaged early on with Quimbanda in the English-speaking world, I’ve observed with fascination - and sometimes confusion - how this practice has taken shape far from its Brazilian roots. Calling it a "tradition" seems generous in many cases. Abroad, Quimbanda often takes on a whole new life, sometimes with surprising, often amusing, results. Brazil’s own journey with Quimbanda is a complex story, full of authentic evolution, challenges, and moments of real cultural meaning. What is unfolding in different places is sometimes an entirely different performance.

Social media, especially YouTube and TikTok, have thrown open the doors to rituals, ceremonies, and self-proclaimed experts. It’s another thing entirely to enact these rituals online in front of a global audience - no editing, no footnotes, just candles, chants, and camera. The difference between claiming a magical inheritance and demonstrating that knowledge out in the open can be illuminating, and sometimes, unintentionally entertaining.

This brings me to the memorable case of Charlie The-Longer-the-Name-the-Better Bubbles-Goldilocks-BlackForest - for those who know who I'm talking about, this is a name that echoes in Palo circles with a mixture of nostalgia, scepticism, and genuine curiosity. Charlie gained some notoriety within both Palo and online spiritual communities, known for publishing works that blended fact and fiction, and for a performance style all his own. He was certainly not everyone’s idea of an orthodox Palero. But he also claims initiation into Quimbanda, as you if you don't have any credible witnesses, via his own family lineage.

One particular video, now lost to the sands of the internet, became a kind of legend among those who Quimbandeiros witnessed it. Charlie arranged a ceremony with all the right trimmings: candles, statues, smoke, and ritual chalk. The scene was atmospheric, and for a moment, one could almost feel transported to another world. But as the ceremony progressed, prayers and songs began - passionate, booming, unapologetic.

And then came the pivotal moment. Charlie invoked the spirit, “Exu,” but pronounced the “x” like “ks” instead of the Portuguese “sh.” The effect? All at once, any lingering doubts about the authenticity of his claimed tradition evaporated. For those who recognized the mistake, the moment was a mixture of amusement and awkwardness - a clear signal that, while passion counts for something, attention to the details of pronunciation sometimes counts for more. That video is long gone now, but the memory of Charlie’s heartfelt - if slightly off-key - invocation remains. If nothing else, it’s a reminder that spiritual traditions deserve a level of respect and commitment, down to learning how to say the names with care. Quimbanda, like many complex traditions, can be a deeply meaningful and powerful practice, but only when approached sincerely. It’s one thing to bang out a book of Quimbanda Black Magic Spells, or claiming abuela blessed you with a magical bloodline. It’s quite another to perform these supposed family rituals on the internet.

If you’re still butchering the basics, do us all a favor: quit the act, put down the candle, and stop this nonsense before the next chapter gets even messier. The world already has enough accidental comedians—no need to summon more. Every time someone broadcasts these sloppy imitations, it’s not just their own reputation that goes up in smoke, but the value and meaning of the practices they pretend to represent. Sincerity, respect, and attention to detail matter. So if you aren’t willing to learn even the fundamental names, take a step back, reconsider whether this pageantry is for you, and spare everyone another cringe-worthy spectacle. We’ve all seen enough spiritual theater. The joke’s over—let’s end this farce.