* TRIGGER WARNING * BLOODLINES • Chapter 1 • In pictures 1. In the days following the amputation of my large intestine, my weight began to plummet. I would ultimately lose a total of 60 lbs during the two weeks following the surgery. If you zoom in, you can see the top of my first ostomy bag creeping up over the sheets. 2. A shot of my abdomen after the reconnection/take down surgery or anastomosis, in which my ostomy bag was removed and what was left of my digestive tract was reconnected. 3. An example of the multitude of skin conditions I was plagued with during the seven years I was sick. My skin, an immune organ, was stricken with just about every condition known to man, usually in combination. #BLOODLINES

Joe Manganiello spent years battling a mystery autoimmune illness that almost killed him, lost part of his intestine, and lived with an ostomy bag. Desperate for answers beyond doctors, he flew to Cuba for a Santería ritual where he licked the pituitary gland from a goat’s skull and sat with a Babalao who became mounted by an African spirit. A shaman later told him the real cause was generational trauma from his ancestors. “I think Santería was responsible for a piece of it… this Babalao became mounted by an African spirit… After the first ritual, I woke up and it was gone… I became the physical embodiment of my god Chango.”