Nsala Malongo,

Last Year I had the honor to be interviewed by a college student who is also a practitioner of wicca but interestingly enough was writing a piece on Palo Mayombe for a class she was taking. Being cuban american and in Miami she decided to interview me. Which I was honored she by the way got an A in the class. So i asked permission to add her piece to the site and she obliged.

without further a due……….. We give you Smoke and Mirrors… The Reality and Beauty Behind Palo Mayombe By Lily Rivera.

Smoke and Mirrors: The Reality and Beauty behind Palo Monte

Lily Rodriguez

University of Miami

Abstract

This paper explores the Afro-Cuban religion of Palo Monte and its origins as well as the negative influences associated with it.  Numerous resources are used to help demonstrate the actuality of Palo Monte and its beauty while simultaneously helping to clear up some of the common fallacies associated with the religion.  Interviews conducted with actual Paleros lend a glimpse into the life of Palo Monte, the affect it has on its practitioners, and the various obstacles Paleros face due to the negative misconceptions associated to this religion.

Let me tell you a story of a religion that is rooted in ancient civilizations, emanates mystic beauty, reveres our ancestors, and honors Earth’s natural order.  It is a religion that was born of the Earth and ultimately ends in the infinite beauty of the cosmos.  Sounds exotic and beautiful, right?  Despite its magnificent glory, Palo Monte has grown to be one of the most feared and misunderstood religions in the Caribbean…and quite possibly, the world.  But how could such a stunning and captivating religion be shadowed in fear and darkness?  The answer to that could be as simple as looking in the mirror.

The beginnings of Palo Monte (aka Palo) are dated back to the times of the colonization of the Caribbean and the slave trade.  Palo was originally brought to Cuba during this era by Congolese slaves.  (Kanellos, Esteva, Weaver, 1994)  In their attempt to escape from slavery, many Africans sought refuge deep within the mountains of many of the Caribbean islands.  It was there that the Amer-Indians, also familiar with the wrath of the white man, took in the runaway slaves.  Although the Congolese traditions within Palo date back hundreds of years before this, the branches that we see today are a product of marooned slaves and Amer-Indian influences.  (Keegan, Carlson, 2008)

Both the African slaves and the Amer-Indians understood the importance of ancestors and the bond they had with the land.  They also understood the significance and necessity of revering their ancestors and communicating with the spirits.  Both groups believed that the spirit world and human world were intertwined and that spirits were a common factor in human life.  As the Amer-Indians shared their use of tobacco during rituals with the African slaves, the African slaves shared their use of ritual drums with the Amer-Indians.  And so was born the ritual tobacco use and drum beats in this fusion of worlds.  (Dodson, Batista, 2008)

Now that the history of Palo has been explained, let’s dive a little into the basics.  Palo is a very intricate religion that undoubtedly would take hours to explain and even then, certain pieces could still be left out.  A basic understanding of Palo will help to build the foundation to understanding the religion so that we may address other issues later on.

In layman terms, Palo is a religion that works with the deceased, our ancestors, and the Earth to change the fate of those around them.  A Palero has the ability to heal as well as harm, as do many religions in existence today.  According to the American Society for the Preservation of Palo Mayombe, “…in palo mayombe we are here to promote healing and resolution to situations and look to better the circumstances of a person’s life…A Palero is first and foremost a Priest, who works with Nzambi (God) and the Bakulu (ancestors) to better his life and the lives of others. We are children of Mpemba (light) and we strive for spiritual growth and wisdom”.

The Palo religion is considered an Earth-based religion; that is, a religion that works directly with and from the Earth and where nature and the environment are highly revered.  Earth-based religions are directly influenced through natural elements and use the energy within these elements in their rituals.  (Hucks, 2012)   At the center of this lies the Palero’s nganga, a large three-legged iron cauldron that is invested with nkisi.  Nkisi doesn’t consist of solely one entity or even a single essence.  Nkisi is literally “the power and ability that is beyond individual human powers and sometimes beyond natural abilities”.  (Dodson, et al, 2008)

The nganga is generally filled with various sticks and items derived from nature from different elemental groups, such as earth, air, fire, water, and metal; at times, human and animals remains are also used.  The nganga is a representation of the Palero and is unique to each practitioner.  (Tata E. Colon, personal communication, February 19, 2014)  It is also possible for Paleros to have multiple ngangas.  Furthermore, nganga is also understood to represent a powerful practitioner of Palo.  (Dodson, et al, 2008)

Palo is known to practice animal sacrifice as well.  Although a rather sensitive subject to most, Paleros view the sacrifice of an animal sacrifice to be one of the most respected actions you can do.  They view blood as the essence of life and in turn, that is what is used to give thanks or assist the Palero with a particular problem.  (Tata E. Colon, personal communication, February 19, 2014)  It is a practice that Tata Eric Colon says should try to be limited and only done when all else has failed.  Colon also explains that because Palo is an Earth-based religion, every sacrificial animal should be venerated and disposed of properly – either eat the remains or bury them.

As with the majority of Earth-based religions, the cosmos plays an important representation within it.  The sun, for example, represents the masculine energy of Nzambi Mpungu (aka Sambi), the creator of all things, while the moon represents the feminine energy of Mposi.  (Luis, 2001)  The stars represent, in my opinion, the most beautiful aspect of Palo.  According to Tata Eric Colon of the American Society for the Preservation of Palo Mayombe, every star in the sky represents the bakulu (ancestors).  When our time in this plane comes to an end, we too will rise to the cosmos and join our ancestors shining brightly in the night sky.

The basic “rules” of Palo are rather simple: “an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth”.  (Tata E. Colon, personal communication, February 19, 2014)  Do not expect a Palero to turn the other cheek if you wrong them; cause them harm and you can be sure to expect a spiritual nuke to come your way.  Palo isn’t all about harm though; the majority of Palo represents mental, physical, and spiritual healing.  Paleros are often times called upon to heal the sick and when people feel there is no other resolution to dilemmas in their life.  A Palero will be more than happy to lend a helping hand to those in need.

So now that the basics of Palo have been laid out, let’s talk about all the negativity and fear that surrounds the religion.  When I decided to write about Palo, several friends trembled in fear for me, certain that I would befall some sort of horrible curse from my research; as if it would anger Paleros worldwide that I am writing about them.  Despite the numerous warnings attempting to deter me from my research, I marched on, determined to uncover the truth and de-vilify Palo.

As a resident of South Florida, Afro-Cuban religions are everywhere; “Brujeria” (witchcraft in Spanish), Santeria, and Palo are the norm here.  As a result of this culture, I have noticed that one of the most common misconception about the majority of Afro-Cuban religions is that they’re “evil” or “dark” – and Palo is no different; it too has been labeled without a thorough understanding of the religion.  Where do all these negative connotations come from?  Ignorance mostly.

Throughout the centuries, any religious movement that has shifted from the norm has been looked down upon.  Also, the world has been drilled to associate anything having to do with witchcraft as evil.  This has been passed down through the ages and continues to be visible even in today’s society.  The use of spirits, animal sacrifice, spells, and human remains tends to scare the majority of people.  The fact that a Palero can call upon the spirit of the dead to harm you is certainly something that would bring chills to anyone, but without understanding that a Palero would not harm someone out of the blue is not something anyone even considers.

According to an article on the American Society for the Preservation of Palo Mayombe written by Christopher Bradford, “When a Palero lives and acts in a bad way, he quickly finds himself surrounded by the fruits of his labors.  The Palero who lives and acts in good ways finds himself content, full of energy, much loved, and powerful.”  In essence, you reap what you sow.  It is more spiritually beneficial for a Palero to do good than to do harm.

Paleros have earned a reputation as one of the best people to run to when you need something done fast and effectively.  Palo is known for its immediate results, which has perhaps played the role of a double edged knife for them as well.  (Ochoa, 2010)  According to Ochoa, if it takes weeks or months for you to see results, you’re being misled – the results of a Palero should be “immediate”.  As their reputation grows, so do the fears.  After all, people will always focus on the negative without considering the positive.

Another plague that is running ramped within Palo, are the imposters – those labeling themselves as Paleros without the slightest knowledge of the true meaning of their label.  According to an anonymous Palero, this has proven to be one of the most difficult things to overcome.  He explains that his search to become a Palero resulted in numerous failures, as he noticed that those so-called Paleros were in fact imposters.  He believes these imposters have continued to add fuel to the fire by enjoying the fear and power associated with Palo.  These imposters repeatedly charge people hundreds of dollars for curses and cures that never work.  They have glorified the negative misconceptions that real Paleros have been desperately trying to rid themselves of for decades.

It’s easy to see how Palo has been vilified through the ignorance of others, but how has this affected them personally?  I sat down with a Palero that requested anonymity to discuss his trials and tribulations throughout his search for spiritual growth.  From here on out, I will refer to him as John.  When John sought out to become a Palero, he never imagined that it would be the most difficult road he has ever traveled.

John said the moment he showed interest in the religion, his parents began to fear that he had been brainwashed by “some evil curse”.  Being from a Cuban family, the very mention of a Palero seemed to evoke fear at the very core of every family member.  “I was so confused.  My Tios and Tias stopped talking to me.  I got lectured about God and told that I was too young to know what evil was.  I felt so alone.  There were days that I would cry myself to sleep because of this”.

John stated that the only thing that brought him peace was when he was reading about Palo:  “It was a feeling that I continue to feel today.  I just felt so at peace and happy whenever I read about Palo.  I knew that was the right path for me, no matter what anyone else thought”.  John continued his pursuit behind his family’s back.  After several failed attempts due to imposters, John met a Palero that took him under his wing four years after beginning his spiritual quest.

After finally becoming a Palero, John no longer hides his beliefs.  This didn’t come without repercussions though.  John explained that although his parents were scared at first, they still accepted his decision – although they still lecture him about God every now and then.  His problem was with his family:  “The bad rap that [Paleros] have made my whole family fear me.  I was completely ousted from family events and no one, other than my parents, would talk to me.  It hurt, you know?”

John was shunned from his family for almost three years, when one of his cousins finally took a stand and invited him to a family gathering.  John explains that even though most of his family now talks to him, he knows that they still fear him – “This whole thing took a serious emotional toll on me.  Their ignorance completely isolated me and hurt me more than they’ll ever know…I still tear up talking about it.  It’s sad because Palo is not what they think it is.  I just wish they would’ve done some research before doing what they did to me”.

It’s interesting how we, as a society, are so quick to judge others based on what we think we know rather than what we actually know.  We never stop to analyze the affect that this could have on those we judge.  In John’s case, the pain caused by his family’s shunning is something he is still trying to deal with today…and I’m certain he is not the only one that has endured something like that.

Palo Monte is a religion that brings ancient civilizations back from the dead, emanates mystic beauty, reveres our ancestors, and honors Earth’s natural order.  It is a religion that was born of the Earth and ultimately ends in the infinite beauty of the cosmos.  It is a religion that was founded through the fusion of two distinct cultures that managed to focus on their similarities rather than differences.  It is a religion that seeks to heal and assist those around them.  Palo Monte is light…beauty…love.

 “They talk trash about paleros and paleras, but when their back is against the wall they would be fools not to come to Palo…”  (Ochoa, 2010)

PALO MAYOMBE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT:  WHAT IS OUR POSITION?

By Engueyo Claudia Diane Delgado, March 11, 2015

Blessings and gratitude to Tata Eric Colon, his god-children, and our Ancestors.  I am a little nervous because this is the first writing I have done in a Palo Mayombe forum.  This article provides a general overview of what sexual assault is, and a list of community resources to contact when in need of assistance.

Sexual Assault is the result when a person does not respect the forces of nature, life, or another human being, therefore has no place in Palo Mayombe. Palo Mayombe gives new life, preserves life, and changes life.  .  Sexual assault causes damage to the very foundation of which Palo Mayombe is built upon.  Sexual Assault wounds and destroys lives in our community, and can cause irreparable damage to a Muna nso.  When Sexual Assault within the Palo community, is seen as a betrayal of our traditions.  Oftentimes we respond in outrage and vengeance because this is not who we are or what we do.  This is because we are warriors and as warriors we do not leave one of our fallen behind.  It is because we have honor and pride in protecting one another’s back; which speaks volumes to our commitment, determination, and loyalty to our Elders, to our brothers and sisters, and to the Religion.

In today’s world of the internet and television’s daily rants on fear and violence, sexual assault has become a topic of discussion in our everyday life.   Many of us have been victimized either from personal experience or being a witness to the experience of another.  So what can we do when sexual assault occurs to ourselves?a god-child?….a friend…a family member?….a client?  What can we do to provide support to someone who is a victim of sexual violence?

A sexual assault victim is anyone who has been coerced, forced, threatened, drugged, and/or manipulated into having sex against their will.   Those who have been victimized by Sexual Assault come from every walk of life with their own unique journey.  There is no correlation between sexual abuse one’s socio-economic status, education, profession, culture, color, intelligence, looks, make-up and clothing, etc.  The Sexual Assault has less to do with the victim and more to do with the perpetrator.  One example of a Sexual Assault is when the victim had given prior consent to having sex, but at some point decided she/he wanted it to stop, and the perpetrator refused.  Another example is a victim being drugged or passed out and therefore unable to fend for themselves.  Another example is when the victim has not given consent, and the perpetrator takes power and control over the victim in order to commit the sexual offense.  Another example is when the victim has not given consent, and the perpetrator takes power and control over the victim in order to commit the sexual offense. At the point when the request to stop has been refused, the situation has changed to criminal abuse.  In a court of law, it does not matter if the victim was drinking, whether the victim agreed to it, whether the victim is a prostitute, or whether the victim was “begging for it”…what DOES matter is that the victim either had no control over their mind/body, or had expressed the need for the act to stop and be left alone and the perpetrator refused to comply.   It is not the victim’s fault for what happened to them.  This article provides our Palo Mayombe community with important information on both Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault, as well as resources for the victim.

Sexual Predators are criminal cowards who do not care about who they wound or destroy.  They are sex offenders who have problems communicating with others, resulting in their inability to develop lasting intimate relationships.  They lack empathy, so are unable to feel or get a sense of how their behaviors are impacting others.  Because of this, when engaged in sexual activities, it can result in sexually abusive behavior.  They do not have healthy coping skills and cannot handle their emotions in a mature way.  When triggered by environmental stressors (for example when they want sex and they are being told “no” they can’t have it), they become angry and act out impulsively without thinking about the consequences of their actions.  Impulse control is lacking, therefore when their perceived want or need is delayed, they become agitated, frustrated, and angry.  At the time of arrest, it is common that this one event was not the first or only abusive event he/she has been engaged in.  There is a great range of variation on the belief that sexual offenders were sexually abused themselves, however there is no research that supports the notion that sex offending causes sex offenders.  On the contrary, research supports the notion that many who have been sexually abused in childhood do not commit sex offenses as adults.  As the perpetrator ages, the variables related to recidivism seem to be (1) increased hostility, (2) continued problems in establishing intimate relationships (3) continued problems with conflict resolution, (4) emotional identification with children, (5) preoccupation with sexual acts, sexual activities, and sexual matters, (6) instability and difficulties in employment, lifestyle, self-regulation, impulsivity, and substance abuse; (7) non-compliant behaviors and attitudes towards authority, bosses, or treatment expectations.(*1) Verbal requests such as “no”, “enough”, “stop”, “leave me alone”, “I want to go home” are ignored because their perceived needs/wants far outweighs the victim’s needs/wants to feel safe and in control of their own body.

What To Do If You Are Raped (*2)

• Go to a safe place.
• If you want to report the crime, notify the police immediately.  Reporting the crime can help you gain a sense of personal power and control.
• Call a friend, a family member, or someone else you trust who can be with you and give you support.
• Preserve all physical evidence of the assault.  Do NOT shower, bathe, douche, eat, drink, wash your hands, and brush your teeth or hair until after you have had a medical examination.  Save all of the clothing you were wearing at the time of the assault.  Place each item of clothing in a separate PAPER bag.  Do not use plastic bags.  Do not clean or disturb anything in the area where the assault occurred.
• Get medical care as soon as possible.  Go to a hospital emergency department or a specialized forensic clinic that provides treatment for sexual assault victims.  If you go to a hospital emergency department, request a “forensic examination” from a qualified personnel specifically trained in sexual assault crimes.  Even if you think that you do not have any physical injuries, you should still have a medical examination and discuss with a health care provider the risk of exposure to sexually transmitted infections and the possibility of pregnancy resulting from the sexual assault.  Having a medical exam is also a way for you to preserve physical evidence of a sexual assault.   Forensic medical examinations are free for victims of sexual assault.
• If you suspect that you may have been given a “rape drug”, ask the hospital or clinic where you receive medical care to take a urine sample.  Drugs, such as Rohypnol and GHB, are more likely to be detected in urine than in blood.
• Write down as much as you can remember about the circumstances of the assault, including a description of the assailant.
• Get information whenever you have questions or concerns.  After a sexual assault, you have a lot of choices and decisions to make, for example, about getting medical care, making a police report, and telling other people.  You may have concerns about the impact of the assault and the and the reactions of friends and family members.  You can get information by calling a rape crisis center, a hotline, or other victim assistance agencies.
• Talk with a counselor who is trained to assist rape victims.  Counseling can help you learn how to cope with the emotional and physical impacts of the assault.  You can find a counselor by contacting a local rape crisis center, a hotline, a counseling service, and other victim services agencies.

REMEMBER: Sexual Assault is a crime, but it is not your fault and you didn’t cause it to happen.  Rape is against the law.  You have a right to report this crime to the police and to be treated fairly during the judicial process

RESOURCES:

RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) is a national victim assistance organization, at 1-800-656-HOPE. RAINN will connect you to a rape crisis center in your area.

National Coalition Against Sexual Assault, telephone: 1-717-728-9764

CREDITS:

(*1) http://www.csom.org/train/etiology/3/3_1.htm

(*2) http://www.911rape.org/getting-help/what-to-do-if-you-are-raped

http://www.aafp.org/afp/1998/0915/p929.html

http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/eight-reasons-why-victim-blaming-needs-to-stop-writers-activists-and-surviv

About the Author:  Claudia Delgado is the god-daughter of Tata Musitu – Eric Colon.  She has 2 Master’s Degrees with Distinction in Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy (MFT) and Art Therapy.  She is a pre-Doctoral Candidate in Neuropsychology.  Claudia has been recognized by the California State Assembly and the California State Senate for her work in the field of rehabilitation at the California Department of Corrections as a Sex Offender Specialist.  In 2014, Claudia was requested by the United States Attorney General’s Office to assist in the prosecution of an out-of-state registered sex-offender, charged with running a national child pornography ring.  Claudia now enjoys her retirement and religious studies.

Sala maleco,

The Basimbi are an incredibly important part of Palo Mayombe and our practice; oftentimes, with the serious over-emphasis on the Nganga and it’s work, the Basimbi are neglected in receiving offerings and practical works.

The Basimbi are often spirits of place. They are spirits that vivify the natural elements around us. They also are spirits that empower social constructs and opportunities. To understand the Basimbi is to have someone to interact with no matter what a situation is. Knowing the Basimbi is the key to having an ongoing conversation with Nature. How can you work malongo if you don’t speak with nature? Nature has consciousness, has a will, and everything you encounter as you walk through the nfinda (whether it be named Santa Cruz Redwood Forest, or Detroit) has a spirit that can be propitiated, related to and petitioned.

In this post we will talk about some of the Basimbi that we must recognize, and perhaps a bit about how to work with them.

Sîmbi-mamba n’kwa-mandoto

These Simbi are spirits of water, and are spirits of the waters in the ancestral world. Rivers, oceans, lakes, even swimming pools can connect to their presence. When we consider the many allusions to the Kalunga as a “sea” (although it is also, when particularly condensed, the earth and land as well) we can understand how water eases contact to our ancestry, whose lands are spiritual lands, watery and more subtle then the land we live on. The Simbi-mamba n’kwa-mandoto can be propitiated at sea or river, and may be asked to bring forth ancestral wisdom and blessings through their watery medium. They can bless the travel of people over certain bodies of water, and can be propitiated to prevent drownings and bad news carried over water.

Sîmbi Lunsanpu

These are the Simbi of ancestral forces. When we speak of ancestral forces, we don’t necessarily speak of individuals, but of that group of persons and energies that are Ancestral. When we call in general for the blessings of ancestors, and not to specific persons, these Simbi are the force that recognizes that call. Even a group of Spirits has a collective Spirit. When we speak to the corpus of our spiritual ancestors we speak to Simbi Lunsanpu.

Sîmbi Makinsola

These are the Simbi of love. The love of parent and child, the love of Uncle for nephew and niece, the love of man for woman, etc. The Simbi Makinsola are the spirits of Love, and can be propitiated for the obvious things. Of course, it’s good to remember that they are the Simbi of Love, and not want-to-be love or hopefully-one-day love. They are the spiritual embodiment of the love connection between persons or groups. They could not be worked with to create love from nothing, as they *are* that love and don’t stand outside it. You could call upon the Simbi Makinsola of your love for your child, for instance, to influence that child to be open to protective practices when far away from home. The Simbi Makinsola of your love for your Parents could push and inspire a cantankerous father to properly watch his salt intake. Genuine love for your neighborhood, and working with the Simbi Makinsola, could lead to areas of peace where there was struggle, prosperity where it couldn’t be otherwise.

Sîmbi Nkagi Mayamba

These are the Simbi of a given land, the spirits of a general place. They are separate, for instance, from the Simbi for a given city. They represent the earth which we walk upon and from which we take our sustenance. They liven croups, and also destroy them. They filter and purify groundwaters, encourage proper decay, provide stability and foundation. They are roots spirits, and should be addressed and honored regularly as a matter of course.

Simbi vata diakondwa, Sîmbi difukidi

These are the Simbi of a village / town / city. They can be called to for protection, for success in finding work and a role within a city or town. They can be called upon to influence city leadership, to promote growth and to enable change within a city. This class of spirits is particularly powerful and large; think to the old days and each city-state having it’s own God. This powerful spirit is often the Simbi vata diakondwa.  Their importance in human affairs cannot be overestimated; moving in line with this spirit’s goals is the difference between getting elected to office and not, between a business thriving and not, so on and so forth. I would suggest a Palero living in a city to make pacts with these Simbi quickly, and with great respect. Oftentimes a city will have a plaque dedicated to it’s founding / founders near city centers or a public park. There are great places to connect with this Simbi.

You can see how, with Simbi spirits, the entire world has a face. These are just some of the classes of Simbi; in Part 2 we will discuss more and also delve into appropriate offerings and offerings places for working with the Simbi. Let’s not allow Palo to become only about the Nganga; the prenda is wonderful medicine, but it is just a fraction of what Palo is and what we do.

Nsambia lo kutare!

Tata Nkisi Sima Ngango, Mayombe Sacaraempeno

References:

Graphic Writing and other Narratives of the Sign, by Bárbaro Martínez-Ruiz  
Tata Fu-Kiau:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bogbLGfIfCE 
Death and the Invisible Worlds, by

Malembe,

In a previous post about Basimbi we spoke about some of the classes of Basimbi and some practical interactions with them. We’ll continue to do that here, and discuss some ritual possibilities for interacting with Basimbi when working malongo.

Sîmbi Nzonzi

These are the Simbi of philosophy and leadership; when we consider our role as Paleros we have to remember that our root culture is Bantu, and in the Bantu worldview our existence is only meaningful in context to our interactions with the Community. A palero who doesn’t interact from a community or munanso based standpoint is fallow ground. This doesn’t mean being *nice* to everyone, it means that family comes first. We deal with ancestry, we deal with the land we live on and work. The Simbi Nzonzi are especially important for leaders of munansos; they influence the way wisdom is cultivated in a munanso, and the way in which Leadership manifests throughout. Find a munanso with dis-functional leadership and poor understanding, and I would near guarantee you will find one that has never even heard of this Simbi, let alone made offerings or honored it.

Simbi Nsi Yafuka

This is the simbi of hard-earned wisdom. This simbi is the understanding gained from hard work tearing herbs and cutting / gathering palos under the Tata’s  or Yaya’s guidance. This simbi is wisdom gained from experience, deep knowledge, that is sometimes not transmittable through words. Experiential wisdom. This is the simbi that speaks to you when you’re working trabajo and you’re about to seal it without that last herb or ntoto that’ll make that thing proper ndoki. This simbi tells you to wash your hands after working with all that graveyard ntoto, before you play with the kids. This is the simbi that has you trying to decrypt Google Translate versions of Ta Makuende Yaya at 1am, and rewards you with that “AHH!” when you find the hidden gold. This is the simbi that tells your padrino to watch and wait, urging you to transition from simply receiving wisdom to actively cultivating it.

Simbi Makaya Nkasa

This is the simbi of edible leaves and plants, legumes, and especially leaves of the sacred manioc plant. So much of our medicine is eaten; food is the first medicine. This simbi is one of the most important in our corpus. Our pacts with plants to heal and harm are administered by this Simbi. It can make a medicine out of a meal, and quite literally plays a hand in sustaining our entire race. This is one of literally innumerable Simbi of plants in the nfinda…but is one of the most important.

When we look at an mpungu like Gurunfinda, we see how through pact and accumulated wisdom a great amount of power can be wielded to heal or harm. Gurunfinda is envisioned, “seen”, as the wizened old man of the nfinda. It knows the simbi of every plant, is intimate in it’s understanding of their virtues and ability to heal or harm. Gurunfinda as an mpungu is a manifestation of the pact with nature, of the power of relationship. A living power. Through a pact with Gurunfinda, many Paleros (knowingly or otherwise) manage pact with the various basimbi of nature, including Simbi Makaya Nkasa. It is impossible to intimately understand every single Simbi of the wilderness….it is possible, however, to know and understand a singular force like Gurunfinda.

Having knowledge of Gurunfinda gives us access to the work of all plants of the nfinda….but there is much to be said for a close relationship with the Simbi that underlie that pact, the difference between generalist knowledge of how to work a plant, and a specialist’s knowledge. Here we see the influence of Simbi Nsi Yafuka. Any palero with a pact with nature and gurunfinda may tell you how to work sweet herbs to cleanse an internal ailment, and know intuitively which ones to use for a given work. A palero with a deep connection / pact with Simbi Makaya Nkasa would know which herb to use, what time of day it needs to be used, and may be moved to understanding while speaking with that client that with his constitution a particular sweet herb will be far more efficient then the other. The Tata in question may be gathering herbs to make a tea for this person to consume, and receive a sick feeling in his stomach when touching one that has soaked up pesticides, or that the client is allergic to–communication directly from Simbi Makaya Nkasa about the nature of the herbs. The strength of that relationship is then a living thing in Simbi Nsi Yakufa. The palero who has properly cultivated Simbi Nsi Yakufa will have also read and studied the notes of his elders, books on herbal medicine and observed results from his own application of these medicines, giving Simbi Makaya Nkasa fertile ground to work with. So, we see how Simbi and mpungu dance with one another, and how they interpenetrate every aspect of working makisinsi malongo.

There are quite a few more Simbi of importance that are accessible and have “names”. What is important to understand is that they exist regardless of how we name them, and that they can be worked with and propitiated once their nature is understood.  The Simbi of the land, of the earth in a given place is the Simbi Nkagi Mayamba. This is a description of the nature of the Simbi and of the Land, but isn’t an individual name. If I were looking to make pact and deepen my relationship with the the Simbi Nkagi Mayamba of the land I live on, I wouldn’t need any esoteric operations to discover it’s name. It already has a name. The name for the Simbi Nkagi Mayamba for I live is well known–“San Jose”. Resist the urge to over-romanticize. We are practical folk.

Making Offerings and Deepening Relationship with Simbi

What offerings can be made to Simbi? There are many, and making them is a matter combining common sense, divination, tradition and wisdom gained from interacting with the entity itself.

For example, Simbi Ka Nkisi Wanganga Ko is the simbi of divination and direction, and Simbi N’kam’a Ntangu Ye Dunga is the simbi that controls the manifestation of events in space and time. Lucero’s relationship with these simbi is much like that of Gurunfinda and his relationship with the Simbi of plants. I would first receive a firma for connecting with them (referring initially to my Padrino and Madrina, to see if we have a firma that is traditional within our house for their use. If there was none, then I would create a firma for them under the guidance of Lucero and my Nganga after asking for permission to receive one formally from the Simbi.) If I were an Engeuyo, I would simply draw dikenga.

I would go out to the crossroads closest to my home at Sunrise , and take up pemba to draw that firma upon the ground. I would give it Light (mpembe) via a candle, and then blow rum and smoke from the cigar to spiritualize and sublimate the firma, and as an offering to share in my consumption of the tobacco and speak through the trance it can induce.

I would put a white dilango atop the firma, and offer an assortment of fruit and honey to sweeten the Simbi toward me. I would place a small mirror on the plate as part of the offering, and a glass to hold a bit of rum.

Ideally I would feed it a rooster, but crossroads in cities being what they are, I would feed my nkisi out back in my kindembo, and offer up the tender organs of the rooster with the fruit. I would then let mambo come and sing, and perhaps play my drum. (I don’t care if people look at me like I’m crazy. If they ain’t careful, the Simbi might have them dancing in the street…).

I would then verify everything was cheche ba cheche with my chamalongos. I’d take up the mirror that ‘caught’ the simbi’s “image” from the offering plate, and scratch the firma into the mirror. I’d seal over the firma with wax from the mpembe, and then thank the Simbi and my nkisi for the blessings and leave.

The mirror would go inside my nganga as an ngando, enabling quick and immediate connection to these simbi when I needed. I would return to the crossroads the same day at midnight to clear away the offering, not letting the Sun rise again on the expired offering. Simbi  Nsi Yakufa tells me that it’s bad news to let the sun rise on an offering at the crossroads for these Simbi, as the offering’s virtue has already been consumed. It would be like feeding honored guests food left out on the table from the night before. That’s something I received from that Simbi in the moment, spirit speaking.

That is just one example. There are many ways; if we work makinsinsi malongo we understand root principal, and let that guide our actions as Priests and Priestesses of nature.

So, work Simbi and let spirit speak for you as well. I am indebted to them, and especially to the elders of our rama and munanso Bejuco Nfinda Nsasi Moanafilo Batalla Sacarampeno, for cultivating understanding.

Ntondele,

Tata Nkisi Sima Ngango, Mayombe Sacara Empeno

Nsala Malongo Tata’s and Yaya’s from all around the world, I have been busy with a lot of work from my regular job that I have not had time to sit and write an article. But I will start doing my best to keep up with the site and overall educating the readers on Our faith and Tradition and culture.

Acaba Mundo Nkisi in which the consultation for the New Year was used.

Nkisi Mayombe Governing in ritual reading Tiembla Mundo(Pandilanga) Nfumu nkisi relating to the Past.

Nkisi Mayombe governing in ritual reading Mariwanga and Bakulu . Nkisi Moana relating to the Present.

Nkisi Mayombe governing in ritual reading Nsambia tubisi. The grand creator relating to the Future.

In the past we looked for government and law for relief in the crisis of everyday life looking for betterment, peace and solace to issues among the people. We looked to heads of state for answers. Study and introversion of the state of being was the call of the day as 2015 arose we saw a lot of strife and killings among innocent victims with the police and wrongdoing by our own statesmen and elected officials. spiritual baths were in order cleaning house, studying and looking for an entitlement and or a status to move forward in our lives and looking to better ourselves as a community. You have many now out there doing harm to one another and looking for a way to hurt others, Bakulu in this reading and this year will play an important role in our lives to reach our goals with family, friends and our ancestral heritage and culture. Palo Mayombe this year is going through a transformation of truth. Those who truly love and respect this culture and way of life will prosper those who do not will fall by the waist side.  This year Heavy spiritual works and craft will be done against innocent people. One must petition the Bakulu with fruit and wine and little offerings in the mountains and fields where you find tall trees. Weeping Willows(Jaguey) Ceiba trees Pal Ramon(Oak trees) our places of power and spiritual presence to work alongside and also leave offerings.

The Nkisi predicts a fruitful year of wonderful blessings and enlightenment if one stays focused on what is important in your life. Money is good but having a good reputation and honesty is the best method to combat lies and rumors. People can not be messengers of bad news or any news which involves the defamation of others. This year there will be a lot of climatic changes, earthquakes and water damage from flooding and also landslides of magnitudes never seen before in the world. Petition your ancestors for a better understanding of self and others. This year must be a year of healing and equality for all who dwell on our earth. Make offerings and donations to the sick and hungry that this is a good time to open the year with that done.  The cemetery this year is not the ideal place to visit unless totally necessary due to unforeseen death in the family or friends. Or if you are doing nsaras with Mariwanga. This year is a year to have a makuto made from the cemetery with , Ntoto(dirt) Nfumbe(powder bone) cuervo(crow), palo rompe muralla, and vence batalla. To combat malice and ill will against one’s self. This year is to salute the Sun and the Moon every opportunity you get so our prayers and messages reach Muna Nsulu(Heaven) all the divinities that encompass our world and the worlds beyond our understanding. I offer this as a humble offering to a many other munanso with their own letters and divinatory methods and views.

Twa Kwambila

Tata Musitu

Nsala Malongo,

As I have been very busy with obligations at home and at work it has been hard for me to post and keep putting out information so please understand.  Throughout the years as you know we all have grown and have seen Palo flourish but I am worried. A lot of the intermeshing of Palo with other religions has been talking to people around my immediate circle and people abroad. One of my concerns is the Hoodoo phase that many americans have first hand dealings with. Especially in the Bayou, Louisiana an even into Georgia. As many people have Gullah and geeche communities who are heavily are Bantu based some who practice hoodoo but have indigenous practices as well. My fear is and I have seen it are these new charms, Baths, and conjuring bags with names like, siete rayos charm, Or Mama Chola love soap. etc…..

This is not Palo Mayombe this is another marketing scheme with people who are claiming to be practicing religion as Mayombe is more of cultural expression and a free understanding practice yet it generally does not follow dogmatic views. Instead mayombe is a set of Laws based on spiritual ethical and moral views that we put in place to control such debauchery like making a new religious ideological view among other things. I have told people and I keep seeing it that Mayombe is losing a battle to Free Market and enterprise. As much as people like to market their little classes of Palo, and announce on the radios and vehicle through social media. Mayombe and any form of ritual practice can not be explained in an academical view we have to do the teaching in Muna Nso’s. If people get salty by this writing you know my attitude, my number and My I don’t Give a flying Fuck attitude. Mayombe is not a religion of esthetics but the beauty of our practice is in the Natural essence that is Malongo Yaya(mother nature) Unfortunately you have a lot of predatory people in this religion who sell anything to make a quick buck. A few years back we had that bullshit artist who sold you the Ultimate Crown (scbvlm). What a crock of shit!…. You also had all the Bullshit from other practitioners with 101 ceremonies done but master of none.

Interesting enough now its the Hoodoo craze….. Practitioners of a practice please give validity to your beliefs and stop intermeshing cultural beliefs because it is marketable venture. How do you honor those that worked real root and never once knew what the hell was Nsasi or Zarabanda? Yet now it seems a dime of a dozen are now mixing Palo and Hoodoo. Even those hoodoo practitioners who are not even initiated into Palo…. Have some dignity and stop selling a pipe dream.

I am a pragmatic person but I will call bullshit when I see it. That is straight bullshit. To all the serious practitioners of Hoodoo I respect your craft and I am just trying to inform those who are doing this to stop. It is not part of Palo Mayombe.

TATA MUSITU

Sala malongo,

There is an old saying in our community, ‘nganga no hay sentimiento’…the Nganga has no feeling. Often said with some bluster, letting you know that the nganga doesn’t have feelings, and will do what needs to be done.

….and it’s true.

The nganga isn’t a *person* in the same way you and I are. It doesn’t share the same feelings or motivations, necessarily. It is a powerful entity, a Power closer to a storm or an earthquake than to another man. If we were Egyptians, it would be drawn as a conglomerate entitiy, with mans leg’s, a lions heart, and a Vulture’s head…and other things unshared. Were we Greeks, it would be written in story as capricious and powerful, taking various forms in order to work it’s will on the manifest world, with motivations beyond a man’s understanding.

We must remember, though, that the nganga is more than just the Nfumbe inside. That is only one part. One aspect of the entity in it’s fullness…and certainly not the most important part! It’s easy sometimes to mistake the hammer for the carpenter, when one is looking up from the anvil.

The Nganga may not care, but rest assured…the Bakulu, the ancestors, the deep powers….they absolutely DO. They do care. They have a perspective on what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’. They care about your character, and the choices you make. You are the Bakulu made manifest in the physical realm–you represent them. Especially after the pacts are made. If you make choices that they disapprove of, you will know.

No action goes unnoticed. We see the results in the lives of Tata and Yayi. Amplified, even. Sometimes we burn, sometimes we get burned. Like everything in life for the Palero, things are amplified and hotter. Lessons are learned quicker, or suffering is delivered quicker. We find ourselves blessed or being burnt and refined. You gone have good character, one way or the other. In this life or the next. Best to learn the lessons and listen to the wise voice of elders and spirit the first few times they whisper. If they have to yell, they will.

Now another way to view that saying is with the understanding that while the Nganga references our vessels, it also is the word/name for the priest himself. The Tata Nganga. So if you here a Palero saying ‘Nganga no Hay Sentimiento’, he may just be letting you know that He don’t care, regardless of price paid or outcome, and he’s ready to work. Watch out.

Be well,

Tata Sima Ngango

mayordomo, a

(Del bajo lat. majordomus, el mayor de la casa.)

Nsala Malongo everyone I have been away from my writers chair for a while. I am wishing all of you peace and well-being throughout this time. I wanted to post something that hardly gets spoken about. I want to shed a bit of light on this situation. Many years ago I remember that I would go to some rayamientos in Nyc and would notice that the mayordomo would do the cutting for the padrino for alot of the oficios and Tata and Yaya ceremonies. See when you go to other Muna Nso as an invited guest I realize that alot of things are house practiced. Meaning that if you are not from that nso you really should not be there because that is for the members of the house. Not for outside eyes to see. But being a bit ignorant to this I did not see anything wrong with it at the time. Anyway the rayamiento for Tata is a bit complicated and also the markings of the body differ from that of the ngueyo, mayordomo, talanquero, manzanero, nkiso puerta and so forth. Different rankings allow privileges. Now when it comes to the mayordomo he has the authority to be in the room and help assist in handing the implements and doing ritual work with his Tata present. But to cut though he may have seen the ceremony many of times before he is not allowed to perform those cuts.

Why?

Logically speaking if you are a ranked officer in any type of military regiment you receive rank by initiating into the rank….. Not being an observant authority because though we know repetitive teaching is used with animals, humans etc. mimicking a process without the spiritual fortitude is just that. Most Tata Nkisi and Yaya Nkisi when confronted with the muerto will go through possession. Ceremonially Baconfulas, Mayordomos do not have the spiritual capacity to possess and the ceremony given to them with the adequate markings would never allow it. That means possession for any of the two would not be able to hold that energy and transfer it to the other Tata’s or Yaya’s that are receiving initiation. Now in Mayombe baco bilongo fula ngando(with respect to my brother Alex LaSalle). Fula gando is more than a mayordomo and so this means at some point he would pass to Tata which he did through hands of our godfather Miguel Garzon (Luanganga pacto nsasi).  He holds rank for our nso as a combined nso. East and West coast. The word Baco Bilongo Fula Ngando is a rank in our nso that is more than a simple mayordomo. Since I can not go into Nso Secrets I will just allow you to know that in a  sidenote. In mayombe the baconfula and the mayordomo has the authority of the Tata to ritually cut people under strict supervision. Every house or Muna nso does not work the same and though I reiterate For the most part Tata is father of secrets, Mayordomo is a secondary initiation after ngueyo in which a person who does not mount can work in the nso but is not a father of secrets. He follows the Tata and works alongside certain corresponding jobs in the Nso but is not an initiator but under the Tata’s supervision in some houses it is allowed. The tata does have the final say in his nso. I think we need to open our eyes more to this religion and stop being sheep led astray. Start practicing our culture and stop living with dogmatic beliefs.

Paleros are not christians we are practitioners of a bantu philosophical understanding of the universe. Not mere religious clergymen. If you believe that is who you are you are sorely wrong and really do not understand our way of life…

Nsambia ………………Tata Musitu

Buen Sambia, Buen Lumbo, Buen Candango!

Good god, Good Body, Good Nganga!

This Letter is very interesting for this year… In this letter it talks about the great mothers and ancestors of the world. One of the existing problems we have is people forget the great mothers of the world and now they are asking to be known and great detail must be observed in this. We are at the pinnacle of change and each 90 day Moon cycle this year will bring new challenges to our life. So get ready to deal with expected changes good ones and the not so good ones. Our bakulu this year is very prevalent we need to focus on what can we do to better our understanding with ourselves and with our ancestors.

To be focused on one of the things that we are expected to do is asked for to mend relationships with those people who are important to us. Now many of you may have problems that are not as easy as forgiveness. But one must try so when we die a good death we leave here free of fault and free of burden. This year offerings at night give the nganga, makutos, bilongos or any charm that has been given to you Nkuyos etc. We need to fully charge them with the cycles of the moon. Be careful with ignoring or your responsibilities to ancestors this year it will cause a lot of havoc and mayhem.

Progression in life meets with working hard and living a productive life, The nkisi say here one must meet the task at hand with commitment and hard work and embrace spirit. This year unpredictability is key. No one need not know your plans from footsteps to where you shop etc, Keep people second guessing and on a need to know basis. If not all plans with unravel and nothing will come thru. when you do your plans and actions be stealth, quick, and react like lightning and strike. This year will be a year of Money and commerce, Good business dealings and opening new markets of opportunity.

This year rompimientos and feeding your shadow are your best friends. The reason being this will be a year of being indecisive so if you are not ready to embark on any projects do not sign formal paperwork. Or get caught in promises you can not keep or fulfill. One of the major concerns in the final part of the letter is entrapment. Being entrapped and feeling obligated when your heart and soul are not with it. That is a sign of either something does not feel right or you are just not decided. All plans fall to the waist side if not confronted appropriately.

One must be careful with entanglements of the heart in which people are doing spiritual work to keep you in a relationship.  That is very significant in the relationship this coming year.Good time for people looking to any form of spirituality to balance your life and your choices in them. Initiations for balance and even presentations to the Monte, Hill, Ocean, all of nature has its set presentations. One must be mindful that in this letter stepping out of your comfort zone will be key to achieving goals and merits in your professional as well as spiritual life.

Things to watch out:

Brujeria this year people will test the waters good offense is a good defense. The great mothers are bringing in order so best thing to do is offerings to them and the Bakulu

Gossip: Steer away from gossip and all forms of entrapment and entanglements.

Health: All the orifices (openings to the body) must be taken care of watch for colds that become chronic.

This letter this year is a bit volatile due to the nature of our politics here racism will be fought with our bakulu and ancestors and not by beating the dead horse. The letter closed with this in mind we must keep our ntu(head) focused to our goals and merit it with hard work and good deeds.

                                                 Tata Musitu Muna nfinda Bejuco nfinda moana filo batalla                                                                                                                     Mayombe Sacarempeno

Sala Malongo,

Have you done anything to learn a little more about Palo today? This week?
….this month?

It’s very, very easy to get into the routine of giving nsunga & malafo, mpembe, and singing your favorite mambos when interacting with nkisi….and then leaving it at that.

Staying comfortable. Only stretching out to work some malongo when someone falls ill, or when someone has run they mouth a little too hard.

But Palo is medicine. Medicine don’t do you no good if you don’t take it.

There is so much depth to the practice that it’s difficult to grasp, and sometimes I think that depth makes it somewhat intimidating to approach with the aim to grow in understanding and wisdom of it. My padrino Tata Colon has given me a *ton* to pour over, and each idea leads to other ideas, other practices within our spirituality…I’ve found myself making *big* plans that never get finished. Instead, I should be making small plans that grow big when watered, the way a seed planted becomes a tree.

Today I read a little deeper into the letters formed when Chamalongo are thrown.

Yesterday I worked my tumbo, played with the toque de palo while singing mambo….seeing where the little cracks are, the spots where fire can leap up while I keep rhythm.

Tomorrow I may spend a little time on Patimpemba. May leave a little something at the huge Oak I drive past on my way to work everyday, see if Simbi is watching.

To be consistent in Palo we’ve got to make Palo part of our worldview, part of our lifestyle. If you don’t live in the same town as your padrino, this means you’ve got to make a conscious effort to integrate your practice into your way of being.

Being a busy fellow, sometimes I struggle with getting time to all my passions. But you know what? If I have a couple hours to binge something on Netflix last night, I sho had time to get out back and sit with the nkisi for a minute. Sit in silence listening for wisdom from the Bakulu. You don’t need to spend an hour each day.

Spiritual work is often about relationships, and relationships require regular investment and care. That one hour long phone call on Saturday won’t make Moms anywhere near as happy as a ten minute call Every Day of that same week.

I got a little note/message from one of my Bakulu that I’d fell off a little bit in connecting with her. Not a smack, just a nudge, a reminder. Made me think about where else I’d not delegated time, and helped me refresh my gait on the path a little bit.

If you haven’t done so, find time to do that little bit each day. I suspect that’s where real depth of understanding in Palo Mayombe comes from.

–Tata Sima Ngango

Nsala Malongo everyone Its been a long time since I had time to write in my blog and I am a bit rusty so bare with me while I get my thoughts in order. I wanted to point out in our corpus of Palo Mayombe we have a philosophical view of the world and how we express it. In our art the formulas that we draw to change our daily living through Signs (patimpembas or firmas). In how we treat our environment and the world around us through Nsaras( work) and also Prayer (ntanda Mbonda) what my tongue says to acquire the change I need. Lately we have been having natural disasters in unnatural formations. I say this because the more we industrialize our world with technology the more we hurt our environment and the people around us. I have seen a few people in Palo speak of a Karmatic Law of Cause and Effect. But honestly I have a problem with this type of thinking due to the fact it is not part of Palo Mayombe and Bantu Philosophy. My elders believed in good deeds is the cause we strive for and the effect is you follow in that same trajectory. It is easy to see how one can confuse this with Karma. But karma does nothing to the murderer or the rapist who never gets caught and lives to an old age and dies of natural causes of health.

Where did Karma work then?

While cause and effect is you kill for pleasure or fun and you wind up walking the earth in death as an Ndundu(phantom( nkuyo) solitary soul (Nkita) wandering spirit in which as a palero and take you and make you work with the promise of going to the ancestors as a venerated soul( Bakulu) and you truly will never acquire that realm or position in  death. Why?  You never worked for it in life how would you think in death you are deserving of that?

The Cause of this effect what do you think it is?

Major issues with healing traditional religions that are being lost due to the slave trade and the beneficiaries of this cause that dates back to before 1492.  We have to start healing the process of our ancestors and what we need to better our situation as Spiritual people in African based traditions. If we have communal understandings of our religiosity and culture then we should know what are goals are? What is the cause you want to create to affect the future? Be an advocate Black lives matter… Be that cause… Live that truth. Be a pillar to your community give to the poor. Be humble to yourself and to others and that cause will affect change in your being.

Instead of lighting candles to the nkisi to kill an enemy, Light a candle to heal the world and all that is around us. Be compassionate does not mean to be a sucker to have compassion is to show your humanity.

We do work to help people achieve a higher self its time to heal our world.

Sambia…… Tata Musitu Munanfinda.

Nsala Malongo Guariakongo Mutambre nkisi.

I want to wish you all a prosperous New Year of many well wishes and good spiritual and physical health to all. This year is going to be full of spiritual enlightenment and accomplished goals. One of the things that we have to do is to let  go of things that are petty, In our lives we need to start to appreciate what we do versus the superficial of what can we get. In our mindset we have to embrace working hard to achieve our goals and receive the merits that will encompass our souls and give us purpose. This year working with simbi makinsola the simbi of love is where our strongest attributes will come from.  In the past we were telling our every moves to people we need to stop that and moving forward from this point on people are on a need to know basis in your life.

This years letter love is the key element in this years triumphs. Love of ones self, love for others, community, The earth, and all that dwell in truth and patience.  You can be the most isolated person in the world but we need to focus on spirituality. This year the Bakulu are key in reaching peace and tranquility. Please do not mistaken Egun for Bakulu. Venerated ancestors that were good and exemplary on earth are Bakulu. Any egun who did bad on earth are still considered egun. The Bakulu can never be bad they lose the title of Bakulu and never enter into their journey in space to become Lumine tetenboa(star in the sky).

Be valued by valuing yourself and others. To accomplish with this Baths prepared in front of the nkisi is what needs to be done.

Perejil/Italian parsley

Albahaca/basil

Menta/spearmint

Verbana/verbain

Romero/rosemary

A mamba to refresh your Ntu your head because this letter brings us a lot of self doubt and corruption of our sentiments. Physical and Spiritual sentient beings will be close to us this year and we need to start defining our spiritual goals. It is a time of great spiritual awareness. The Simbi Makinsola can be looked upon in bodies of waters, rivers, lakes, streams. The negative of this letter is that Jealousy, Rancor, and Greed can do away with all your spiritual works. Keep in mind of relationships and respect the other persons feelings on how they react to situations. Some awkward moments can come about if we are not clear on what we want to do in the world and with people in general. Illness talks about thrombosis of the veins and arterial issues if we are not careful with our health. Sudden fits of anger can cause heart attacks and strokes in this letter. Let us stay optimal and positive on our outlook in life.

There is a quote that says:

“If what you see displeases you close your eyes and look from the heart”

All the beauty that is manifested in life through working Mayombe can be yours full life, prosperity, spiritual health and well being we just have to believe. Our economy will suffer but we just have to work as a spiritual people to keep that in check. Homage the dead, the bakulu and simbi this year…..

Sambia to all….. I offer this to all of you in humbleness and peace. May you all be blessed.

Tata Musitu.

Sala Malongo everyone…. I needed to light a fire in my writing.  Sometimes I get a little bored and I wonder as i am sitting down have I touched the surface of what I  want palo to be? Then I realize that I am still scratching the surface. Often I wondered am  I really cut out to do reporting on our tradition? A lot of times I feel that it’s an uphill battle. Then I gather my thoughts together so I could try to make a concise picture of what I want people to know about our religion. About our tradition and definitely about how we live in our everyday lives. I’m writing this blog because of one thing only it is time to get the record straight about what is our tradition.

One thing that I need to put into perspective is that I was contacted by an individual is name is Matt Pizzano. I was very speculative about our conversation because it had to do with the old Matamoros murders that happen in 1989. At that time I wasn’t involved In our tradition. But when I became in initiated priest and I made an informed conscious decision on how our practice is truly obtained. I realize that there is a lot of misinformation out there. Palo Mayombe is not a cult but a cultural practice. A way of life a healing culture. An understanding of spirituality and of law and the universe and how we relate to all of this in the universe. Adolfo Costanzo was never a representative of this culture.

Unfortunately it is hard to clear that fact 26 years later. Sara Aldrete his partner in crime was into practicing Aztec rites which in turn of course with Costanzo supposed training created this new Cult called Narco Satanicos…

The term Narco of course relates to drug cartel and satanico means Satanists. Where in the confounds of our corpus that is part of Palo Mayombe?  What’s even more scary is that you have these supposed occultist or expert occultists who talk about Palo Mayombe as being a cult.  Yet really never did the study of the ethnography of our corpus where does our religion come from?how did it come to be?  It’s origins and the people itself. Know That many may disagree with me.  People claim that we have the devil in our corpus we may have something similar but in Africa it wasn’t venerated that way. Some people need to make a conscious decision about really studying about Bantu philosophy.  Also about pre Columbus a native understanding in the Antilles so that they can actually know where palo comes from.

I am very disappointed on people who say their paleros. Yet we have a very real threat to our way of life and that is called ignorance from other people. So those people who have the big talk they need to start walking that walk. So I gave that guy Matt some study material because he wants to a Documentary series About mark Kilroy who was murdered in 1989 at the hands of Adolfo Costanzo. 2nd reason why I’m Doing this blog  to have a recorded history because I wanna do right by our religion. I don’t want someone to misconstrue my words change them around for TV sensationalism and I can always go back and see what I did wrong. I also have the viewership of people who follow the blog as well. That will be my testimony on how I try to shed light on a very sad situation for a family who didn’t deserve to lose their son on the premise of our religion. Hopefully I can bring some healing to all involved maybe shed a better light on a very dim situation.

Try to uphold the bakulu  And the memory of all our ancestors who fought to keep a culture alive. To do right by my elders and Rama. Finally i just want people to stop supporting ignorance of our traditions and shed truth and justice for our way of life.

It is time to start calling out all those supposed occultists who ride on the backbone of priests and priestesses alike who are good people. Tarnishing our names and our practices so that they can make a buck.

This goes out to all of you it’s open season and if You are messing up get ready to be called out on your bullshit.

Sambia to all…….Tata nkisi Musitu.

“Writing about the Mpungo takes determination, with concise thoughts and accurate accounts of life based on things that we live and see on a daily basis. In order for  the reader to understand what is we’re communicating in this article he must ask how the Mpungo pertains to him in life. This article is intended to open the reader’s eye on Diasporic practice, and is mostly directed around the practices and rites of Palo Mayombe worship. There is a question surrounding the old infamous word “Mpungo”, and general misunderstandings about its meaning and the entities that it alludes to.

This terminology comes from the Kikongo word “Mpungu”, meaning literally “elemental force that surrounds us.”  This topic is controversial as the idea of  Mpungo has become a bastardization of what Mayombe is; a sincretic flavor has been added to it due to the intermingling of Orisha practices that filtered into Mayombe and now have become mainstream. When you look at the reality entities like 7 rayos, Zarabanda, Chola Wengue, and so forth were nkisi’s made from plantations in cuba that eventually took on a life of their own. The Mpungo are not the same beings as the Orisha, and a Nkisi is not an Orisha.”

Taken from My own page…..

When I first open my page in 2012 I wrote this with the idea that people would understand what I was trying to relay to all you readers. Yet 6 years later we still have an ongoing problem with this issue. I feel that now is the right time to touch this subject full on with no hesitation and people may get upset about it. But if you are good with what you have and it works then be about it. This post is to bring you to an understanding that Palo as it is practiced today somewhere along the line people have lost their touch with nature and its forces that retain in the land you practice. Again this is not a disrespect to those people who practice syncretism in Palo. I am not trying to misrepresent my Afro Cuban brethren that would be slapping myself in the face. I am an initiated Mayombero from an orthodox style of Mayombe teachings. My godfather was an initiated mayombero from Pinar del Rio Cuba. Also I have Yemaya made and my father is oggun in the diasporic practice of lukumi. My oriate is Cuban. So I have Cuban friends and people I consider family and would never write against my Cuban compatriots.

But we have to start looking at an ongoing situation with Mpungo practices in Palo.  This idea of a mpungo whether it is matriarchal in presence of patriarchal in presence never existed in Palo until 300 years later with the conceptual idea of orisha. Now I can say this that an mpungo in Palo is represented by a Stone. which is washed in ritual as if it were the embodiment of a deity. Placed in the nganga with herbs and that is all I can say. This idea of 7 rayos as a Kimpunguele( Congo Deity) in actuality was born in cuba and has no direct lineal trace to the Kongo as it should be stated. In some writings you here of Nsasi which people say oh there is the connection. Not really because Nsasi as an elemental force can not be contained as Deity. There is a fine line between subjugating to a nganga which you would consider a deity to an Nganga priest who is represented by all of nature. In other words, when people say Chola is my mother and zarabanda is my father… Well how do you depict that when in Lukumi practice is where orisha are conceptualized as mother and father yet Palo is the birthplace of a person being one with the universe as Man, Woman and child?

Nganga names are part of the characteristic that nganga perceives with your shadow and spirituality, But now it is to be worshipped as a deity? A lot of times your enslaved by people force feeding you misinformation and rhetoric. But Bantu Philosophy pertains to being a better human being on this plane and the next. So why do we keep allowing for a few people to make it out to be Horror fest and grand killers? But when you want to make a conscious effort to heal people now they say you are re inventing religion.  Well I could name a few people who would love to tear this article to shreds and say I am crazy but the proof is in the past all you have to do is study and look. I have heard this nonsense before that in the Antilles and especially in cuba all the aboriginal people were exterminated. Ok…. So what happened to the women who were taken captive and subjugated sex slaves who gave birth to next generation Cubans?

I propose that anyone who wants to understand there past a mother Mitochondrial DNA never changes so studies have been done where 80 percent are etymological proof that native taino blood runs through all of the Caribbean island folks. Now further proof of people ancestral roots here we have a higuera(gourds)

In the Barracon(hut) ancestral bones were hung the kongos who escaped into the mountains where the Spanish could not go met with communities and here is where the first ngangas were born. For those kongos that was nkisi worship(ancestral worship) But people out there have this mindset they died. Palo is more antillan than people know. The word Palo in the Bantu philosophy would not be present because trees in the Kongo republic were sacred they would not cut one tree down. Yet how is it that Kongos cut the trees to bring healing if it were not the influence of the Pre Columbian people who were on the island?

Open your mind and stop being lead like puppets. All the root words in palo are Taino in nature. The feeding of turtles to the nganga of nsasi and the feeding of Chango in the new world. Was shown by the anthropologist Gauch he was a Cuban professor who showed and demonstrated the aboriginal origin of the Afro Cuban practices and influences. But like a Cuban friend once told me how do you explain that to people who are close minded? Better to leave everyone with his version of his own history. 

But I can not because now we have a new world of practitioners who are not Cuban and need the truth so they can believe with faith and knowledge. Mexico, The United States of America, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and all other places has Palo as their faith. So the money people make initiating people  who are not Cuban is good but to teach them they are not worthy of learning?

Bayamanaco the old man of fire and the turtle woman. Is represented as the god of lightning(Nsasi/Chango) again a natural force which is respected as such from the taino culture in cuba and Antilles.

“As soon as they came to the door of Bayamanaco, the old man and saw that he carried cazabe (bread made from cassava flour), they said “Ahiacabo guarocoel!” which means, “We know our grandfather!” In the same way, Deminan Caracaracol, seeing his brothers ahead of him, entered to see if he would be able to get some cazabe. Upon entering the house of Bayamanacoel, Caracaracol asked for cazabe. He (Bayamanaco) put his hand to his nose and threw upon (Deminan’s) back a guanguayo (spittle). This guanguayo was filled with cohoba which had just been made for that day. [Cohoba is some kind of powder that they take at times for purification and for other effects described below. Cohoba is taken in a reed about half as long as one’s arm, and they put one end in their nose and the other in the powder. Then they inhale through the nose and this greatly purifies them.] Thus were they given this guanguayo, spittle, instead of the bread they make. He [Bayamanaco] left there very indignant because they had asked for it … after all this, Caracaracol returned to join his brothers and he told them what had happened with Bayamanco(el) and of the blow that had been delivered to him by the guanguayo upon his back, which hurt terribly. Then his brothers looked at his back and they saw it was seriously swollen. This swelling grew so much that he was at the point of dying. They then sought to cut it off but were unable. Taking a stone axe, they opened it and out came a live female turtle. Thus they built their house and took care of the turtle. All of the brothers used her in turn, and from her their sons and daughters were born. An Account of the Antiquitites of the Indians, Diligently Gathered by Fray Ramon Pané, A Man Who Knows Their Language, by order of the Admiral [Christopher Columbus].From the translation by José Juan Arrom (to Spanish) and Susan C. Griswold (to English).”

This is again to open your conscious mind a lot of people are walking around unconscious and we need to open those minds up.

A redeemer of people is a walker with people (taken from Bantu proverbs)

Respect to all practitioners of Palo Monte. Whether your Mayombe, Briyumba, Quimbisa, Malongo…

Sambia Tata Musitu…

Nsala Malongo Mpganui ndiame mpungu lo acutare,

This years readings like readings past are more of a guideline to build a better understanding of how we live our lives and a guidelines to build a better tomorrow, For all of us specifically who are looking to better our circumstances. This Year is a time of reflection to that which we can not change. Things in the past we must understand for better or for worst must remain in the past. Last year was a year of falsehoods and promises not being kept with our divinities and our spiritual obligations. Most of the time people were to busy occupying so much on your plates that it was overflowed with trying to catch up. In spiritual understandings that is something that can  not happen because we tend to fall short of our own spiritual purpose. So we take on more than we can chew. The Bakulu state that its a time to make good and wise decisions that we can actually follow and is merited by good behavior and not bad ones. Entrapment into circumstances need to be addressed at the moment that it seen. Old relationships and old circumstances need to be resolved immediately. Do not go into situations that your promises fall short and do not come into fruition. Best time to clean with bejuco(vines) and tela araña(spiders web) to get rid of all types of entrapements and health issues.

This year is a time of self reflection that which brings us to a question Ka lunga(What is that which makes us complete within ourselves?) In other words the creation of small goals will bring us to our ultimate goal in life. We should not shoot straight for the horizon to fall short of what we should attain. Reverence to the bakulu is key in this letter for our muna nso. Going to the ocean and understanding our connection to the world is what needs to be met. Offerings during the time when the sun sets so we can commune with the bakulu before they return to ntango(sun). One of our major problems is that we need to repair relationships with our mothers. Understanding that we have a purpose in life and our lives are worth living. But we can not create our own demons we need to conquer those emotions that kill our ability to understand our place in the universe.

This year feeding the makuto bilongo that was given to you when initiated is key for those who are ngueyos. Most of you who apply this reading to your daily lives must understand that being stealth in your movements will bring you victory. It is a good time for commerce and movement of projects and finances if one keeps it quiet. In other words your plans this year should not be announced until they have come to past.  You must take care of your emotions this year anger is not your friend. It leads to physical ailments which impair judgement, affects the heart and can also lead to frequent panic attacks. But this year will a year of victory over enemies. A time of progression and money, Financial stability and peace within yourself and your spiritual surroundings.

Plants and baths to consider for progression…

Abre Camino, Cundiamor, Uva, Altamisa, Verdolaga, Mejorana, Berro, Rompe Zaraguey, Maravilla, Caimito, Cucaracha.

Sambia to all of you…. Sorry i took so long in posting but i have been super busy…

Malembe …

Tata Musitu.

Some of the most spectacular Yombe pieces are the nkisi nkonde figures described below. They also carve masks and drums to be used in initiation ceremonies. Everyday objects such as combs, staffs, and fly whisks were often carved with figures as a display of wealth and power.

HISTORY

Yombe history indicates a southward migration of the Mbenza clan from present day Gabon sometime before the 15th century. Oral and written accounts connect them with the historical Mayomba Kingdom, which flourished in the 16th century. During the 16th and 17th centuries migrations of Manyanga and then Bwende peoples arrived in the area. Both groups eventually assimilated into Yombe communities. The Kongo and Solongo expansions at the end of the 17th century forced the Yombe to withdraw from the banks of the Congo River. Although European contact was limited until the end of the 19th century, depictions of Portuguese people in Yombe art reflect 16th century Portuguese styles, indicating a moderate degree of European influence in this region at quite an early date.

ECONOMY

Due to the thick forests surrounding Yombe territory the land must be cleared through slash and burn techniques before crops can be planted. The land is usually cleared by men, leaving the task of farming to the women. Plantains, manioc, maize, beans, peanuts, and yams are among the primary crops grown. These are primarily used for local consumption, but surplus is also sold in regional markets to obtain cash. Goats, pigs, chickens, and dogs are also raised. Fishing on the Congo River and its surrounding tributaries provides an important source of dietary protein. Men are also responsible for hunting, weaving, carving, smithing, and smelting. Women create clay pots for domestic use.

POLITICAL SYSTEMS

Primary Yombe social divisions are based on membership in one of nine clans. All clans trace their heritage to Mbaangala who had nine daughters whose names are the same as the clan that each founded. Yombe peoples more readily affiliate with fellow clan members, and each clan has its own set of social and moral rules. Historically the Yombe recognized a supreme chief, but today there are instead localized land chiefs who act as supreme judges and maintain a great deal of religious power. Descent is traced matrilinealy and each clan has a mfumu makanda (supreme leader), who is elected by his fellow clan members based on his wealth and oratory skills.

RELIGION

Ngoma Bunzi is the Yombe supreme deity. He resides in Yulu, a place which is off-limits to people. He is never contacted directly. Instead, appeals are made through Nzambi a Tsi (earth spirits) and Simbi (river spirits). Shrines were also erected to remember important ancestors, and chiefs were accorded sacred powers. The waganga (healers) could be solicited to perform cures, to provide protection from harm, to bring good fortune, or on occasion to avenge harm done by a witch. The medicine of the waganga was closely tied to nkisi bundles. Larger nkisi nkonde figures were used for oath taking on the village level. Nails and similar pointed objects were driven into the figure to seal a pact between two or more individuals. Diviners commonly used hallucinogenic drugs to facilitate their communication with the spirit world.

Sala Maleko everyone, It has been a while since I have posted on this blog and for whatever intent purposes I was not really feeling the community at large. Nowadays you have a lot of newcomers mixing and matching religious concepts and cultural appropriation when it comes to Palo Mayombe. There is a large misconception of Mpungu/Mpungos that in mainstream now has become ever popular. See Mayombe which is centralized in The Mountains of Vuelta Abajo( Pinar del Rio or what alot of people call La tierra nani). Were a formulated group from different Yombe people from different tribes that were from the regions in Yombe. But Mayombe as a group coming from africa as you can see were different ethnic identities from 9 regions with a maternal connection. Women in mayombe concept are influential in our understanding. Eventually they represented themselves first as Malongo. I will not give you the full title as people would want to lay claim on our Nso’s history. Then throughout the years it became mayombe. Offsets of different practices and houses formed and eventually spreadout through Cuba.

When Colombus landed in October 28 of 1492 in the Northeast side of Cuba currently Oriente and all other regions his conquest led those Natives to run into refuge in the western part of present day Pinar del Rio. Heavy armor and horses could not make it up to those mountains with giant thickets of grass and trees. So much of the land was cultivated and by the Ciboney and Tainos.

Borrowed from afrocuba web all rights reserved. This is for informational purposes only and the blogger lays no claim to the information utilized only for educational purposes www.afrocubaweb.com

From 1500’s to early 1700’s you have slaves imported from Haiti via Brazil into cuba. A lot of the escaped Maroons or Cimarron made it into those mountains with there understanding of the cultural concepts and so in turn Palo Mayombe was born. You are going to hear that Palo Mayombe came from Africa and it did not Nkisi worship and the concept came from this migration into the new world but not Palo Mayombe. The concept of Palo is born in cuba and had been unadulterated for at least 300 years. Before you start seeing the practice of Orisha/Nkisi mixes. Now the identity of Mpungos and the concept of a Pantheon was assimilated from an Orisha concept which also landed in the island of cuba. Before that ngangas like Maria Batalla, Gallo Ronco, Ngo la Habana, and other Ngangas that are born in the island of cuba had no conceptual identity of what we have now as an Mpungo which is a bastardized form of using the word Mpungu for energy.

I feel that sometimes I am repeating myself but the reason why is because you have priests out there with kongo concepts and orisha based philosophy will tell you that I am making it up. Guess what a lot of scholars have spoken on this in great detail. I am just doing an oversight so peeople can truly inform themselves and stop listening to idiots who want to be Youtube famous selling pipe dreams to people.

Palo Mayombe is a marriage of native plants and african concepts of spirituality and with native practices as well that are now being under attack by unscrupulous people who claim our religion as soverano(sovereign) to what is supposed to be truly practiced.

Study and inform yourself and do not be led like sheep to the slaughter. The more you know the better informed and better prepared you are to embark in a cultural and spiritual journey.

Sambia to all….. Be blessed and be Safe……. Tata Musitu.

https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/peoples/show/Yombe

http://www.afrocubaweb.com/history/History.htm

An overview of Yombe people and afrocuba web all rights reserved by the authors 

Since the beginning of time and space our existence has always been that of knowledge and understanding and wisdom. Sometimes we are supposedly challenged by people who tend to say that they are the authority in sessions within their own psychosis. But as I always have been dedicated to the preservation of Palo Mayombe and our teachings. I believe we need to clear for the readers of the blog and its secret followers misconceptions that only lead to ignorance and misinformation that are spewed from the mouths of those with egos much higher then there educational understandings.

WHAT IS A RASTRO?(TRAIL)

In spanish we say rastro(trail). the trail of bread crumbs that is evidence of the path Hansel took through the woods. The word evidence is derived from the Latin ēvidēnt-, meaning “obvious.” taken from the oxford dictionary. To be a good Palero you have to study someone’s habits and surroundings and know when to pick up a persons trail. A lot of times the best way of picking up a trail from a person’s home is literally brushing the dirt from said persons shoes and getting that trail of dust if you want to harm them. But that same dirt can be used to heal a person as well if you are a competent healer and practitioner of Palo Mayombe. A lot of times though not impossible a person who is knowledgeable can get a persons trail if they know what to look for. Also you underestimate the persons knowledge and what we say in palo(HABITS). Spiritual habits in general with cleanliness and having to do spiritual maintenance in your home. Especially when you have eyes in your home Godchildren who are attentive and always watching and cleaning before and after uses in the bathroom and on the floors…. I know I have OCD. Most of my initiates too and my wife as well. Any good practitioner of our practice knows this saying Confianza mata Confianza. Also a great Pambo Nsila go find it! Teremene soy yo! Best case scenario to take someones trail steal a persons property that you know belongs to them. Guest bathrooms are not the place to get the persons Rastro(Trail).

What is the Sombra(Shadow)

Interesting enough I will cite my own writings….

When we think how life was formed from nothing came something out of the darkness and the shadows into the light. The shadow in birth has always walked with us in essence it is a sentient being that makes up one half of our soul which is made of 2 parts. Physical and the Spiritual. Many people understand many views and how the soul and the spirit work in many aspects of a persons transition between different spiritual practices and beliefs.  The focus of this article is to open the idea that your shadow though born with you can pick up from other people and be shaped and reshaped good and bad. When in a munanso you are brought to the foot of the nganga or nkisi and are your journey begins to take shape from the moment you walk in to the time you leave the reading. The process of the shadow casts down into the firma and or firmas that are drawn on the floor to vibrate that energy into a state of being. The shadow picks up this vibration and in turn walks with you throughout your life and follows you wherever you go. The practitioner and priest or priestess then should be able to determine in the reading how your shadow has walked with you Past,Present and how you should push it forward into the future.

“Every shadow that has cast on to you from the moment of birth effects your spiritual growth.“

Ancestors that have long past are part of this cycle in the shadow who live in this world cast their shadow on to you (Buen sombra buen ensenansa) Good shadow good teachings and so the shadow of a Patimpemba lives with us as well. The shadow that casts from the sun and the moon walk with us. As many houses of palo  mayombe know that Casa Nsambi(house of nsambi) is the Sun(Ntangu). The shadow that casts from it  flourishes us with good and strong spiritual binds to the realm of the ancestors. Ngonda(moon) also casts a shadow as you can see on the featured pictured from a solar eclipse on 2006. The Moon casts its own shadow which live in the realm of kalunga also another aspect of the ancestral link or bind to all living things.(picture is not available but you get my point.)

With this being said to capture a persons Rastro(trail) from there shadow you need to have something on you to do that. Again a practitioner all he needs is the know how a person with years and knowledge and experience. Not an Appropriator of traditional understanding and thought.

What is this saying ( Wansa Sa baku dilango sala dimanga ntoto)

I will give you the more interpretative saying….. The river erases what is written on the earth…. So rivers that destroys towns and knock over bridges erase all traces and trails of things that were set onto the earth. Again like I say all works can be erased and forgotten with water. I hope this was informative to those who are looking for knowledge and wisdom and I hope each and everyone of you come with a bit of understanding how our traditions and culture works.

Nsambia O loqutare…… Tata Musitu ……

Sala Malongo this year the letter was pulled by my godson Leonardo Benitez…. Sambia Happy 2020.

Letra del 2020 for Acabamundo Bejuco Nfinda Nsasi Moanafilo Batalla Sacarampeño Mayombe

Kalunga, Centella Ndoki and the Bakulu speak of 2020 as a year for introspection. We are to look inward instead of out, judge ourselves prior to passing judgment on others, and focus on upholding and defending the values we hold dear. They speak of repeating cycles at both personal and global levels, of slowing down and reprioritizing, and remind us that happiness is not tied to the accumulation of things or milestones but to the moments and experiences in-between. This year we should strive towards spiritual and economic fortification, and focus on nurturing meaningful relationships with the ancestors, family and those we love. Nkisi asks us to refocus, critically self evaluate, and to take time this year to define the priorities and principles by which we will navigate this new decade and this ever-complicated and rapidly changing world.
All come from Kalunga and to her all shall return. In this letter she tells us to recognize the cyclic nature in all things. She reminds us that those who do not learn from the past are destined to repeat the same mistakes in the future; and that learning from the errors of the past is how we best prepare for future success. This year we prepare ourselves to navigate the cyclic tides of life rather than passively succumb to them, but to do so requires some internal housekeeping.
Mariwanga teaches us to cut down with fierce decisiveness that which threatens our values and those we love in order to protect our future. We are reminded that those who strive for everything often end up with nothing and that we must prune away the unnecessary so the necessary can flourish. We should use the first half of the year to evaluate if we are living within our means, consolidate debt and set our financial priorities straight and minimize indulgent spending. We are to take this message into all aspects of the new year and let go of those stagnant dreams, capricious wants, toxic relationships and stressful investments of time, money and energy. 2020 follows a decade of immense expansion and accumulation, it is a year to reset, recenter and downsize and it starts by prioritizing our values, our responsibilities, our goals, and cutting out anything that threatens the long term wellbeing of ourselves and our loved ones.
The letter speaks of lingering negativity and the need for heavy cleansing for those going through tough times. Unfortunately, 2020 will continue the global trend of extremes, of divisiveness and hatred fueled by more world violence and another tumultuous political election cycle in the US. There is and will continue to be a lot of ambient negativity and tension so those engaging in frequent spirit work and consultations should be regularly protecting themselves and their home.

Do not wander without purpose and protection into graveyards and other liminal places of high spiritual activity. Consider making a Makuto for protection and stick to a regiment of spiritual hygiene and frequent herbal baths.
This is a year to reach out to and appease individual dead that we may have ignored or forgotten – to reconcile, forgive and ask for forgiveness from those who have passed and who still haunt our memories; Spiritual Misas or further investigations with a Tata or Yaya Nganga may be in order. For those who donʼt maintain a frequent ancestral practice (or have let it slip over the years) , now is the time to setup a boveda or similar space where to honor and commune with the ancestors. A glass of water, a candle and a dedicated moment of our time is all that is needed.
Nkisi also warns against enchantments at a global scale and confusing illusion for reality. That we should be careful with where we put our faith and trust, and how we measure our happiness and self worth. Glamorized over-spending and instant gratification will reach a crescendo in the 2020s. Life itself is becoming more and more ‘on demandʼ as we march to the frenzied pace of endless commodity and content consumption. From same-day delivery of online goods to the instant reassurance that others have acknowledged our experiences through social media, we are moving at an unsustainable pace and Nkisi urges us to slow down.
On this topic, the Bakulu speak loudly and firmly together with Kalunga and tell us to return to what is truly important and stop chasing horizons in whichever way the stormy winds of trends and propaganda blow. They tell us to not confuse the projected illusions of happiness, success and prosperity for the real thing. They ask that we reflect back on the struggles and journeys of those who came before us and that we study their ancestral stories so that we may reinforce the virtues of dedicated patience and hard work.
We are to take a moment to relearn how to live in the moment and focus on forging meaningful relationships and experiences with others. Not about accumulating things, but protecting and enriching those things we already have. Use this year to start a communal vegetable garden, park or gathering area or other project that requires time and craftsmanship where people can come together to work and invest into the earth and enjoy the deep gratification that comes from truly reaping what you sow.
To set the tone for the year ahead take a white candle together with flowers to the beach at sunrise or sunset. Draw a dikenga cross into the sand, place the candle in the center and offer light, mambo and prayer to the ancestors and the collective ancestral waters of Kalunga. Observe how the ebb and flow of the ocean waves echo the cycles of life and history and let the presence of the ancestors with the rhythmic harmony of the natural world remind us of what it means to be present and centered in the moment. We should reflect back on the past year and the decade we leave behind, weep out our frustrations and sorrows for that and those we have lost, and express our gratitude for what has been given, the wisdom gained and the new experiences and relationships we have forged with…

Sambia Tata leonardo…….

Munanso acaba mundo sacarempeno mayombe.

Letters 10-9-10

Sambia a lot of people have an understanding of what god is in their life. But the connection that the nkisi speak of is this. What is your connection nsambi? In other words we need to get back to basics. Working with elevated spirits and understanding our connections with the spiritual aspect of Nsambi and the Bakulu. The letters speak of eruptions and postules that come out of the body.  This is the birth of leprosy and scabies.  This letter talks about doing spiritual cleanings often within your home and on your person. Any animal sacrifices you have to handle with care due to cross contamination from skin disorders that the animal may have. Getting back to basics cleanliness is key… The second letter speaks about ndoki spirits and nkita that walk the earth spirits that also need to be venerated as such. The letter denotes that the divine mother primordial mothers here need to be given offerings at the mountains and trees. The letter speaks of possession and the spirits that go bump in the night. Pay attention to those signs to distinguish the difference between good and bad spirits.. Remember get rid of the old to allow change to come in your life. In this letter Bells Palsy and muscle spasms are the birth place of this sign. Allow your body to acclimate into temperature changes from hot to cold and vise a versa.

Change the outlook of your homes and houses move furniture around. This is a time to bring in new evolution in your life. New opportunities of work, travel, a whole new life perspective. You can not mediate any 3^rd party situations in which you are in the front of the drama. Let people sort out their own issues. Unwarranted spiritual works can come and bring trouble brujeria and witchcraft but protect yourself. Make a 9 color ribbon to close off your aura from attracting unwanted spiritual energy clean it with rum, cigar smoke, herbs like rosemary, basil, rompe saraguey. The last letter states like the first remember your spiritual connection is what brought you here do not abandon old ways. Understanding this brings evolution and elevation to you the connection with Nsambi and the Bakulu. Avoid Hospitals if possible and if you need to go clean off with both plants or grains anything to get rid of sickness from you. Do not forget be safe, be well and Sambia…

Tata Musitu Munanfinda….. 

It has been a while since inspiration for writing has kind of sat in the back burner for myself. This whole new world we are living in has put a damper on life as we know it now in this existence. I hope when people read this they will get a better understanding of mayombe practice and the houses that till this day hold its orthodoxy. See I did not realize that feeding information to viewers and the internet at large would create a lot of people who are naysayers and thieves of intellectual property. I guess it is a form of flattery but be original have your own opinions and be seekers of truth not of innuendos and misguided and totally false adversarial information.

WHAT IS MAYOMBE?
The word mayombe and the region of the mayombe forest can be found in present day republic of the democratic republic of the congo. Simply stated(Ma-yombe) people of yombe. Natalia Bolivar renowned author in her early discoveries found that the connotated the word to magistrate or as a chief. The original practices of mayombe come from the understanding and relationship with the universe and its surroundings nature which we call malongo. Thus the understanding was brought from the reign of the manikongo. The utilizing of the spirit of the dead which is actually a false understanding since mayombe teaches us that which is nature never dies it transmutes into energy (ngolo) force that can harnass all within nature. Storms and fires, earthquakes, fallen debris from the universe and the ever present earth it encompasses all that is within the human body and consciousness. The incorporation of bones especially human anatomy was circumvented in the aboriginal people they found along the way who were settled in cuba.

WHERE DID MAYOMBE ESTABLISHED ITS ORIGINS?

In the 1500’s early enslaved africans escaped from the infamous ranchers(overseers) and went into the Mountains of present day Pinar del Rio Cuba. The slaves that were murdered along the way formed a grand precedent in which the receptacle of the nganga became an element of the nganga. Supposed popular and unfounded beliefs would make it seem the incorporation of bones in mayombe practice did not exist when in fact that is farthest from the truth. An outsiders perspective can not speak on something they know nothing about.

WHY IS MAYOMBE SO ORTHODOX AND REFUSES TO SHARE WHAT THEY KNOW?

In some houses of mayombe you will find that they have intermeshed understandings of what palo is and so you get people saying they are Briyumba with mayombe etc etc. Their is a pact with kimbisa and it was established from individual mayombe houses. Primitivo Arrieta known to most as (El Chino Arrieta) was a great defender of this concept. Unfortunately even till this day the understanding of a pure line is more of a conceptual conundrum. Palo mayombe is a cuban understanding rooted in african practices with native technology from the actual land itself. The key element is follow the lineal understanding of what mayombe is and what it is not.

IS MAYOMBE AN ANCESTRAL PRACTICE?

Mayombe as clearly stated by Natalia Bolivar, Miguel Barnett, Lydia Cabrera and other Cuban anthropological is a relationship of the universe with the spirit of the nfumbe which resides in an nganga together with animals, plants, minerals, dirt’s that make the adoration of ancestral worship very real and not as complex as one might seem. When an nganga as simple and complex as it sounds Nsasi which is a generic term all mayomberos use to call the structure of the prenda . The saying we use is this that is stated in the topic of the heading of my article. (Buena Nganga nunca tesia).

DOES A PANTHEON EXIST IN MAYOMBE?

The understanding of this cultural phenomenon came with the Cuban revolt and the pride of nationalism and independence. But mayombe the elders know that for each particular nganga it was born from one Ingenio(plantation to another). See ngangas were one at best for each plantation which housed its secrets. Later on the this understanding came the influx of mass initiations from briyumba houses that took on the indoctrination of the ideas of kimpungueles( kimpungulu as singular). With time that became the norm in a lot of houses of palo mayombe incorporating attributes of orisha concept into Palo practices. This is not to disprove anyone’s belief this is to better understand the complexity of the homogenization of Palo practices. Some houses of mayombe understand differences in natural selection but will not name the ngangas as such. But again the spirituality is based on one nganga and one person. Not a hodgepodge of cemetery receptacles.

DOES MAYOMBE INCORPORATE ORISHA TOOLS

Mayombe does not incorporate orisha tools especially those that live within the orisha receptacles. We do not paint on our ngangas or paint the actual pots to represent any kind of mixing with the orisha concepts of worship. Everything in its place and in its order. Orisha is orisha and Mayombe is mayombe.

DOES BRIYUMBA HAVE A PACT WITH MAYOMBE?

Understanding that people may get mad or say I do not know what I am talking about which I do not care about. Briyumba was birthed from Mayombe and so with that being said at one time before the internal spiritual wars between mayombe and briyumba formed I would say the affiliation to the ramas may have had something. But when a son tries to overtake the parent I would say that understanding siezes with those elders. That now people claiming they do. Oh well. I know what elders have told me.

IN CONCLUSION

Something of an abhorrent trend has been surfacing and its quite funny and at the same time sad. Palo practitioners in trying to validate that they are the only truth will come into a lot of opposition because they are not and people can see right through the fanaticism. Remember Palo is a collection of oratory and spoken traditions passed down from generation through generation. The word Bambula is to remember in Bantu understanding to Remember is to live on and carry tradition. Ki-BAMBULA to re-remember is an understanding of remembrance and faith to those who passed before us. Let us Ki bambula our ancestors, Let us Ki bambula the people who died on this date of 9/11… Ya son las hora(Now is the time.)

Tata Nkisi Musitu

Sources ….El Monte lydia cabrera …Ta Ma kuende yaya Natalia Bolivar -Arostegui….Our lineal tree is in her book for people to view