![]() ![]() Palo has no sacred text or strict ritual protocol. Reflecting its African heritage, many practitioners refer to their homeland as Ngola. They often regard the Kingdom of Kongo as Palo's place of origin, a place where the spirits are more powerful. The idea of Palo having African origins is important to practitioners. These African elements are combined with elements from Roman Catholicism, and from Spiritism, a French variant of Spiritualism. Īlthough its origins draw heavily on Kongo religion, Palo also takes influence from the traditional religions of other African peoples who were brought to Cuba, such as the Yoruba. Palo is also sometimes referred to as brujería (witchcraft), both by outsiders and by some practitioners themselves. Another term for the religion is La Regla de Congo ("Kongo Rule" or "Law of Kongo") or Regla Congo, a reference to its origins among the traditional Kongo religion of Central Africa's Bakongo people. Its name derives from palo, a Spanish term for sticks, referencing the important role that these items play in the religion's practices. In many of these countries, Palo practitioners have clashed with law enforcement for engaging in grave robbery to procure human bones for their nganga. Palo is most heavily practiced in eastern Cuba although is found throughout the island and has spread abroad, including in other parts of the Americas such as Venezuela, Mexico, and the United States. Many practitioners also identify as Roman Catholics and practice additional Afro-Cuban traditions such as Santería. Palo is divided into multiple traditions, including Mayombe, Monte, Briyumba, and Kimbisa, each with their own approaches to the religion. In the 1960s, growing emigration following the Cuban Revolution spread Palo abroad. Palo nevertheless remained marginalized by Cuba's Roman Catholic, Euro-Cuban establishment, which typically viewed it as brujería ( witchcraft), an identity that many Palo practitioners have since embraced. After the Cuban War of Independence resulted in an independent republic in 1898, its new constitution enshrined freedom of religion. The religion took its distinct form around the late 19th or early 20th century, about the same time that Yoruba religious traditions merged with Roman Catholic and Spiritist ideas in Cuba to produce Santería. The minkisi, spirit vessels that were key to various Kongolese healing societies, provided the basis for the nganga of Palo. It formed through the blending of the traditional religions brought to Cuba by enslaved Bakongo people from Central Africa with ideas from Roman Catholicism, the only religion legally permitted on the island by the Spanish colonial government. ![]() Palo developed among Afro-Cuban communities following the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries. The nganga is "fed" with the blood of sacrificed animals and other offerings, while its will and advise is interpreted through various forms of divination. Those nganga primarily designed for benevolent acts are baptised those largely designed for malevolent acts are left unbaptised. The Palo practitioner commands the nfumbe, through the nganga, to do their bidding, typically to heal but also to cause harm. In Palo, the presence of the nfumbe means that the spirit of the dead person inhabits the nganga and serves the palero or palera who keeps it. The nganga will typically contain a wide range of objects, among the most important being sticks and human remains, the latter called nfumbe. Many nganga are regarded as material manifestations of particular deities known as mpungu. Central to Palo is the nganga or prenda, a vessel usually made from an iron cauldron, clay pot, or gourd. Although teaching the existence of a creator deity, Nsambi or Sambia, Palo regards this entity as being uninvolved in human affairs and thus focuses its attention on the spirts of the dead, Kalunga. Initiates in the religion are termed paleros (male) or paleras (female).Īn initiatory religion, Palo is organised through small autonomous groups called munanso congo, each led by a tata (father) or yayi (mother). It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional Kongo religion of Central Africa, the Roman Catholic branch of Christianity, and Spiritism. Palo, also known as Las Reglas de Congo, is an African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th or early 20th century. ![]()
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