NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Palo Mayombe

Palo mayombe, also called Palo, Palo Monte and Kimbisa is a religion of largely Bantu origin developed by slaves from Central Africa in Cuba. In the mid 20th century it began to appear among Cuban communities in the US, Venezuela, Colombia, and Puerto Rico. Eventually, some members of other Latino groups gained some access to these traditions. The religion remains largely Cuban in character which is where it is practiced in its most correct form. The lack of stable religious communities in the US has led to weaknesses in liturgical practice outside Cuba. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Palo Monte, or Regla de Palo Monte, is one of the main currents in Cuban popular religion. ... // Etymology Latino, feminine Latina derives from Latin (the adjectives latinus, latina), originally referring to Latium, the area of Rome, by aitiology derived from a king of the name Latinus. ...

The main worship and practice focuses upon the religious receptacle or altar known as a Nganga or Prenda. This is a consecrated vessel filled with sacred earth, sticks (palos), and other items, and is dedicated to a specific spiritual energy and also known as an Nkisi. Vessel can refer to any of the following: Objects Vessel (French vaissel, from a rare Latin vascellum, diminuitive of vas, vase, or urn), a word of somewhat wide application for many objects, the meaning common to them being capacity to hold or contain something. ... A stick is: a group of 12 paratroopers, a Branch from a woody plant, also used as a rod (disciplinary implement, e. ... An Nkisi (plural Minkisi, also Nkishi/Minkishi), literally translates as (sacred) medicine. ...

This religious vessel is also inhabited by the spirit of an ancestor, who acts as a guide for all religious activities which are performed with the Nganga. Due to religious syncretism a lot of elements foreign to the original African tradition may be present in the ceremonies, such as the use of the christian cross, images of saints to describe the nkisi, which are the Gods of Palo, the powerful Entities which are submitted to the High God Zambi or Nzambi. however, since the Kingdom of Kongo converted while still an independent nation to Catholicism in the late 1400s, much of this syncretism originated in Africa. Ancestor worship, also ancestor veneration, is a religious practice based on the belief that ones ancestors possess supernatural powers. ... Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ... The traditional form of the Christian cross, known as the Latin cross The Christian cross is a familiar religious symbol of Christianity. ... The Kongo Empire was an African kingdom located in southwest Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda, Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...

The divination methods used in Palo are various. One is called Chamalongo which utilize shells or disks of various materials, often coconut shells. A more traditional form is called Vititi Mensu, which is a form of envisioning using a sanctified animal horn capped with a mirror. Because of Kardecian syncretism in many Houses of Palo, a Spiritual Misa is often held before the initiation, in order to identify the main spirits which will help to develop one's life. These guides often speak also through possession, and may give direct advice. This man in Rhumsiki, Cameroon, tells the future by interpreting the changes in position of various objects as caused by a fresh-water crab through nggÃ m[1]. Divination is the practice of ascertaining information from supernatural sources. ... Kardecist Spiritism or Kardecism is a spiritualistic doctrine created in the 19th century by Allan Kardec. ... Possession is having some degree of control over something else. ...

Books dealing with Palo Mayombe include titles by the late Cuban scholar Lydia Cabrera such as "El Monte", "Palo Monte Mayombe: Las Reglas de Congo" and "La Regla Kimbisa del Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje". Also of use are "Ta Makuenda Yaya" by Natalia Bolívar Aróstegui, and "AfroCuban Religions", a translation of a work by Miguel Barnet. Essays and books by Robert Farris Thompson have dealt with some aspects of this tradition. Lydia Cabrera (May 20, 1899 - September 19, 1991) was a Cuban anthropologist and poet. ...

See also GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

See also