PALO

Th e religionknown as Palo by prac titioners in
Cub a, the UnitedStates, and partsof the
Caribbeanis es sentiallythe traditionalspiritual
sy ste m of the Kôngope ople(Bântu-Kôngo,
Bâkôngo). The Bâkôngo are a sub-Saharan
people who extend from southern Cam ero on,
through Ang ola,Bas-Zaire, and Gabon, to
Mozambique. Also included ar e non- Kôngo
grou ps suchas the Tek e, Suku , Ya ka, and Pu nu,
fo undin the BâKôngoand Angola reg ions
because of the similaritiesin language and reli -
giousbeliefs.The leg end s of th e cu lture,the com -
monalityof soci oreligious prac tic es, and the roots
of the languageid entifyth e Bântu-Kôngocultural
grou p as origi natingfroman cientKemet.Before
spreadingsouthin la ter migrations, th ey se ttled
in western Africa.

Wor ldview

Consistent with Kemetic influence th roughout
Af rica , the cosmologicalunderpinning of the
Bântu-Kôngophilosophy re sts on the relationship
between the livingand the Dead. With in this
un ion, the soul and mindlive on afte r ph ysical
deathand manifestthr oughdreamsand visions
and thr oughwavesand radiations.This divisionof
th e cosm os is an actualizationof the originof th e
world, in whicha worl d wit houtlife (mbûngi,
mwâsi, or mpâmpa ) bec ame domi nate d by a fire
or li fe force.Aftercoolingand solidifying , it fused

to producewat er (kalûnga, “a door;a wall

betweentwo wor ld s,” the originof life, the symbol

for vitalityand change),which, in turn,became

riversand mountains.Fromthis, half of the world

becameEarthand the otherhalf wateror the spi r-

itual world(KuMpèmba ).

The majortem plateof the Kôngospiritual

syste m is the altar,whichtakesmanyforms,but

is particularlyillustratedin the Bâkôngogeometric

cosmogram (Tenwa Nzài Kôngo ), giv en to

hu mansby the supremedeityNsâmbiMpungu to

illustratethe relationshipsbetweenthe livingand

the Dead.Thiscosmogramis depictedas a verti -

cal and horizontalcross known as theyowa ,

whi ch representsthe continuityof life and the

po int of interceptionbetweenthe livingand ances-

tors;the kalûnga line, as referencedabove,repre -

sentsthe realmsof the livingand the abodeof the

ancestors; and thedikenga, a circlesurrounding

the cr oss figu re markedon th e ground,repre sents

th e soul(n’ dunzi). TheKôngo belief is that

hu manslive, die, and live in a conti nuousmotion

through four stages of the sun.Th us, the sun

revolves around the cr os s and marksthe four

moments of dawn, noon,sunset,and midnight.

Th ese momentsare representedin the cosmo-

gram,wi th sm all circlesat the end of eachaxis

mirroring life as birth,full adulthood, waning

adu lthood,and rebirth.Revolvingarrowstracea

patharo und the intersectionof the axesthat are

di rectedin countercl ockwisemotionand further

emphasize the processof rei ncarnation. The

singingof sacredsongsand chantsencouragesthe

manifestationof the spiritof ancestors(simbi).

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