Santeria and Palo are two African inspired religions that are part of the traditional and contemporary culture of Cuba. Santeria’s roots stem back to “Ifa”, the West African religious tradition of the Yoruba people, whereas Palo hails from the Central African, Kongo tradition. These traditions share a much smaller geographic area in Cuba and through the years have become “linked”. In Cuba, Palo is refered to as the “left hand” and Santo is the “right”. Santo is “cooling” whereas Palo is “hot”. Palo is “dark, Santo is “light. This linking is problematic because in their native land they are not related at all, most importantly, they are not in a hierarchical relationship in people’s lives. It is in their new proximity and the filtering through a western perspective like Christianity/Catholicism, that they begin to reflect the binary view of western tradition, good vs evil black vs white as well as the fear of embodied tradition. Both worldviews negotiate power through energetic intention and bodily experience. Both traditions are passed on orally and involve learning another language, Lukumi for Santeria and Kekongo in Palo.
Though they share similarities, they are different worldviews. Both religions acknowledge unseen forces that need to be balanced in order to live correctly, Santeria, by balancing ache through the initiate’s relationship to the Orishas and Palo by developing ones relationship with the kalunga, the energetic field of the ambient and the responsive dead through working with the ritual construction called, nganga or prenda. Though many beliefs are different for these two religions, both traditions practice embodied ritual forms. Time and space are changed through active participation in ritual. In both traditions, the drums lead toward the channeling of otherworldly or alternative energies, submitting one’s physicality to the unknown . The religions are also both experienced through the gathering of ritual materials, in physical postures, the possession of initiates, and the embodied learning process of observing and doing. In this paper, I will discuss the how the body is engaged by these traditions.
The body is an active part of the experience of these worldviews. Rather than a space of fear and taboo, it is a celebrated as the vessel of the spirit through the rituals, the dancing and channeling of energies. The body is initiated into these worldviews through a series of ritual actions that are experienced and learned physically.
Initiating into these religions mean that the body will hold the experience of the spirituality learned. Initiation involves been physically removed from the daily grind and preparing to take on a deeper spiritual relationship with the energies of the religion and the religious communities that make up the spiritual houses. Part of the one week initiation into Santeria involves, being dressed, having clothes ripped off, being washed with herb mixtures, being shorn of hair, being placed in different states of seclusion and introduced to the community as a fellow seeker of spiritual guidance in the form of the Orisha. The initiate is dressed as the Orisha, signifying the embodiment of the force.
In Santeria, an initiate can begin initiating with the warriors before the commitment of making saint. This allows the initiate time to learn from community elders along the way. Through this process, one learns to perform necessary tasks to keep balance of the cosmic energies of the Orishas. By initiating further, or making saint, the initiate is committing to a lifelong relationship with the orisha as a force in ones life to be guided by, to grow toward or from. The different initiations are liminal periods, where the body is experiencing other ways of being, as it is welcomed into a new phase of growth.
Palo also has initiations. There is a steeper leap into the religion as initiates have no knowledge of or relationship to their ngangas before they initiate. In the Palo worldview, the dead form a sea of ever changing energy that can be negotiated through successful relationship with one’s responsive dead including the charged nfumbe of the nganga. One does not learn how to make or work a nganga until after they initiate. The making of the nganga is an amazing task of gathering earth, artifacts and objects, from many different corners, that contain the appropriate energy. It involves finding the right container to hold the energy. It includes bones of animals and a nfumbe, that must be fed but not overindulged.
Palo involves a difficult relationship to the nganga. The goal is to have a powerful nganga that works for the palero. The nganga must remain under the control of the palero. The more fear that is inspired by ones reputation as a powerful palero, the more successful one is.
In both traditions, blood is the vital fluid that binds the initiate’s relationship to the spiritual realm. In Santeria, incisions are made on the crown of the head and filled with the ache de Santo in the form of an herb mixture. Sacrifice of feathered and four legged animals are made to charge the magical objects with vital force, as both the nganga and the orishas must be fed. This feeding also serves as a meal for the community.
During ceremonies, ritual drums increase the energy in the room to a pitch to invite the spirits. This is a time when initiates are mounted by the Orishas. Within the safety of the house of worship, the surrender to forces beyond invites a dance with the unknown. These energies, whether they represent clear energetic channels or the dead are a place that the body can go to in the exploration of ones relationship on and to the earth. The understanding of power as a manifestation of energy harnessed from a universal source through the actions of the body can be empowering for individuals. It vitalizes a way of knowing that involves the physical experience of being rather than denying it.
Bibliography
Mason, Michael Atwood. Living Santeria : rituals and experiences in an Afro-cuban religion. Smithsonian Institute. 2002.
Moreno Vega, Marta. The Altar of My Soul, The Living Traditions of Santeria. NY:
Random House Ballentine Publishing Group. 2000.
Ocha, Todd Ramon. The Dead and The Living in a Cuban-Kongo Sacred Society. Columbia University. 2004.
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