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To: alt.religion.orisha,alt.lucky.w
From: "E. C. Ballard" 
Subject: Palo Divination
Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 12:08:30 -0400

Well, one always needs to take with a very large grain of salt any 
claims that some initiatory sect is evil. Especially when the people 
claiming this are another initiatory religion who might be viewed by 
outsiders as in "competition" with the aforementioned "evildooers". It 
is an old political tactic and no one is above it. I call the Congo 
religions the Subaltern's subaltern because the Yoruban traditions, with 
the aid of academics at various times have been very effective at 
casting Congo traditions in a negative light. The reasons are inevitably 
political in nature and always suspect. 

It isn't a criticism of the Yoruba or the followers of those traditions. 
The majority do not engage in this sort of thing and many times when 
they do it is simply the result of an uncritical retetition of what they 
have been told (always a bad idea). It just is a fact of life and one 
that is fairly well documented and demonstratable. It is only human 
nature. Others have done it to the Yoruba, so what's new here?

As for the divination side of things. Divination plays a significant 
role in Palo but nothing like the same sort of one that is played by 
divination in Yoruban traditions. This is due to the difference in the 
nature of Congo religion and divination from that of the Yoruba. They 
are very different traditions.

First of all, the single most important method of divination in Palo is 
through possession trance. The firect consultation of spirits. This form 
of divination which is a common practice among Bantu peoples throughout 
their entire area is at the opposite end of the pendulum (if I may be 
forgiven the image) from the form of mechanical divination without 
possession used in most varieties or derivatives of the Yoruban 
traditions. 

In Palo generally initiaition or other rituals are usually suggested and 
confirmed first by mechanical divination in a consultation or 
alternately by a spirit either in a conslutation or during rituals in 
the case of people who are already in the religion. Likewise, although 
most paleros will have extensive sets of tratados for various kinds of 
trabajos or spells, in practice these are varied and ultimately 
suggested most often by a spirit.

This approach is different from that in Ocha where each marca or letra 
in a reading has a specific tratado for ebo and all is determined 
through the mark that is cast. In Palo you can have a different trabajo 
done everytime a specific situation arises if that is what the spirits 
and nkisi dictate.

Bantu religion is a very different creature from Yoruban religion.


Eoghan

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From: eballard@sas.upenn.edu (Eoghan Ballard)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.orisha,alt.lucky.w
Subject: Re:
Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 07:49:41 -0400
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In article , Kevin
Filan wrote:

> Unfortunately, Palo Mayombe's "evil" reputation often seems to attract EXACTLY
> the kind of person who should stay away from Palo.  (This is certainly true in
> the UnitedStates: given the well-known prejudices many Lukumi folk have
against
> Palo, I'm guessing the same thing frequently happens in Cuba and elsewhere).  
> This used to happen all the time with Vodou and Ocha: ceremonial magicians who
> wanted to add dark and spooky trappings to their systems would throw in some
> "African" or "Voodoo" elements to create a "darker, meaner, harder,
longer, and
> thicker" magic system.  (Think Hyatt's *Urban Voodoo* and you'll have
some idea
> of what I'm talking about: I'd also point to some of Kenneth Grant's attempts 

No, and that wasn't where I was going either. Actually the reputation is a
political invention and one engendered by the suspicion and enmity that
existed between Congo and Yoruban slaves in the 19th century. The "dark"
elements are all the imagination of people who simply aren't well educated
or had reasons for wishing to discredit the other. There is as much (and
in my view) far more "dark" activities carried out in the name of Orichas
or for that matter the holy church than in Palo. Once you start refering
to things like "Urban voodoo" you have begun to go over the edge into
fantasy land. When you start mentioning Lovecraft you have arrived.

As for divination systems, there are a number of systems used in Palo (and
other Congo derived systems elsewhere) that are not Yoruban in origin,
including I might add, the cowries. Yes, cowries have a long history in
Africa not only of use as money buit as divination tools in many cultures
besides the Yoruban. In fact, one such system taught to me by a Cuban
palero is almost identical to a system described by Beatty in his paper on
divination techniques among the Bunyoro of Western Uganda.

The methods used in interpreting even the famous 16 cowries in the hands
of some Paleros reflect the methods and approach of Angolan diviners using
bones and baskets far more than it reflects the dillogun. I have also seen
chamalongos made from bone and thrown in a way that is far removed from
the methods employed in Biague.

Then there are the various visual divination systems including the use of
the mpaka which is an integral part of all paleros ngangas. Also paleros
do use pendulums. There is a technique of using a collar as a pendulum
that is quite effective. Similar systems have long been in use in Africa
and are documented in the Congo, Zambia and Angola.

Salamaleko,

Eoghan