amin za

This is a post I wrote for my munanso’s website here.

The trance is an essential component of work in Palo; it would be impossible to accomplish healing or true communication with spirit without it. Let’s take a look at the different methods of gaining the spiritual trance we work with in Palo; perhaps through a close and thorough examination of method and technique involving trance we can improve our personal work and gain deeper understanding of the mysteries of our religion.

Sounds and Rythm

The deepest trances acquired in my experience are those we attain during the ecstasy of singing and drumming. The mind and spirit can sink deep into the kalunga, and often spirit will mount in this trance. This trance has many subtle variations and depths, with permutations that vary with each person. Acquiring a deep trance is both a natural talent and a gained skill, at once a release of control and a gentle grasping. When in this state we can enable spirit to communicate through us. This aspect of the trance enables a particular kind of healing, and that is healing of the community. Through this kind of work messages from spirit that are pure and direct can be had, enabling the Bakulu to guide and heal the community through the medium of the entranced practitioner. Because these messages aren’t interpreted through the lens of the intellect, they have a level of purity and a poignancy beyond that of the divinations  that we work in our solitary practice. This trance is the mediumistic trance; it isn’t necessary for everyone, not even the Tatas or Yayis of a community, but it is a wonderful asset. Oftentimes spirit will not speak through a person, but will dance with them, making their presence known through movement. This is a powerful reminder that Spirit is alive in the community, and that our dead are present.

Vititi Mensu–Working with the Mpaka

This is a particular divinatory device, which has an associated light-trance state that enables the spiritual vision. The Vititi Mensu tells the story in it’s name; Vititi essentially means “sight”, and mensu means “mirror”…the name basically interprets as mirror-sight. The mpaka and the plants we have tratados with are the keys to working this divinatory method and trance-state correctly. The mpaka itself is, much like the nganga, a microcosm of the natural world. Within it should be ntoto and bilongo, and specifically it should have “secrets” from within the nganga it is allied with. The Mpaka gives us the vision of the dead, reflected through the mirror of the mpaka (mirrors are a fine analogue for the Kalunga, being bridges between the world of the living and that of the dead).

So, where do the plants work into this? In two ways..the first being in their imbuing the mpaka with the full spiritual virtue they posses. All the powers that are held within the plants are given to the mpaka, and these same plants are present in the nganga. The mpaka lives in the nganga, and is a spiritual body, with the mirror serving as the “eye”. So, the plants imbue the mpaka with their virtue, and helps the mpaka serve as a spiritual body for the entity that is the nganga. This entity, as a reflection of the Tata or Yayi into the kalunga, can see clearly the roads of possiblity opened by our Lucero. The plants within make the mpaka a fit body for this spirit.

The second way we see with the eyes of nature, with the power given by plants, is through the plant-assisted trance. There is a particular plant we work with that aids in trance, and there is not a single Palero or Palera that doesn’t work with it. That plant is, of course, tobacco. The tobacco plant has many secrets; one of these secrets is how it can be used as an aid to ritual. One of the first things we do in ritual is to work with our ally tobacco, and there are many who fail to realize tobacco’s role as a spiritual ally in enabling spiritual vision through trance.

The key to using tobacco as an aid to trance is in how she is consumed. To excite the spirit and body, and enter into an ecstatic trance, one would need to smoke with quick puffs–how we hold the smoke within, and the speed of each breath, effect the way the tobacco works upon us. After working with it thusly, the drums and mambos can take us the rest of the way.

For assistance with divination using mpaka–to enter into a meditative trance, the opposite of the ecstatic one–we need to take slow and deep puffs of the tobacco, and we need to hold the smoke within the mouth/lungs (depending upon the method used) for as long as possible. This effects how the virtue of the smoke (carried in the body as nicotine) is delivered into the brain, and how it effects the spirit. Working the tobacco in this fashion relaxes the mind, body, and spirit and deepens the trance state. After taking and holding these deep breaths of smoke, we blow them into the mirror of the mpaka. What we are doing now is linking our trance state–our vision–to the mpaka itself, allowing it to communicate what it can see directly into our minds.

There are different approaches to drawing the pati mpemba within the Palo community. In my own Rama, the approach is primarily inspirational; we begin with the understanding the basic principles behind the lines, circles, crosses and arrows that we use. 

Circles: Represent un-manifest and hidden power, ndoki

Crosses: Represent fully manifested and present power

Arrows: Represent Movement of power/idea/Dead in a single direction, with a beginning and an end.

Double-headed Arrows: This is movement of power that is endless, having neither beginning nor end. A permanent state. 

Serpent-Arrows: These represent the Dead, a particular Nkisi we are working with, etc. 

Conjunctions: Where two lines cross there is a tension, a friction of powers. They are crossroads, of a sort, and where they occur a path must be drawn for the expression of that power (this is the series of circles and crosses seen in all four directions of every crossroads on the Pati Mpemba). Some nganguleros simply let the flow of power through them guide their hand and determine the nature of these expressions. I have a slightly different method. 

I still determine what will go here through spirit, but I work directly with it to determine path, particularly with Lucero. I break out the chamalongos and tap thrice upon my Lucero nkisi, and thrice upon the point of conjunction of the pati mpemba that I’m creating. Then I throw the chamalongos, and allow them to speak what the path of that point is. The speaking (concave) side is +, and the silent side is 0. The chamalongo that falls closest to the crossroad is first and in the upper left (where the sun rises on the Yowa, the congo cosmogram). The rest are filled in by their closeness, moving clockwise around the crossroad. This ensures for me that spirit is fully guiding the expression of power depicted in the firma. 

The Sun represents Nzambi in all of it’s expressions. 

The Stars and Moon represent their natural counterparts as well. 

There are many subtleties to understanding pati mpemba, but this info alone is enough to begin to draw them correctly…in my opinion. The only firmas that are permanent should be the names of Nkisi and Nganguleros/Engeuyos, and those of mpungo being worked with. Everything else, for bilongo, for spiritual cleansings, etc, should be born in the moment. The firma should be understood as direct symbolic communication with your Nkisi/Nfumbe, and with the Kalunga–it should express directions for the entity being worked with in addition to the change in reality that you wish to take place. Who is being worked upon/the nature of the goal is determined by the dirts/palos/herbs within the macuto (the pack of magical ingredients).

This is a post I wrote for my nso’s website.

Nsala Maleko,

The patimpemba (also known as the Firma) is a spiritualized drawing that connects the signatures of the entities and forces (nkisi and mpungo, and nfumbe for full Tatas and Yayis) with symbols that represent a given change in the world or a work that we want the spiritual force to accomplish. It is a multi-layered and complicated system, but one that works with beautiful symmetry to accomplish it’s works.

I put the allusion to spells in the title of the post because of the reality of our use of Patimpemba; they are enlivened by our mambos, which are ritual incantation. What we are doing is far more complicated than simply saying a “spell” however; the word doesn’t do these workings justice. There are fools on the internet selling “Palo Mayombe Spells” to people, as if one can simply draw a firma with no understanding, blow some rum & smoke and get results. This is not the case.

Firstly, a patimpemba is layered with deep meaning, and that meaning needs to be understood at least minimally by the working Palero. If your Tata has given you a firma that does a certain thing, please ask the right questions and come to understand it! The Patimpemba is communication with Spirit and Reality; you have to be saying something with intent for it to meaningful and therefore powerful. Garbage in, garbage out. You can’t just draw a bunch of arrows that look pretty, say some words to your spirit, and expect to get good result. Your words are saying one thing, and your patimpemba another. Every stroke of your chalk must be made with intent, every line must have purpose. The patimpemba becomes alive with power, but first it must be meaningful. Think before you draw them, plan, and let spirit inspire you.

There are some experienced Tatas and Yayis who can draw a real and meaningful patimpemba on the fly. You can’t just up and do that; this is similar to how the experienced jazz musician can improvise and stay within key, letting the music flow throw him. The experienced Tata does this, but with Spirit. His experience has given him a number of useful constructions to draw from, and his connection to spirit allows it to blossom with real meaning and power in the moment. He has already internalized enough meaning to have a working spiritual “language” of symbol from which to improvise.

If you aren’t experienced, and you haven’t internalized enough of the spiritual “language” of symbol found in our culture, the patimpemba should be planned carefully before working. The well drawn firma has deep layers of meaning, carefully built.  Questions must be asked, and the answers included in the structure of the patimpemba.  What is the goal of the work? Is there a person/thing being worked upon? How is the spirit to accomplish the work (here we decide what dirts/herbs are necessary, as these tune how the spirit executes the work and what the “quality” of the manifestation will be, and also lend their natural virtue to the work. For example, if we are working to accomplish something malefic, we will include items to “heat” the spirit and get it agitated. We may include certain animal powders if the power of their spirit’s is relevant for the work as well.) Is this work to be continuous, or something with a beginning and end? Are there multiple people involved? What spiritual force are we working with to accomplish the goal? Is the moon waxing or waning?

These things must all be considered before building the patimpemba. Once we have a full understanding of what meaning will be inherent to the patimpemba, the correct symbols and natural materials can be gathered and a general outline created. Only then can spirit inspire us to create the firma correctly, and the natural path (our circles and crosses) allowed to manifest.

The “Path” of the spiritual power being worked is always something manifest in the moment through connection with Spirit–namely Nkuyo/Lucero.

Merch By Artist: S 4 M . S C Ø T T 

#Drive