Palo

Worldview

Consistent with Kemetic influence throughout Africa, the cosmological underpinning of the Bântu-Kôngo philosophy rests on the relationship between the living and the Dead. Within this union, the soul and mind live on after physical death and manifest through dreams and visions and through waves and radiations. This division of the cosmos is an actualization of the origin of the world, in which a world without life (mbÛngi, mwâsi, or mpâmpa) became dominated by a fire or life force. After cooling and solidifying, it fused to produce water (kalÛnga, “a door; a wall between two worlds,” the origin of life, the symbol for vitality and change), which, in turn, became rivers and mountains. From this, half of the world became Earth and the other half water or the spiritual world (Ku Mpèmba).

The major template of the Kongo spiritual system is the altar, which takes many forms, but is particularly illustrated in the Bâkôngo geometric cosmogram (Tenwa Nzài Kongo), given to humans by the supreme deity Nsâmbi Mpungu to illustrate the relationships between the living and the Dead. This cosmogram is depicted as a vertical and horizontal cross known as the yowa, which represents the continuity of life and the point of interception between the living and ancestors; the kalÛnga line, as referenced above, represents the realms of the living and the abode of the ancestors; and the dikenga, a circle surrounding the cross figure marked on the ground, represents the soul (n'dunzi). The Kongo belief is that humans live, die, and live in a continuous motion through four stages of the sun. Thus, the sun revolves around the cross and marks the four moments of dawn, noon, sunset, and midnight. These moments are represented in the cosmogram, with small circles at the end of each axis mirroring life as birth, full adulthood, waning adulthood, and rebirth. Revolving arrows trace a path around the intersection of the axes that are directed in counterclockwise motion and further emphasize the process of reincarnation. The singing of sacred songs and chants encourages the manifestation of the spirit of ancestors (simbi).

The essence of human existence is the concept of Kala (the presence of light in the physical world, character, leadership). The process of kula, which is to mature and take one's rightful place as a leader, must occur for one to become an n'gunza or spiritual person, thereby entitling one to enter the realm of ancestors. Following the tukula step, one must descend into the deepest world by crossing the luvemba or death barrier, the symbol of the reincarnation/transformation process where the life/death struggle takes place. (This process is also true of communities, institutions, etc.) The transformed entity now becomes the authority of his or her own mind and body [musoni), as well as principles and systems of higher knowledge (ndoki/kindoki). From here, the Bâkôngo believe that the body dies to move toward the upper world, although the spirit of that being remains with the ability to speak and act.

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