Santeria, Animal Sacrifice, and the Constitution – Part 2

Photo: Courtesy Polk County Sheriff’s Office

The Grave Robbers of Palo Mayombe

In Part I of this article we discussed Santería, an Afro-Caribbean religion rooted in the Yoruba people of West Africa. Santería, like many African diaspora religions practiced around the world like Haitian Voodoo, Brazilian Candomblé, Umbanda, and Quimbanda are similar in the worship of the Ifá African deities known as orishas:

The orishas are the emissaries of Olodumare or God almighty. They rule over the forces of nature and the endeavors of humanity. They…are [recognized] through their different numbers and colors which are their marks, and each has their…favorite foods and other things they like to receive as offerings.¹

Palo Mayombe, like Santería arrived in Cuba during the slave trade. The difference between the two religions is that Palo Mayombe originated from the Congo, not West African Yorubaland. Palo Mayombe spread from Cuba, throughout the Caribbean, South and Latin America, and the US.

It’s called Palo Mayombe, and its dark rituals involving human and animal remains and even grave robbing, [are] practiced in extreme secrecy…The spirits that Paleros [Palo practitioners] are in contact with are both ancestral and of the natural world.²

PALO MAYOMBE BELIEFS

The supreme creator in Palo is a divinity called Nsambi or Sambia. Nsambi created the world and the first man and woman. Paleros believe their creator is not accessible by humans through prayers or rituals. Minor divinities called mpungus are spirits of ancestors and nature. The nature spirits (orishas) represent different elements such as the sea, rivers, and forests. Syncretism is also part of the belief system of Palo. Some of the deities are connected to the orisha spirits worshiped in Santería along with Roman Catholic saints.

Spirits of the dead in ancestor worship of Palo is central. The spirit of the dead is called nfumbe or nfumbi. After death, these spirits gain powers that can assist or cause problems such as anxiety to the living. Paleros practice divination, and spiritism by communicating with the dead. The dead have power over the living according to Palo Mayombe.

THE NGANGA

A key aspect of Palo’s belief system is a “spirit vessel” called the nganga, or prenda (treasure), caldero (cauldron), brujo (sorcerer) in Spanish. It may be a pot made of clay or iron, or a cauldron wrapped in chains. Every nganga is unique in its name and is female or male. It is usually kept inside a home or in a backyard structure. The belief of Palo involves service and submission to the nganga believed to be a god. It is regarded as the source of the practitioner’s supernatural powers. Keepers of ngangas vessels are called criados (servants) or perros (dogs).

[The nganga]…can both heal and harm, and in the latter capacity is thought capable of causing misfortune, illness, and death. Practitioners believe that the better a nganga is cared for, the stronger it is and the better it can protect its keeper, but at the same time the more it is thought capable of dominating its keeper, potentially even killing them. Various stories…tell of [Paleros being] driven to disastrous accidents, madness, or destitution. Tales of a particular nganga’s rebelliousness and stubbornness contribute to the prestige of its keeper, as it indicates that their nganga is powerful.³

The Nganga is used to capture and force the soul of a recently departed person to do the Mayombero’s [Mayombe practitioner] bidding. Mayomberos will go to a graveyard and dig up the recently interred body of a criminal or insane person whose brain has not yet decomposed fully. The belief is that with a brain, the spirit sent to do a Mayomberos…work has more ability to perform. The spirit is conjured through a…ceremony and kept in a…Nganga. If the Mayombero isn’t skilled enough to control the powerful entity, he might become the inadvertent target of his own creation.⁴

Palo, means stick in Spanish and the contents of the nganga, are believed to contribute to its powers. Besides sticks, soil is added to the nganga from cemeteries or other significant areas such as hospitals. Water may come from wells, rivers, or the sea. Stones, shells, plants, blood, feathers, objects such as coins or knives, alcoholic beverages, food, and many other items are used to give the nganga its specific character. Offerings are added over time eventually spilling out, and at times taking over living spaces. The composing materials emit fetid odors attracting insects and animals.

Ngangas will also contain animal and human skeletal remains. As the Palo practitioner grows in experience, human bones usually taken from graveyards are added to the nganga. Paleros may face demands from the nganga entity including blood sacrifices. The practitioner will be faced with the choice of placating the nganga spirit with offerings, trickery, or even beating it into submission.

CRIMINAL CASES IN GRAVE ROBBERIES

A case of a nganga recovered from a…canal in…Massachusetts…is presented. This nganga contained multiple items indicating its origin, including railroad spikes, coins, other metal objects…and…sticks, and was associated with a knife. It also contained skeletal remains of a bird and a snake as well as a nearly intact human skull of an adult male. The origin of the human remains is likely from a cemetery or as a former anatomical specimen. The find of this nganga is atypical in that it is away from the usual urban centers of Palo Mayombe in the US, and forensic practitioners should be aware that such sources of human remains may occur in their jurisdictions…Practitioners of Santería…do not utilize human remains in their ritual[s]…so the inclusion of the skull in the present case is a clear indicator [of] Palo Mayombe practice… Other indicators of specifically Palo Mayombe practice include the cauldron, chain and lock, and…railroad spikes.⁵

The use of mercury in these practices…is relatively common and has public health concerns…Mercury…is used to bring luck, love, or money. It also may be used to ward off evil or in specific acts of divination…Practitioners described placing capsules of mercury into various objects…When human remains are discovered [and] suspected to be part of a religious ritual, taphonomic findings and related artifacts may help to confirm their origin (grave looting) as opposed to foul play.⁶

Many news sources in the US report the theft of human remains from cemeteries and are connected to Palo Mayombe practitioners and their ngangas. Graves of soldiers or heroes are usually targeted in the belief that their bones have stronger spirits attached.

A Connecticut man was accused of stealing human remains from a Massachusetts 112-year-old mausoleum. Investigators found human skulls and bones on bloody altars in his basement linking him to Palo Mayombe practices.⁷
Two men in Florida were arrested after six human skulls and bones that came from a cemetery were recovered. The remains were used for religious ceremonies. DNA evidence found at the grave sites linked the men to the crimes.⁸
In Newark, a man and his son were found to have a cauldron holding human skulls and other bones after police searched their home. The men charged were adherents of Palo Mayombe per police reports.⁹

The Oxygen True Crime program featured the story of cult leader Adolfo Constanzo dubbed, the “Narcosatanist” who was responsible for 15 or more murders involving human sacrifices for drug cartels.

Constanzo led a cult in Mexico tied to drug cartels that led to human sacrifices. Allegedly, he practiced Palo Mayombe and used victims’ body parts in his nganga. These victims were drug gang rivals and corrupt cops. He believed that these sacrifices provided protection even from bullets, and brought him wealth and power. His demise came after killing Kilroy, an American pre-med student who was the nephew of a US Customs official. Kilroy’s dismembered body was found among many others buried at Constanzo’s ranch.¹⁰

CELEBRITY INFLUENCE IN AMERICAN CULTURE

Azealia Banks is a popular American rapper and singer who made waves on social media in 2021 when she posted a video of digging up her cat and boiling its remains. The caption for the video read, “Lucifer. 2009-2020. My dear kitty. Thank you for everything. A legend. An icon. Forever a serval serve.” Thousands reacted to the video with disgust and horror.

Banks, like many influential celebrities, is urging Black Americans to connect to their Afro-Diasporic religions. “A review of Bank’s public statements reveals her growing commitment to championing ‘so-called voodoo’ and urging other African Americans to do as well.”¹¹
In a now-deleted post, Banks posted photos on Instagram of a planter painted pink and a chain link with a lock around it. Inside was a bottle of champagne, a $100 bill, Chanel perfume, a crucifix, feathers, and an animal skull (possibly her dead cat’s), among other items. In 2016, she posted a video of herself cleaning a closet covered in dried blood and feathers, where she stated that she practiced “brujeria” the Spanish word for witchcraft, for three years.¹²

With the rise of Afro-Diasporic religions spreading throughout the US, Christian churches and leaders must understand these belief systems and rituals. Our voices should be louder and more loving than the influence of celebrities in American culture. Instead of shunning or dismissing those lost to spiritual darkness, we must reach them for the light of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice of all time.

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself (Hebrews 7:27)

For more information on Afro-Diaspora religions, please read the excellent articles on this website by Stephanie Potts regarding Haitian Voodoo, Part 1 and Part 2.Ω

Ivani Greppi was introduced to the Umbanda (Yoruba-based) religion in Brazil at the age of fourteen. She was considered a medium from birth due to her psychic “gifts” of seeing the spirit world from early childhood. In 1997, she found deliverance and salvation in Jesus Christ. Her testimony, From Spirit Guides to the Holy Spirit is available in English and Portuguese on her website: Ivani Greppi. Drawing from her personal experiences, she wrote Cast Out: Chronicles of a Familiar Spirit, a Fiction/Christian/Historical novel that delves into Ivani’s and her ancestors’ spiritual journeys, spanning one hundred years across three continents.

Santeria, Animal Sacrifice, and the Constitution – Part 2

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