Swirl, Tailwind, Tornado and Bad Wind by

Ralph Alpizar
By admin on in Articles, Ralph Alpizar
This article is the second part of, The Powers of the Tata Nganga and Yaya Nganga
Translation from Original by Oscar Guerrero 8/19/2013
We preio!sly left off spea"ing a#o!t the mazam#a well$ This famo!s magical well which my
informant spo"e of, can still #e isited as one wal"s to the old %arlem &!gar mill and #elonged to
'gnacia, a priestess of (on origin )an ethnic gro!p that #elonged to the old "ingdom of *ahomey+ that
was married to a ,ongo of -!s!ndi origin who was a practitioner of the Briy!m#a Rite which is the
doctrine that ecompasses all practitioners of .oango origin$
The h!s#and of the famo!s healer -a 'gnacia was the first horse of /iento -alo )#ad wind+ and
it is #elieed that the person who seated )consecrated+ him was a ,ongo of Yom#e origin named
Bartolo, practitioner of the -ayom#e Rite, denomination gien to the the tata0nganga or yaya0nganga
whos doctrine came from the 1a"ongo ethnic origin$ This was the #irth of the first coenant )magical0
pact+, of which o!r informants hae spo"en with relia#le consistency, #etween /iente -alo and his
horse )medi!m+ &at!rnino$
'n 2343 a Tata that "new this story well told me,
5at times /iento -alo presents himself as a #lac" dog, others as a dar" and dense shadow
and others howeer he wishes #eca!se he has the a#ility to do whateer he wants$ %e was
neer f!ndamentado )there was neer a ca!ldron, prenda or physical f!ndamento of the
entity+, it was only part of the spirit!ality of &at!rnino, which was consecrated on the nape
of his nec" and was something inherited #y family$ 'n the past this is how these things
wor"ed, people wo!ld only wor" with coenants, nat!re and spirits$ The nganga came
a#o!t #it #y #it and made things easier for mayom#eros li"e myself that were traeling
aro!nd loo"ing for wor" li"e crazy in order to maintain the family5
Alas, Palo -onte is a religion dominated #y the search for the domain in the forces of Nat!re )mp!ng!+
which the mayom#ero or mayom#era manip!lates ia rites which
res!lt in weapons that are loaded with power that can hae malefic or #eneficial p!rposes$ This is
one of the pillars and the p!rpose of the rit!als that ta"e place, #e it whateer end it may hae$ Palo
-onte perceies the 6nierse as a set of powers that are antagonistic and inisi#le which one wields
control oer to change eery day circ!mstances$ These ethereal s!pernat!ral powers of nat!re are
responsi#le for forming, coloring, giing so!nd, taste, sensation and een solidifying anything which
can #e perceied #y any of the senses$ 'n my #oo", Nfinda, the definition of &elf and 1nowledge '
gie an e7tensie e7planation of this ital concept of the world in Palo -onte$ ' will !se some of the
ideas from that #oo" in order for me to ma"e my point in this article8
9$$$'n Palo -onte, -ayom#e, ngang!leros consider time and space as single temporary
spacial !nit, not as two independant things: this way, all of the #eings of space );"!na;+ and
of time );malanda;+ are fo!nd in one classified category called ;"!na malanda;$$$<
An e7ample of this category is8
9$$$;1!na m#anza; %aana$ ;Ns!l! mongo; the mo!ntain$ ;1!ilo; or ;l!"ala; the rier$
;1al!nga; the ocean= ;-!na nso; the ho!se$ ;Pam#ia nsila; the crossroads$ ;Tango; the
s!n$ ;Ng!nda; the moon$ 8;B!ete; the stars$ ;Yilo; or ;m!"iama; th!nder#olt$ ;.!m#o
w!a"i; today$ ;-#ari; or ;masimene mene; tomorrow$ ;-! l!e"a; ne7t year$ ;.ango
lango masimene; a long time ago$$$<
9$$$;mat!i; the category which all the #eings that #elong to the animal, egeta#le or mineral
world #elong to: all of those which do not hae ;nt!;, those which do not hae their own
will and can only #e actiated #y a #eing in the first category$$$<9$$$;$$$'nside the ;nganga;,
these forces ;mat!i;, that is, #eings from ;-at!i; )animals, plants and ;minerals+ are
;dormant;, they lac" actiity$ Yet the ;-#!a Nganga ;);*og of the nganga;+, #eing
deceased, has the power of ;nt!; or ;intelligence;, free will, and therefore, can !se them to
do what his master or his mistress send him to do )the ;tata nganga; or ;mama nganga;+
;$$$<