A Palero's Definition of Love!

Exploring this Munanso’s perspective on the Reality of Ancestors and Spiritual Love

Palo is a Life changing system, linking the living with the Ancestors in formal Trato. By its very Essence it is also Death changing.  It impacts the way that we as Palero’s die and empowers that transition, empowering not only the process by way an Ancestor incarnates in the expression of a fetus carried in a Sacred Womb but also the process by way the Human Being excarnates as that Spirit and Soul moves into the World of the Ancestors.  

All Human development (the pyramids, temples, technologies, plant breeding, agriculture, and so much more) is inspired by Ancestors.  This includes also the european dismantling of the sacred hoop which was also inspired by ancestors, although ones who were and continue to be spiritually immature, stunted and even spiritually suicidal.   Although at times we say “these dismantlers are soulless”, that is an expression and is not factually true, because without a soul, one cannot have a human experience.   We may say that person is “soulless” because we cannot understand the evil behavior of the individual, it is also perhaps our prediction that because of the ultra-evil behavior of the individual we anticipate that the soul of that person is going to be spiritually dismantled upon re-entry into the Ancestral world due to their total lack of spiritual progression and their internal process of spiritual suicide. 

Palo is about bringing to justice all of those injustices.  It is about the Sacred Hunt that “hunts” and brings to justice all those things that destroy progression, and it is about “harnessing” all those things that enhance and nurture progression.  

We are an incarnated Ancestor.  Broken traditions and “lost” memory, mean that Ancestors have to vibrate that much more strongly to relate to us and stimulate us.  We are the ones who need to understand that we will be ancestors, and it is our Right to prepare ourselves for that Transition.

To be vigilant of our mind is to be vigilant as to how we phrase things, it is to look at what we are saying, how we are saying it, and why, this way we know that we are not just justifying our own inadequacies through our expressions.  The power and strength of the Ancestors is in our Mind, our mental body, because that is where spirit begins to ride, to take action.  Our Minds are Sacred to our Ancestors and as Paleros our Minds must be an accurate, empowered and healthy “vehicle” for our Ancestors to ride!

Bakongo do not see those who die as DEAD, saying “Ancestors” rather than “dead” or “deceased”.  Through our use of the word DEAD (and its sound vibration), we empower our separation from our Ancestors because when we think about “dead” we think of gone.  Bakongo understand that the Ancestors iare in a World that is within the SAME Divine Cycle as our “Living-Physical” World.  The Taino distinguished Ancestors from living through the absence of a navel.  The Taino had such good Vittiti (Spiritual Sight) that they saw the Ancestors as clearly as the living and could sometimes only distinguish if the “person” was an Ancestor through absence of navel.  Ancestors become ‘the dead’ through the non-ceremonial process of burial that is typically engaged in this society, where they  just throw a corpse in a hole and move on to the next one.   

Through constantly strengthening the mental body, we develop more productive results in all aspects of our lives, and especially as Paleros.  However we need to realize that we always gets results, even if that result is frustration.   This leads us to engage our mental body strongly to overcome mental blocks.

The Ancestors relationship to the Living is often distorted through a misconception of energetic, spiritual reality. The relationship is not a separation:  We turn to a phenomenon readily visible in the world, a Tree.  There are trees which root everywhere under the ground, and send up saplings all over.  Symbolically this reflects the Ancestors as the roots under ground and the Living as the sapling in air.  If one cuts the sapling from the root, the sapling dies.   However the sapling is no “different” in Essence than the Root, it is just the expression that came up into the air.   The Root keeps living and sprouts up again in the form of the “Living” Being. In this metaphor we see the WHOLE TREE as a LIVING BEING, a LIVING ORGANISM, A LIVING ENTITY, that lives in TWO WORLDS (the one filled with Sunlight and the one that is in the absence of direct physical Sunlight).  We also see certain trees (such as locust, choke cherries, mulberries) which sprout back up when the trunk is cut off.  The tree that we see sprouts right back up from the Living Roots!  Metaphorically we can see the separation of the Living and the Ancestors as the separation between the sapling and the Root System!  It is a separation in terms of space or environment, or worlds in which the two aspects are “living”.  In this system  fluids come from root to sapling and back.  The root takes in water and the sapling takes in sun, the root sends up water with minerals, the sapling sends down sugars made from sun through the magic of the leaves.   

As we adjust our thinking and the way we say things and conceptualize things, the natural environment tells us about spiritual reality.  The Sacred Patakis (Stories) are told every day as we look at the Phenomenon that is life.The stones, trees, grasses, animals, sun, moon, are all telling that story!

Many speak of animal totems and the meaning of animals that show up or are dreamed of, this is wonderful and you also can go to the more vegetative forms of life and learn that story.  All the animals are telling stories of the reality of the experience.  “Concrete” has distorted our ability to see and experience this, also the devastation of forests, of rivers, of mountains and oceans have damaged our ability to see and learn.  The devastation of the natural environment turns people away from the different organs and expressions of the Mother herself.  Earth is all one, earth continues under ocean. Wherever we go soil is soil,  and the same Sun is giving his blessings everyday and the same water is giving her blessings to the earth.  

We look at a simplified water cycle:  Oceans evaporate water forming clouds, wind blows the clouds over to land, they gather and it rains, rain run into rivers, the rivers flow by us, and run to the oceans.  This is a whole cycle of life and death and rebirth. It is telling us truth about our Soul and Spirit.  Our relationships with Mpungos are so deep that we are able to recognize the Mpungo in the person saying ‘that person is a Chola Wengue” .  The Mpungo is within the whole cycle and the individual walking with the energy of that Mpungo has a powerful relationship to the cycle.  The cycle is telling about Soul, Essence, Spirit and Expression.    When we develop this understanding, it allows us to deal with situations more effectively, we learn how to approach or diffuse a person or situation, and learn how to influence the spirit.

Romanticizing raw energy is problematic, you may allow it to mesmerize you for a minute, but if it is romanticized, it will eat you up. Romanticism takes you into fantasies which are then easily manipulated, this also leads to missed opportunity.

When we walk through native forest it is easy to feel the Spirit, we become uplifted, we begin to hear the Ancestors speaking to us. However the adaptation we need to make  is to be able to walk down a city street and still hear the Ancestors, to be able to pick up the messages without judging the messenger.  Mystery speaks through anyone and anything.  We must not allow the “ugly” environment to be an excuse or limitation in terms of how or if one receives messages.  

We always look for unusual animals, lately snow geese, a mink running by river, and ravens. We have never seen these animals before and they all bring messages  Then under our seed boxes, we found fuzzy animals, never seen before, voles.  All are messages the Spirit is bringing.  This also occurs through dreams, and it is up to us if will clog our ears or open our ears.  

Spiritual Love:

In Simple terms Love is the Forces of attraction.  

Let’s look at Water:

Water is two elements, Hydrogen and Oxygen.  We perceive it as one thing, and the bonds of attraction make it one thing.  What is that bond?  In theory it is an electron (a charged particle with virtually no weight) which makes a connection through an orbital (pattern).  What is shared is almost weightless but is very CHARGED (empowered), it is the force holding two things together.  When we perceive death, we have a seeming contradiction between birth and death. During birth we can see a baby coming out of a Mother, we can see that the baby is connected to the Mother and Father, but at the point of death, the body is put in the ground, not put into a human being, a mother’s womb, but put into Earth.  A physical separation appears to be taking place.  Going back to the water, we know hydrogen and oxygen are two separated (physically)things but a bond holds them together.  Hydrogen and Oxygen can morph into many different things,hydrogen gas(H-H), oxygen gas(O-O), an alcohol group (O-H) and more.  But the physical is not solid as we perceive it to be.  We see ourselves as physical but it is actually a spiritual bond that holds us together, it is only a perception of solid not a reality.  There is so much space in the human body, it only seems solid because of the dimension we are in and the limitation of our physical senses.  We come to understand through this little exploration that Material and Non-material is not two different realms.   

Spiritual love and love is not two different things.  Love is love, it is the same energy, from the same source, it is the same DNA, the same creation.  What separates this in our minds is words and the definitions we give them.  Spiritual love and so called mundane love is separated through the lack and brokeness of tradition and culture.  Conceptually through our miseducation and mis-definition of words and concepts, we don’t “see” a sacred fire, the river, ocean, and worms, connected to mundane love.  However, All those things that connect us to death and life are love.  Love is ALL those attractions in the universe, love is the force of attraction- the attraction of the river to ocean, the attraction of the bees to flowers.  

Love is not contingent on the material.   In our so called physical experience, we learn about the innate energy of life from the external, from everything around us.    The emotion of love- that feeling of deep connection, upliftment in the heart and spirit, that is when one is able to SENSE what holds everything together.  When one has that SENSE then one feels love in the heart, upliftment- and that is a small experience of what holds everything together.  We feel the winds, the sun, the earth, and we begin to feel good- we feel love, because we are able to SENSE those forces of attraction that hold everything together.  Love is a force of attraction, and is not contingent on the material’s (incarnated being’s) perception.   Love is both Potential energy and Kinetic energy.   Great Mystery, Nsambia Mpungo creates, sustains and dissolves everything.  It is a Process of Love.  

Oxygen, iron, hydrgogen, and carbon (and many more) are spiritual elements as precious as gold, as precious as diamond (which is carbon).  They are all within the medicine pouch of Great Mystery, they are within Great Mystery’s Fundamento!  We put precious Gems within a “Carga” these are raw elements. All the attractions of the universe generate Love.  When we connect with the Fundamento, Cemis, Nkisis, Bilongo, we feel “LOVE” which is beyond the raw physical elements in the medicine, we feel what is “invisible” which is the forces of attraction that hold everything together, this is the Life force itself.  The FORCE OF ATTRACTION is everywhere, it holds everything together and makes everything move.  

On personal level we make it contingent on an object or individual, which creates obsessions and exclusivity.  The mind that is unbalanced or atrophied is materially oriented, and places the experience of love as contingent on an individual or even object, not realizing that (through that person or object) we are having “window” of experience of love.  Love itself is not possessed by that individual.  Through mistakenly designating “ownership” of love to an object or individual or sensation, obsessions are created. 

We see the whole Earth as a Spiritual Entity.  The Sun Moon, Earth are SPIRITS, it is only through the perception of indoctrination that we see things separated and in components.  The Ancients did not separate the seven (or multiple) liberal arts, one would go 40 years to learn something, now one goes 5-8 years to learn next to nothing.

And if we do have an experience beyond “ordinary” reality, we tend to think of it as separate from our life.  If we dream it, we relegate it to pure symbolism, not realizing it actually is an experience.  The use of the word “dream” puts it into the realm of fantasy, but it is reality in another dimension.

If we examine the electromagnetic spectrum, we see the visible spectrum as a very small aspect of that larger continuous spectrum,  which includes gamma rays,  xrays, radio waves, etc.  We see green because the material we are looking at is absorbing all colors but green (in effect we are seeing a “negative” of what is in front of us), but

 if we could see radio waves we would see a color never seen before.  We use xrays to see our bones, the rays are passing right through our body.  All this is making statement son reality of life and death.  

The forces of attraction within whole of the universe include the force of attraction that holds the earth in orbit around the sun, and the gravity that holds us to the earth.

It is our definition of the word/ concept “physical” that we are questioning here.

A note on learning and revelation:  When spirit gives us a flash of insight, we use the mind to go deeper into that thought, we put something on paper concerning that insight.  The Ancestors are always giving us perspectives never given before.  We give that insight more thought and put it on paper and share it with others. This develops that insight and makes it more real to us, then we can have discussions with other people and their spirits may give further insight.  We take a flash of inspiration and build on it.  The flash of the Spirit brings a flash of insight, then we  have to put in the work to fill in the information. It is up to us to put the energy in!  

Mungo Inkiso

Mungo Inkiso!  Our Camino lead us down the mountain, and at a certain point in the pathway we came across a small Mountain Spring gently seeping clear water.  We took the opportunity to appreciate the Spring and to cleanse and refreshen our heads.  Spring water is water that is emerging from the Earth herself.  It has been filtered naturally by the Earth, and absorbs properties and minerals from the stones that it travels through in its process of filtering down to where it emerges from.  Generally as long as what is uphill from the Spring is clean, Spring water is safe to drink and tastes wonderful.  As Paleros when we find a spring it is always a blessing, and we always utilize the opportunity for cleansing, healing, and refreshening.  We also from time to time collect the Spring water as the true "holy water".  Many times people will send someone to the church to collect holy water, however as Paleros we know that the true holy water is that which is emerging directly out of Ntoto!

Springs are very sacred, be they a small seeping spring or a gushing erupting dramatic spring.  The Spirit is there and must be respected and appreciated.  A Spring can quench a spiritual thirst, and a Spring can bring healing when utilized by a Palero/ Palera in a conscious and focused manner.  Consciousness is everything for the Palero, and we always stay humble to recognize the greatness of the Spirit even in its more humble manifestations.    These explorations of consciousness are the continuing evolution and education of the Palero.  Without them we are glued to a mambo that becomes stale and stagnant and can create torments of the mind because of lack of information.  It is detrimental to simply take on face value the limited information that is given to one within the Tradition, it is our imperative as initiated Paleros to take our understanding further and further every day through in depth explorations and investigations of the Misterios in their natural manifestations.  Playing Palo is a way of life!  There is actually no reason for any Palero/ Palera to limit their scope and understanding of this natural and raw Tradition of Life!

An inattentive passerby may dismiss this Spring as a wet area or puddle.  However the Palero who is walking with the Nkisi quickly notices this phenomenon!  The exploration of the Spring reveals various openings, some covered with leaves, others more obvious.  

We recognize the Spring as a "source" for the River, it is a constant source, as opposed to the Rain which fills the river rapidly when it is falling.  Spring water either filters down from rainfall higher on the mountain to a lower area where it emerges much later, or it wells up from a underground "pool or lake".  The current of the water entering the Spring comes from below, creating a different effect and energy than the rain hitting the water from above.  The Spring water has traveled through our Mother Earth, absorbing her energies.  Water absorbs whatever is around it, be it electronics, emotions, sounds or rocks and Soils even bones!  The Spring water has been empowered and purified by the Mother herself!

In this watershed approximately 40% of the water in the Rivers that run through this area come from Springs and water seeping from the River bed itself.  This is a "mundane fact" but has a great deal of Spiritual Significance.  We recognize that mundane facts have been robbed of their spirituality and it is one of the priorities of our Munanso to reinstate the spiritual understanding in the context of the mundane fact.  We are always seeking to retrieve misplaced knowledge, because as Paleros we know that nothing is lost, but that we find ourselves in a place that we have to cast our net widely to retrieve that misplaced knowledge.   This is especially critical because we are in a time when much of the knowledge that the Elders of Palo carried was not fully transmitted to the subsequent generations of Paleros.  We also cannot overlook that there has been an attempt to erase the significance and spirit of the Indigenous Cultures of the Caribbean (such as Taino, Arawak, Carib, Garifuna, etc) in the contribution made within the development of Palo.  Likewise there has been an astronomical attempt to erase the significance and spirit of the African within the Caribbean among some of those identifying as Taino. 

In thinking about the Mpungo, Chola Wengue, who is embodied within the River, we look to the sources of that water!  One source being the Rain coming from clouds formed through the evaporation of the ocean waters, the other being Water coming from the Earth herself.  These are two distinct phenomena which are related through both being aspects within the greater cycle of water within our Mother Earth which includes the Mpungo Chola Wengue and the Mpungo Kalunga.  Those who are considered a "Child of the Two Waters" meaning a child of both Chola and Kalunga must look carefully at those places where the cycle of Kalunga and the cycle of Chola meet.  These points are where the River meets the Ocean but also includes a point somewhere in the sky or within the rain where the water which has evaporated from Kalunga becoming clouds, precipitates and falls down upon the Earth and Waters becoming the waters of Chola Wengue.  The Spring brings us to a point of particular interest for these children of the Two Waters as a third "Mother/Father" is present, the Earth herself, inclusive of the stones, minerals and soils of her.  Whether we are a child of Kalunga, a child of Chola Wengue or a child of the Two Waters we can explore what that exactly means in terms of our Camino.  We also must consider the whole cycle of the Water upon the Earth in terms of the energy that we walk with as a "child of Kalunga, a child of Chola Wengue, or a child of the Two Waters".  

It is also appropriate to consider the journey of this Spring water in the context of "life and death".  This water has come from the entity of the rain and been absorbed into the soils of the Earth, slowly trickling down through soil(with its multiple inhabitants, microorganisms, fungi, bacteria) and rock, perhaps gathering within a large underground river or lake and eventually emerging as a new entity, the Spring.  It is a Spirit that 'disappears' into the Earth, and emerges at a totally different point further down the hill of time with a new "face", having been "transformed".  In the context of the absorption of the water into the Earth we can think about the absorption of the human body upon death and burial into the Earth, assuming a natural burial.  The waters of the body are absorbed by the Earth, and those waters will assumably eventually emerge somewhere as a Spring!  We can certainly say a Spring represents Rebirth!  Metaphorical and Spiritual!  

Within all of these photos the faces of the Misterio manifest themselves and are speaking to us as long as we have "eyes to see!" They will reveal wisdom to us as long as we are wholeheartedly embarking upon an exploration to understand these Misterios without prejudice or shortsightedness.

Kunalemba

The life of the Palero/ Palera IS the EXPLORATION of the Movement of the Misterios in the Natural Environment, which is all around us!  We must without a shadow of a doubt remember and continue to remember that Palo is a tradition that is born from the Natural Environment and that Palo itself is of the rural root.  In order to continue to empower and understand the Mpungos, Nkisis, and all that Palo is, especially for those whose Fundamentos and Nkisis are living within a city, it is essential that we do not forget the Natural Environment, and that we return to these natural environments as often as possible.

This Camino took us to a Rock Formation high in our Ancient Mountains that looks out to the Valley below and to a distant singular mountain which is formed out of Quartzite Crystal and has outlasted all the other hills around it, still standing strong.  This view overlooks an ancient inland Sea, a place where the Ocean formed an Inland "Lake or Sea" of sorts!  The healing properties of Kalunga (the Ocean) are still inherent in the rocks left by her as she receded!  Her ability to form rocks through a process of cementing minerals together is now being exploited by the various quarries in the area including a large cement plant which quarries the limestone in the Earth.  

This view is a healing view as we contemplate that Mother Earth's Elements and Properties are also contained within our physical bodies and that when we have imbalance (dis-ease) in our bodies we need to turn to her for her healing qualities, we turn to her soil itself, we turn to her healing bacteria, we turn to her vast array of healing plants, we turn to her Ocean Salts and so on.  There is no mistake that the Palero fills the Fundamento with Soils, Clays, Medicinal Plants, Medicinal Palos; the Fundamento itself becomes a Natural Pharmacy for all ills, Spiritual, Mental, Emotional and Physical.  It is important as Paleros that we realize that in the course of our engaging healing, Spiritual and Physical, that we do not leave out the important component of Reconciliation with "Mother Earth"!  Which also involves the re-embracing of Mother Earth's Medicines and Nutritional Power Foods!  As Paleros we also need to realize or give more significance to the fact that Rocks and Stones are vital Spirits with sacred components (minerals) which are symbolically and physically linked to our own physical and spiritual health!  

This Rocky Formation, named "Chimney Rock" by the Park, is Quartzite stone, which is a limestone (soft stone) that has become hardened due to undergoing intense pressures from the Earth.  This stone embodies the result of the transformation brought about through high pressure.  Its Spiritual qualities are obviously endurance and transformation from something "soft" to something "hard and enduring".  As the softer rock has dissolved and eroded into the flat valley, this rock, along with others in the area, still stands strong; an enduring testament of withstanding pressure and stress and actually utilizing that stress and pressure for transformation.  For us as Paleros this type of stone is a powerful tool for engaging stressful and difficult situations where one is being pressurized heavily and using that pressure to transform.  We utilize quartzite stone surrounding our Munanso and within the Bateys in our Ceremonial Grounds.  We also utilize it within our Fundamentos, Nkisis, Cemis and Bilongos!  See blog article: "Kulusu Bilula Npanguila" to see the wall built around Nsasi's Munanso which is about 60% Quartzite stone and 40% local stone which is a softer volcanic stone.

Not only the physical components of the stone are relevant but also the location of the stone is significant.  This stone gives us a very distant view and one feels a mental clarity and a spiritual upliftment in this location.  This combined with the properties of the stone itself make this Camino one for overcoming pressures and utilizing those pressures for SELF TRANSFORMATION and ENDURANCE as well as for MENTAL CLARITY, Seeing the GREATER PERSPECTIVE AND LONG VIEW,  and Connectedness to the Misterio of Kunalemba (Mountain) and Sky and Sun!  The Cracks in the stone are caused by ice-thaw cycles which have created a "Boulder River" below this rock, from the time of the glaciers!  Powerful Powerful Energies when we know how to engage them!

There is an important issue, concerning Palo, which we need to address head on!  Secrecy!!!!!  Palo is a tradition which requires initiation to be " licensed" to work with Nkisi, Fundamento, Prenda, Bilongo etc.  There are aspects of Palo which are secret and only uncovered upon initiation and the subsequent learning processes.  Certainly many of the travajos of Palo are "secret" although one can find all sorts of "recipes" in books and on the internet, so one has to question how secret is secret?  One can even find descriptions of initiation ceremony and so on, and even find videos on you tube.  I personally chose not to speak about the Initiation Ceremony itself in detail, and I do not generally divulge every ingredient I use in recipes.  However I know what it is to be kept "hungry" because of someone else's need to power trip, and I do not condone ignorance as a tool to subject people and control people.  Therefore I share enough that someone who is initiated can put two and two together to enhance their own practice.  I also share so that those who are not initiated can also benefit from some of the fundamental principles of Palo and so that People in general can gain a respect for the Tradition and its way of Life, because, after all, one never knows when one may need this Tradition as a life-saving force!  I share to empower, I share to stimulate one's Spirit's creativity in approach to Spirituality.  I share to counter the power tripping that is all too prevalent in many communities.  I also share because we all need to reconcile with our Mother Earth and Palo is a Spiritual Tradition which is rooted in embracing, respecting, adoring and working WITH the forces of Mother Earth!  Which is also the principles of Taino Tradition!!!!

So many Misterios are expressed in these rocks.  There is a need to realize that wherever we find ourselves upon the Earth there are many beautiful Misterios that we can work with.  It is wonderful if we can travel to high and majestic mountains, but if this is not possible we must look carefully and with humility at what is around us because the Spirit is there whether the Mountain is young and high or whether the Mountain is small and very very old!  The spirit of the waterfall is there is a small local waterfall and in the magnificent waterfalls of the Earth "whose Smoke Thunders"!

This stone has a very flat surface which looks like a Brandiku Nsambi (altar).  Interestingly "altar" means "elevated structure where religious rites are performed and sacrifices offered to the Gods and Ancestors!"    This is certainly elevated and one senses a Sacredness to this place.  It is a good place to come to "off season" when one can have some solitude, and it is always a place to bring your children to learn, to absorb its sacred Spirit, and a place where one can hear their wisdom concerning the Spirit and how it is touching and speaking to them!

The photo below shows a view of what is below the "altar rock", which is a smaller "altar rock", the rocks form almost steps down to the boulder river below.

Another downward view...

In this photo you can see three of the "steps".  Combined with boulder river they form a "road" made of stone up the mountain, then these series of steps up to the Brandiku Nsambi.  A human would have a hard time climbing up this "road", there is a different entry which is easy for people to access this stone.  We see it as a road for the Misterio to travel in and out.

This is the way in and out for us.  It is rocky but fairly easy to travel even for a child.  As one gets to the edge it becomes more challenging.  There is a teaching in this discussion of roads in and out.  The Misterio can endure much more pressure than we can, and the Misterio can travel in places and spaces that we find very difficult or impossible.  The quartzite represents the transmutation of external pressure to internal strength.  This space is a space where we can make invocations, offerings for this ability to transform external pressure to internal strength, knowing that the Misterio here can endure what we cannot.  Somos o no Somos!!!!

Below, the walk back down the mountain through the beautiful Forest!

PALO ROMPE MONTE! (Click on photo to enlarge to better view)

Our Land itself sits on ancient mountains that have been worn down to hills, volcanic lava had also spilled out leaving green basalt stones which are all over the land.  As we move west we cross a large plain, and come to the Catoctin Mountain.  Catoctin mountain is an Indigenous name given to the mountain by Algonquian Indigenous People, said to mean "place of many deer", "old hill or mountain" and "speckled mountain".  Catoctin was a favorite seasonal hunting ground for the Indigenous People of the area.  

As Paleros we are always seeking out the Misterios in their "natural" setting, we are always looking for special palos, soils, or special places in which to "play palo".  The Catoctin mountain (which is really one huge formation with many "peaks") is visible from the Land, and we admire it from a distance every day!  After years of abuse from logging, milling, iron ore mining, and a stint as a moonshine still during prohibition, Catoctin was preserved as parkland.  The park has had less than 100 years of "renewal" however it holds numerous beautiful trees full of spirit and striking rock formations.  

On this day we went up to the Mountain looking for Misterio and bringing Anani to explore the various stone formations, trees and plants and soils that are abundant.  On a five mile circular walk we came across a large rock formation (called by the park "Wolf Rock") which we recognized as "Palo Rompe Monte".  This rocky formation was several hundred feet long and at places about 50 feet wide.  It includes cliffs, fissures, boulders perched in what appear as precarious places and incredible trees which grow out of rock and whose roots "SPLIT THE MOUNTAIN".  In the photo above we see a ROOT of a tree which acts as a mechanical force to split the rock. Ponder the power of some thing so flexible and vulnerable as a ROOT that can, through persistence and a formidable efficiency of using the available resources, literally split the mountain.

Rock is weathered and chemically altered through contact with water and air into clays and soils, and it is a fact that without this transformation of rock to soil "life" (plant, animal and human) would not be possible upon our Mother Earth.  The positive cycle of the growth and decay of trees adds further organic matter and fertility to the soils, further enhancing the power and productivity of the soils.  Therefore our physical bodies are derived from rock!  As Paleros it is these realizations that enable us to connect more deeply with the "stones" and minerals that we utilize within the practice of palo.

Many of us face situations in our lives where the challenges and obstructions appear immense, and this can be one reason that we turn to Palo or other Indigenous and African traditions, to over come the "impossible" so to speak.  This tree above is thriving where one would think it would be "impossible".  A Palo from this tree embodies this energy, and when empowered further by the power of our consciousness this becomes a powerful tool in the hands of the Palero or Palera!  Merely coming up to this Sacred Spot and making an invocation or prayer resonates that power into our lives or the lives of those we are looking to effect.  

The Indigenous Spirit is particularly powerful at this location and as Paleros we naturally honor that Spirit.  We recognize that these Sacred Places have been used for Sacred Ceremony in the past, and although a history of misuse has transpired and now the spot is a tourist attraction (although very "empty" during the weekdays and off season), we can link to the Sacred Energy in the here and now!

The stones you see in this photo have been split through a process of water thawing and freezing.  The glaciers during the "ice age" came very close to this area and at that time there was a tremendous amount of freezing and thawing during 3 seasons of the year.  The Rocks and Stones tell the story of our Mother Earth.  These mountain ranges themselves are said to have formed through a crashing of tectonic plates of Africa into the East Coast where we live.  As the plates then pulled apart fissures (cracks) opened up and hot lava flowed out giving us the volcanic rock that is all around the area.  Water flowing from Rain and Rivers further shaped the landscape and at one point there was even an inland sea that created the limestone that is all around this area (seashell rock!).  These rocks were once on the floor of the Ocean! So here we see the power and interrelationship of many Mpungo!  We have the Mountain (Tiembla Tierra), we have the effects of the Rivers and Rains and Oceans (Chola Wengue and Kalunga), we have the power of the Volcano (which we see as an aspect of Nsasi), we have the power of the Sun, the power of the Plantas and Palitos, the Power of the Winds (Lucero Mundo) and the Power of Time itself (Padre Tiempo or Kulusu!)  We have a tendency to separate the Mpungos where in reality it is not always so cut and dried because it is ONE ENTITY (NSAMBI MPUNGO) with many manifestation which can interrelate with each other in complex ways.

This tree here (above and below) is a Loblolly Pine (native) growing right out of a crack in the rock.  How it can be so efficient with the meagre (by most standards) resources it has available is astonishing.  It sends its roots deep into the rock to access pockets of nutrients and pockets of water, yet it is able to grow to quite a substantial size!  This is a power that is well worth "harvesting" physically and spiritually during a time upon the Earth where resources are in high demand and are getting more and more scarce due to MISUSE and WASTE!  This is a power that we go out to seek as Paleros because we are aware and very concerned with the situation that is embracing the Earth globally at this time!  We recognize that we NEED the power that this pine has to ADAPT to its situation!!!

Being up on top of the rocky formation "Palo Rompe Monte" was truly being in a different world.  It is only accessible from a few points, all other points being cliffs!  All around one sees tree tops and one realizes that it is a huge FUNDAMENTO with Palitos encircling the huge STONE in the middle, rich with mineral deposits and Plantas!  Our daughter heard us discussing that this would be a wonderful place to bring Fundamento of Tiembla Tierra (or Ta Jose) for Ceremony or to gather energy.  She then told us "the Medicine is already here so you don't need to bring the Fundamento here, it is here!"  (The wisdom of a four year old!)

By recognizing the space as a Fundamento gives us additional appreciation and understanding when we stand in our Munanso with Fundamentos!  The sky is "much closer" in this space, the treetops give it a sheltered sense but it is a high point and very peaceful.  

When one looks at the artistry of the space, the way the boulders lie, the deep fissures (cracks) that go down 20 feet or more and the many trees that grow out of the stone itself, one appreciates the masterpiece it is, created by the powers within Atabey (Mother  Earth) and the powers of the Mpungo.  One also appreciates the BILLIONS of YEARS it took to create this masterpiece and appreciate that it is still changing, it is a masterpiece in motion.

Below a root shows swirling patterns like the patterns that water makes, it also is reminiscent of certain Indigenous Petroglyphs or drawings, drawings made by Ayahuascueros and so on.  The root itself is reflecting the journey of water within it, revealed by rain as well as by the footsteps of the many people who have walked over it.  Somos o no somos!!!

Palo has traditionally been a way to overcome the "Impossible" beginning with the impossible situation of enslavement and dislocation.  Continuing with the impossible situation of Colonization, and the mounting impossible situation of global insanity.  This Sacred sight empowers our willingness to eagerly engage Spiritual Teachings, Spiritual Principles and Spiritual Life at time of rampant materialism, decay and global BARBARIC Gluttony and Violence.  

Deep fissures created by water freezing force the people who come onto the rock to be very cautious and to respect the space!  It is not a space for recklessness or inattentiveness.  

As trees grow upon the Stone, through the dropping of their leaves and the eventual decay of their "bodies" they make it easier for the next generation of tree!  It is a positive cycle of life, which is true for all trees, that builds the soil fertility and depth and allows us to have more abundance and gives to the Future Generations a richer Soil!  This allows us to understand that TREES represent THRIVING, ABUNDANCE and FUTURE IRE!!!!  When we plant trees, save trees, respect trees, we gather that powerful cycle into our Spirits!  This also bears reflecting on since PALO means TREE!!!  TREE is about enriching the soil and enriching the air (Oxygen), therefore enriching LIFE!!!!  As the trees are able to grow on the rock, they build the soil together with the rock, through the blessing of the Rain and Sun.  There is an ecological importance to this cycle that as Paleros we must not overlook.  As Paleros we must also not over look the rampant "deforestation" that has been taking place.  In Catoctin there had been a period of deforestation due to the wood mills getting lumber and to the tanneries which used various barks from the trees to tan hides.  At this point Catoctin represents an ongoing healing from that mutilation.

Below you can see pinks and reds, greens and yellows in the surface of the stone.  These come from the reaction of water and air with some of the mineral deposits in the stone itself!  

This weathering and natural chemical reactions reveal Misterios who look out upon everything going on!

Below (7 photos) we track a tree from top to bottom as it grows from the base wedged into the rocks, up and then through the rocks again then out of the top.  This tree grew seeking Sunlight, this trail of seeking Sunlight lead it to grow right up through a crack in the stone where it widened to also impact the stone in terms of further cracking the stone.  The tree itself was loyal to its need for Sunlight!  This tree embodies the energy of standing with one's principles and integrity regardless of the situation one is in.  PALO ROMPE MONTE even if it is PALO SOLO!

Another two trees growing out of the Stone.

Below (2 photos) a tree again growing out of the stone.  

Palo is a beautiful tradition which gives full appreciation and love to the natural elements that allow Life!  When we are building Fundamento or we are working with Fundamento, or we are involved in a process with Fundamento it is very important to understand the materials involved and more importantly to understand their Spiritual Powers and how those Spiritual Powers and Materials relate to us.  Our physical body is derived from Rock, Water, Sun and Plants!!!!  If there is any rigidity in Palo it arises from alienation from Nature and from the lack of exploration and inability to allow the EGUNS, the NKISIS to be the TEACHERS of these multiple Profound Teachings!  It is not just about "commanding" a Fundamento, it is also about learning and studying that Fundamento and the Mpungo it is a manifestation of!!!!  

It is important for us to recognize that Palo is a Spirituality rooted in Science, in Art, in Biology, Botany, Geology, in Story (ourstory),   in Astronomy, in Meteorology, and in the study of cycles and time itself!