History
Palo has its roots in the Congo basin of central Africa, from where large numbers of African slaves were brought to Cuba, Puerto Rico, as well as to the colony of Santo Domingo, the present capital of the Dominican Republic. Accordingly, a great part of Palo Monte's liturgical chants and invocations are in a mixture of the Spanish and Kikongo languages, other influences being introduced through their presence in African Spanish-speaking Latin America.
During the mid 19th century Palo began to spread among the Venezuelan and Afro-Latino communities in the United States as well as many other places outside the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Eventually, members of non-African Latino groups, as well as African Americans, gained access to these traditions. The religion remains largely Afro-Latino in character. Although it is largely unknown whether the religion started in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic or Cuba, the most traditional form can be found in these three islands. In Puerto Rico, the city of Guayama became nicknamed "the city of witches", because the religion was widely practiced in this town.
Read more about this topic: Palo (religion)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Free from public debt, at peace with all the world, and with no complicated interests to consult in our intercourse with foreign powers, the present may be hailed as the epoch in our history the most favorable for the settlement of those principles in our domestic policy which shall be best calculated to give stability to our Republic and secure the blessings of freedom to our citizens.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“The history of the genesis or the old mythology repeats itself in the experience of every child. He too is a demon or god thrown into a particular chaos, where he strives ever to lead things from disorder into order.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)