Fabriquer une nganga, engendrer un dieu (Cuba)

Abstract

Palo monte is an Afro-Cuban religion of Bantu origin. One of the prominent features of this ritual practice is that spirits of dead men mediate human action. Believing in their ability to influence human matters, the priest of palo monte, the palero, tries to make these spirits his allies. In order to establish a relationship with those beings, the worshipper has to go to the cemetery, find an abandoned tomb and seal a pact with the spirit of the dead who rests there. After digging him up and taking some parts of his skeleton, he brings them to his domestic sanctuary where he places them in a cauldron, the nganga. But this recipient is not a mere shelter for the spirit; it is its embodiment. Giving primacy to the nganga’s materiality, this paper will attempt to throw a new light on this object, which has been until now relegated by the scientific literature to the status of a mere artefact. Describing and analyzing the set of the operations leading to the composition of a nganga, this paper will reveal some of the logics governing palo monte’s religious practice and will show that this composition is about giving life and shape to a god.

Keywords

• Palo Monte (religion afro-cubaine)
• matérialisation
• dieu
• esprit des morts