The gate is made of iron. The soil is soaked in memory. The seeds are silent in the dark.
In a world of lip service and weak prayers, Palo Mayombe works now . If you need justice, the Nfumbe walks tonight. If you need a door opened, the iron stick breaks the lock. The Garden of Blood and Bones does not promise you heaven when you die; it promises you power while you live. Palo Mayombe- El Jardin de Sangre y Huesos
Unlike the more structured Yoruba-derived religion of Regla de Ocha (Santeria), Palo is chaotic. It is the religion of the forest, the wilderness, and the cemetery. Because the enslaved peoples were stripped of their kingdoms and languages, they built their new spiritual garden using the only materials available to them: the iron tools of the plantation, the bones of animals (and, tragically in myth, sometimes ancestors), and the mud of the savanna. The gate is made of iron