Tata Eric Colon

As a Tata Nkisi practicing in the United States, I have witnessed how Palo Mayombe has evolved uniquely through the American experience. Rooted in Central West African Nkisi worship and shaped in Cuba through the merging of Kongo spiritual systems with Indigenous Arawak, Carib, and Taíno healing traditions, Palo Mayombe has become a dynamic force within the American spiritual landscape.

This lecture traces the tradition’s historical journey, its core cosmology and tools, and the branching of its major lineages. It also explores how Palo has adapted within the United States. Centered on the lived experience of a practitioner, this talk aims to offer insight into how we preserve Palo Mayombe in a changing world while honoring its ancestral fire and guiding those who seek its healing power.

I was born in Brooklyn, New York, and currently work in the healthcare field as a Patient Care Technician (PCT) and Nurse Assistant (NA). I now reside in Dunmore, Pennsylvania.

Since childhood, I have been a medium, experiencing spiritual connections as early as four years old. I have practiced Palo Mayombe for the past 24 years as an initiated priest (Tata Nkisi) in the rama of Bejuco Nfinda Nsasi Moanafilo Batalla Saca Empeño. In addition, I have been an initiated Lucumí priest of the Orisha Yemayá for 19 years.

I am a 54-year-old Puerto Rican practitioner with a deep commitment to preserving and sharing the spiritual traditions that I am a part of. Over the years, I have written various online pieces and contributed to a small anthology.

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