AUTHENTIC LINEAGES OF PALO MAYOMBE

-Musundi-

-Loango-

-Kunalungo or Kunalumbu-

-Briyumba or Brillumba-

-Brillumba Kalunga Munansambi-

-Vititi Congo-

-Corta Lima-

-Changani-

-Guinda Vela

-Kalunga Munansambi-

-Kimbisa Santo Cristo Buen Viaje-

~Brillumba Congo~

Briyumba

This rama is born as an Afro Cuban innovation. Most of today's Mayombe ramas have Brillumba
elements in them. Brillumba has been described as "an intelligent technique" used to construct an nkisi.
This is why some people will hear some "Briyumberos" refer to "caminos" or "paths" of a prenda such as
Siete Rayos Tronco Palma which translates into "Siete Rayos Palm Trunk" and describes an Nkisi that sits
on or is housed in the trunk of a Palm Tree. Brillumba ramas include Brillumba Kalunga Munansambi,
Vititi Congo etc. Many of the houses that currently describe themselves as Mayombe aren't actually pure
Mayombe. Most if not all are Brillumba with Mayombe. Other are neither Brillumba or Mayombe, such
as Musundi. Although many will characterize it as Mayombe, but those who do this will be using
Mayombe as a generic term, not one of actual Mayombe con Mayombe lineage. 

Siete Briyumba Congo

The branch born when seven Tata's from Brillumba combined their ngangas to create an Nsasi Ndoki. 
This rama has grown through the years and is well known today

~Mayombe con Mayombe~

one of the most traditional branches of Palo Mayombe its main structure of worship requires large
outdoor space for worship traditionally the Munanso was outdoors in the jungles of the Congo , the
sacred alters( Nganga) were set in the roots of the trees dug into the ground, while the Munanso and
tribes grew with members and rich tribal lineage so did the sacred trees and roots of the huge trees
that would wrap around the sacred alters of the Mayombe

~Kimbisa Santo Cristo Buen Viaje~

There is much confusion surrounding Kimbisa. Most initiates into this rama will claim that they are
Kimbisa Santo Cristo Buen Viaje. However, there is a difference between Kimbisa Santo Cristo Buen Viaje
and Kimbisa. Kimbisa finds its origins in the Loango kingdom. The Loango Kingdom was founded before
1485. It was one of the Oldest and Largest Kingdoms States of the region. Once linked to the powerful
Kongo Kingdom, the Loango Kingdom was dominated by the Vili, a Kongo peoples who migrated to the
coastal region during the 1300s. Loango became an independent state probably in the late 1300s or
early 1400s. With two other Kongo related Kingdoms, Kakongo and N'Goyo, present day Cabinda, it
became one of the most important trading states north of the Congo River. The ManiKongo was the king
of the Kongo, and the Kimbisa was the Nganga (Tata in Cuban terminology) of the royal court of the
Loango Kingdom. 
Kimbisa Santo Cristo Buen Viaje was established by a man named Andres Petit. E.C Ballard writes, "Petit
was more a codifier of existing practices than an inventor of new ones, although in his own rama (the
"orthodox" one) he certainly left his own imprimatur upon the tradition. 
Petit authorized to explain this. They may have been some basis in fact, but they sound rather more like
attempts to explain the situation than authoritative accounts. This position is further supported by three
specific facts. First is that there was a nganga (in the cuban context read Tata) whose title was Kimbisa
in the court of the King of Luongo. Additionally, a major initiatic tradition in the Kongo,bearing a great
deal of similarity to Kimbisa existed called Kimpasi. Lastly, the term Kimbisa and Kimbisero is known
throuout the French Antilles under the varients Quimbois/Quimboiseur. Clearly, these other terms rule
out Petit's efforts being a completely new rama.