Last Thursday afternoon, CSUSM students in ARTS 240 were taken on a literary trip to Cuba to explore the secretive religion of "Palo Monte," often considered "Black Magic". Armin Schwegler, a professor of Spanish at both U.C. Irvine and CSUSM, guided audience members through the inter-workings and curiosities of the obscure religious practices, language and context of Palo Monte.

The lecture was presented as part of the Black History Month events on campus. "This is the story of African people coming to the New World and what was retained as far as their culture, language and religious practices," said Prof. Schwegler, before speaking to the audience as a whole.

His lecture began by narrating the origins of the Palo Monte religion, tracing it back to the lower Congo region of Africa and the Kikongo language. These cultural roots were brought over to Cuba with the slave trade during the sugar industry boom of the 1820s. This religion is one of four to migrate from Africa with the slave trade, along with the likes of the more well-known Santeria.

Previously thought to be a complete pidgin, mixed with different languages from all over Africa, Prof. Schwegler’s research sheds light on the fact that Palo Monte was actually derived from the single language of Kikongo. This finding is now considered irrefutable by the academic world.

The language now used in religious practice is heavily restructured, and mixes standard traditional Spanish with the Kikongo language. This dialect has turned into its own entity and research has led to a translation of over three thousand words.

The practice of Palo Monte is characterized as being extremely secretive, and Prof. Schwegler spent a great deal of time in Cuba digging deep to find his information. His studies led him to find that the religion is very much alive and, in fact, thriving all over the country of Cuba. The lecture made a notable point of explaining that, despite the dark stereotype of the old African religions gathered from mainstream media, Palo Monte is actually practiced by all different members of Cuban society, from city to village, from doctors to cab drivers.

Palo Monte emphasizes the idea of "invoking" or otherwise working with the spirits of the dead. Those practicing the religion build small temples with shrine-like sculptures made of natural objects such as wood, herbs, and bone. Small trinkets of significance are sometimes tied in as well. While widely practiced, its secrecy has made learning about the language extremely difficult.

Nevertheless, Prof. Schwegler’s photos, sound clips, and grammatical breakdown of this mysterious religion made for an impressively informative presentation. The broad content of the lecture also left a lot open to the interpretation and interests of the diverse student audience. As to whether there was any particular kind of student that frequented his lectures, Prof. Schwegler replied that "Linguistics, History, and Spanish majors can all be tied into the subject matter".

These lectures have taken him all over the world, and Prof. Schwegler is energized by the fact that scholars "still have a lot to learn".