Malongo Ceremony

Palo Scratch / Rayamiento

The scratch, also called Rayamiento or the Malongo ceremony, is the initiatory entrance into Palo practice and a formal bond with a Kongo house and its spiritual current.

Base $752

Where This Fits

Step 4: after registration confirms permission, readiness, and proper direction. Kongo Spiritual Cleaning may be required before scratch or combined with the ceremony.

Who This Is For

Students whose registration confirms Palo is part of their path
Students who pass the Palo orientation test based on the orientation manual
Students who have completed any required cleaning before initiation
People ready to enter a house with discipline, taboos, obligations, and guidance
Students who understand that initiation binds them to a spiritual current and house structure
Those who have chosen the correct house and godparent relationship with care

What This Service Clarifies

The Malongo ceremony is a Kongo rite of entrance into the munanso, or house, and should not be approached lightly.

After requesting initiation, the student must complete the private online Palo Mayombe Before the Gate assessment: 25 questions, with at least 20 correct. Every submitted attempt is retained in the student record. Verbal orientation review remains required.

Passing confirms comprehension; it does not authorize or perform initiation. Registration, any required clearing, preparation review and explicit house authorization must also be completed before scratch.

Before initiation, submit the current will with the Ancestral Egbe addendum included for responsible-contact verification. Every significant initiation checks that same current verified document; the managing godparent determines the rites from initiation history. Document receipt is not proof of legal execution or a grant of authority over funeral arrangements.

In traditional framing, the scratch creates a pact mediated by the Tata or Yaya and the spiritual force of the house.

Before scratch, cleaning may be required. Before one waters the grass, one pulls the weeds.

The ceremony may open rights within the house, but it also brings rules, responsibility, and obligations.

Palo is not in everyone’s destiny; registration and house permission come before this step.

Required Preparation and Saved Assessment

Study the pre-Palo orientation manual, then complete the private 25-question preparation assessment while signed in. At least 20 correct answers are required. The saved result supports the request for house authorization; it does not replace registration, verbal review or permission.

Submit the current will with the Ancestral Egbe addendum included for responsible-contact verification. Read why initiatory funeral obligations must be arranged while alive and download the addendum.

Before This Initiation

Formal entrance into Palo and its house obligations.

Required Reading Before Initiation

African-Centered Funeral Practices is required reading before every significant initiation. Read the full article, including the discussion of inappropriate burial and the will addendum, and discuss it with your responsible house or godparent during preparation.

Review the funeral and will preparation checklist.

Your responsible house reviews your understanding during preparation. The private Funeral Practices assessment is available for study review. Reading or quiz completion does not replace explicit house authorization.

Before the initiation can be authorized, the responsible house or godparent must verify a submitted current will with the Ancestral Egbe addendum included. The same current verified document serves later significant initiations; the managing godparent determines the rites from initiation history.

Receiving a file or finding the addendum’s wording is not verification. A replacement document needs fresh review. The will check does not replace registration, required preparation, assessments or explicit house permission.

Read the funeral-obligations explanation and download the will addendum. Arrange legally effective execution with qualified local advice.

FreeWill: prepare a will online. Need a will? FreeWill is a suggested starting point for preparing one online. Follow the signing requirements for your jurisdiction and properly include the Ancestral Egbe addendum. Seek qualified local advice where needed; an online draft does not replace proper execution or responsible-contact review.

Request this initiation and submit your will with addendum. Sign in with your student/member account first.

Important Orientation

Kongo and Palo work should be approached through permission, lineage, discipline, and spiritual fit. These pages explain the public-facing pathway only. Specific ritual details, house procedures, taboos, and private initiatory knowledge are handled directly with the appropriate elders and house leadership.

Next Step

Contact Ancestral Egbe to confirm fit, timing, preparation, and whether another reading or study step is needed first.

Contact to Confirm Fit Elemental Presentation