The Mayombero: Involvement in Occult Activity and Occult Crime Despite what is commonly believed about practitioners of Palo Mayombe, not all of their activities are illegal. The vast majority of their magic may be described as black or evil in nature, but that does not necessarily make such activity criminal. For example, Migene Gonzalez-Wippler describes a magical ritual typical of that asked of a Mayombero: "Suppose a woman comes to the mayombero and asks him to kill her husband, who is throwing away all his money on other women. The mayombero agrees, for a price. He then goes to the cemetery, where be 'buys' the life of the man with a silver coin, maybe fifty cents. He pays for the man's life by making a hole in a dark corner of the cemetery and burying the coin inside. This hole becomes the symbolic grave of the man who is to be killed. The mayombero takes some of the earth from this hole and wraps it in a black rag. He takes it home, where he lights a taper that he has previously stolen from a church. He heats a pin, which he used to run through the body of a live centipede that has been tied with a black thread. He then calls the man's name aloud three times and places the earth from the cemetery into the nganga , together with a piece of clothing of the victim that has been recently worn by him. He takes the nganga and the pin with the centipede to a large tree, where he sticks the still-squirming animal to the tree bark. He again calls the victim's name aloud and commands the kiyumba [skull in the nganga ] to kill the man and make him suffer the same torments as the centipede pinned to the tree. Invariably, a few days after this frightful spell has been cast, the intended victim dies suddenly, usually in a violent way." (Gonzalez-Wippler, 1989:247.) While the mayombero's ultimate purpose was evil, was it illegal? Has he actually killed the victim? The only clearly illegal activity involved theft of a candle. In the next case describing the preparation of a nganga for ritual use, criminal activity is more clearly identified. "The mayombero waits until the moon is propitious, and then he goes to a cemetery with an assistant. Once there, he sprinkles rum in the form of a cross over a pre-chosen grave. The grave is opened, and the head, toes, finger, ribs, and tibias of the corpse are removed. The mayombero usually knows the identity of the cadaver, which is known as kiymba. They are usually recent graves, as the mayombero insists on having a head in which the brain is still present, however decayed. He believes that the brain of the kiyumba can think and thus 'act' better. The choice kiyumbas are those belonging to very violent persons, especially those of criminals and of the insane, for the purposes of the mayombero are generally to commit acts of death and destruction... After the macabre remains are removed from their graves, they are wrapped in a black cloth and the mayombero and his helper return to the witch's house. The mayombero lies on the floor. His assistant covers him with a sheet and lights four tapers, which are placed on each side of the mayombero's body, as if he were dead. On the blade of a knife he places seven small heaps of gunpowder, known as fula. The body of the mayombero becomes rigid and then goes into convulsions as the spirit of the kiyumba takes possession of him. The assistant asks the spirit if it is willing to work for the mayombero. If the spirit agrees, a lithe heaps of gunpowder will ignite spontaneously and simultaneously. If the gunpowder does not bum, the answer is negative and the body remains must be returned to the cemetery. Once the spirit accepts the pact, the grisly ceremony is ended. The mayombero writes the name of the dead person on a piece of paper and places it at the bottom of a big iron cauldron, together with a few coins, which are the price of the kiyumba's help. The body's remains are added to the cauldron, together with some earth from the grave. The mayombero then makes an incision on his arm with a knife that must have a white handle, and lets a few drops of blood fall into the cauldron, so that the kiuymba may drink and be refreshed...After the human or animal blood has been sprinkled on the remains, the mayombero adds to the cauldron the wax from a burnt candle, ashes, a cigar butt, and some lime. Also added to the mixture is a piece of bamboo, sealed at both ends with wax, and filled with sand, sea water, and quicksilver. This gives the kiyumba the speed of the quicksilver and the persistence of the sea tide, which never rest and are forever in movement. The body of a small black dog is also added to the cauldron to help the spirit 'track down" its victims. Next to the dog, a variety of herbs and tree barks are placed inside the cauldron. The last ingredients to be added are red pepper, chili, garlic, ginger, onions, cinnamon, and rue, together with ants, worms, lizards, termites, bats, frogs, Spanish flies, a tarantula, a centipede, wasp, and a scorpion. After the nganga is ready, it is brought back to the cemetery where it is buried and left for three Fridays. Then it is disinterred and taken to the woods, where it is again buried for another three Fridays, this time by the side of a ceiba, or any other magical tree. At the end of this combined period of forty-two days, the nganga is taken home by the mayombero, where he again gives it some fresh blood and adds some rum with pepper, dry wine, and water. The nganga is finished and ready to work." (Gonzalez-Wippler, 1989:244-45.) The illegal actions in this ritual include: cemetery desecration, theft of human remains, and animal mutilation.