About Gànlɔdó 𞤺𞤢𞥈𞤲𞤤𞤽𞤣𞤮𞥊𞥅
The Royal Seal of Gànlɔdó
Thank you for taking your valuable time to get to know the 𞤿𞤵𞤤𞤽𞤥𞤦𞤮𞤲𞤵 Kilɔmbonu (Maroon) 𞤿𞤽𞥇𞤼𞤮𞥊𞥅𞤥𞤹 Xɔ́tómɛ̀ (monarchy) of 𞤺𞤢𞥈𞤲𞤤𞤽𞤣𞤮𞥊𞥅 Gànlɔdó. We are here to restore the 𞤍𞤳𞤭𞤤𞤽𞤥𞤦𞤮 Kilɔmbo (a 𞤳𞤽𞤲𞤺𞤮 Kɔngo word corrupted to "Quilombo" by the Portuguese) spirit back to its rightful place in the Vodún Mãwùfɛ 𞤾𞤮𞤣𞤵𞥊𞥅𞤲 𞤥𞤢𞥇𞤱𞤵𞥊𞤬𞤹 (African Vodún) tradition and Afrikan ways of life in general. It should be stated that Gànlɔdó is a heterosexual-Afrikan/”Black” only monarchy. We do not entertain any form of dis-sexuality which also includes interracial mate choices. We define dissexuality as same sex unions, pedophilia, interracial coupling, kwk.
Kilɔmbo Vodún - A "New" Branch of Vodún
Our way of life is based in the Kilɔmbo Paradigm. The Kilɔmbo Paradigm is based upon the Maroon philosophy of obtaining complete sovereignty in every aspect of life essentials for Afrikan people. Our foundational focus is ReAfrikanization, Family Development, and Nation Building and Sovereignty. Why is “maroon/kilɔmbonu” emphasized in our identity? The Maroons were originally those Afrikans who not only resisted captivity from day one, but also built their own sovereign communities away from captivity. In this, they were governed by the laws of their own original culture and praised their own ancestors and deities. The communities they built were called kilɔmbo – the Ki Bantu/Kɔngo word for “intentional encampment aimed at sovereignty and re-establishing order”. The word Kilɔmbonu implies things related to maroonage. A Kilɔmbomuntu is one who lives the Kilɔmbo way of life.
As alluded to, the root of our work is family development and nation building primarily based solidly in our West African Vodún and Yorùbá 𞤭𞥊𞤻𞤹𞥇𞤷𞤹𞥇 Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ traditions. Though our focus is West African Vodún and Yorùbá Ìṣẹ̀ṣẹ, we are 100% in support of the functional use of any of our living Afrikan traditions for the sake of obtaining sovereignty. In fact, a great percentage of our practice and philosophy comes from the 𞤦𞤵𞤳𞤽𞤲𞤺𞤮 BuKɔngo tradition of the 𞤳𞤽𞤲𞤺𞤮 Kɔngo people and the 𞤮𞤣𞤭𞤲𞤢𞤲𞤭 Odinani tradition of the 𞤭𞤩𞤮 Ìgbò people. Our philosophy is political and spiritual, with the political being an updated version of Kilɔmbonu (Maroonage). The political aspect of this paradigm is partially rooted in a separation (ideological and physical when possible) - Afrikan only, Afrikan marriage, Afrikan family orientation and nation building philosophy aimed towards 𞤢𞤷𞤽𞥂𞤭𞥂𞤢 acɛkpikpa (sovereignty). Hence, the well thought out amalgamation of the aforementioned traditions and philosophy has brought about what We have what have coined 𞤳𞤭𞤤𞤽𞤥𞤦𞤮 𞤾𞤮𞤣𞤵𞥊𞥅𞤲 Kilɔmbo Vodún - Maroon Vodún
The name Gànlɔdó comes from the Ajã phrase “𞤥𞤹 𞤫 𞤩𞤢𞥈 𞤳𞤢𞥈𞤲 𞤤𞤹 𞤦𞤮 𞤲𞤢 𞤣𞤮𞥊𞥅 𞤾𞤽𞥇 𞤲𞤵𞥇 𞤤𞤹 𞤦𞤤𞤮𞥊𞥅𞤣𞤮𞥊𞥅 𞤤𞤹 𞤫𞥊𞥅 – mɛ e gbà kàn lɛ bo na dó vɔ́ nǔ lɛ blóɖó lɛ é .” – those that broke the chains to restore order“. These are the ones who are rising from the ashes, like the sacred Afrikan Ibis bird, to clear out the rampant chaos, discontent, and lack of empowerment of Afrikan people.
For us, healing is mental, spiritual, physical, financial, and cultural to say the least. One may ask, why the focus on healing? When one contemplates the ingrained trauma imposed on Afrikan people for the past 574 years (since 5682 AX or 1441 Julian time), one will easily see the need for healing. How do we heal? It is our duty at Gànlɔdó, to utilize every aspect of our culture to heal and restore Afrikan people back to their natural state of spirit connectivity. We do this through divination, ritual, counseling, diet, economics, and overall holistic cleansing. We also believe that, to truly heal and elevate, Afrikans must know the enemy without and the enemy within. We say in Ajã language: “𞤲𞤵𞥊𞥅 𞤳𞤹𞤲𞤼𞤽𞥇 𞤣𞤫𞥇𞤦𞤵𞥊𞥅 𞤣𞤮 𞤿𞤮𞤥𞤹 𞤢 𞤮𞥊𞥅⹁ 𞤳𞤹𞤲𞤼𞤮𞥊𞥅 𞤫 𞤣𞤮 𞤳𞤮𞥊𞥅𞤿𞤮𞤼𞤢 𞤽𞥇 𞤧𞤭𞤿𞤵𞥊𞥅 𞤣𞤵 𞤣𞤮 𞤶𞤭𞥇 𞤼𞤽𞤲 𞤢𞥇 Nú kɛntɔ́ ɖěbǔ ɖo xomɛ ǎ ɔ́, kɛntɔ́ e ɖo kɔ́xota ɔ́ sixú ɖu ɖo jǐ tɔn ǎ..If there is no enemy within, the enemy without cannot prevail.” Therefore, the primary focus for us is the self. To be self-fortified is to be enemy-fortified.
Additional Notes
Please note that the writing script that you see is called 𞤱𞤫𞥊𞥅𞤳𞤵𞤲 𞤳𞤭𞤤𞤽𞤥𞤦𞤮 Wékun Kilɔmbo created by His Imperial Majesty, the king and founder of Gànlɔdó. Read more about it here.
The family - citizens of Gànlɔdó, the 𞤺𞤢𞥈𞤲𞤤𞤽𞤣𞤮𞥊𞥅𞤥𞤵𞤲𞤼𞤵 Gànlɔdómuntu, is expected to wear 𞤢𞤾𞤮 𞤥𞤢𞥇𞤱𞤵𞥊𞤬𞤹 avo Mãwùfɛ Afrikan clothing on a daily basis (accept in cases related to work uniforms, work requiring much physical effort, working out, kwk). Our diet primarily consist of Afrikan foods. Our women do not wear a lot of makeup, fake hair, fake eyelashes, tight revealing western clothing, kwk. Our men do not walk around with their butts showing, skinny jeans, kwk. The way we present ourselves reflects our worldview.