Pangool

Pangool (in Serer and Cangin) singular: Fangool (var : Pangol and Fangol), are the ancient saints and ancestral spirits of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. The Pangool play a crucial role in Serer religion and history. In a religious sense, they act as interceders between the living world and the supreme being Roog or Koox. In a historical sense, the ancient Serer village and town founders called Lamanes were believed to be accompanied by a group of Pangool as they travelled in search of land to exploit. These Lamanes became guardians of Serer religion and created shrines in honour of the Pangool, thus becoming the custodians of the Pangool cult.

There are several Pangool in Serer religion and each one is associated with a specific attribute, have their own sacred place of worship, means of worship, etc. The symbol of the Pangool is the serpent, represented by two coiled snakes.

The etymology of fangool comes from the Serer phrase Fang Qool which means the sacred serpent the plural of which is pangool. Fangool means serpent.

There are two main types of Pangool: non-human Pangool and human Pangool. Both are sacred and ancient, but the former is more ancient as a general rule. The non-human Pangool include ancient sacred places with vital spiritual energies and personalized as such. These Pangool generally are the personifications of natural forces. Human Pangool on the other hand became Pangool once they are canonized after death. Thus some are ancient, others are medieval. Through their intercession with the divine, they form a link which transmits vital energies. Not every dead ancient ancestor is canonized as Pangool.

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