Kongo religion – Wikipedia

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Traditional beliefs from the KiKongo speaking peoples

Kongo religion (KiKongo: BuKongo) encompasses the traditional beliefs of the Kongo people. Some smaller ethnic groups in the region, like the Chokwe, have adopted Bakongo spirituality.[1][2] The faith bases itself on a complex animistic system and a pantheon of various gods and spirits. The principle creator of the world is Nzambi Mpungu, the sovereign master.[1] Belief in Nzambi Mpungu, who gave birth to all the other gods, the world and spirits who inhabit it, is common, but Ancestor worship builds up the main religious beliefs.[3] Healers, known as Nganga, try to mediate between the spirit realms and the physical world, as well as heal followers’ minds and bodies. Mediatory roles like being a Nganga require legitimization from the other world of spirits and ancestors.[4] The Bakongo cosmos is split between two worlds: the top half representing the physical world, or ku nseke and the bottom half representing the spiritual world, or ku mpèmba.[1]

Creation and cosmology[edit]

According to researcher Molefi Kete Asante, “Another important characteristic of Bakongo cosmology is the sun and its movements. The rising, peaking, setting, and absence of the sun provide the essential pattern for Bakongo religious culture. These “four moments of the sun” equate with the four stages of life: conception, birth, maturity, and death. For the Bakongo, everything transitions through these stages: planets, plants, animals, people, societies, and even ideas. This vital cycle is depicted by a circle with a cross inside. In this Yowa or dikenga cosmogram, the meeting point of the two lines of the cross is the most powerful point and where the person stands.”[1]

Kalûnga[edit]

The Bakongo believe that in the beginning, there was only a circular void, called mbûngi, with no life. Nzambi Mpungu summoned a spark of fire, or Kalûnga, that grew until it filled the mbûngi.[1] When it grew too large, Kalûnga became a great force of energy and unleashed heated elements across space, forming the universe with the sun, stars, planets, etc.[1] Because of this, kalûnga is seen as the origin of life and a force of motion. The Bakongo believe that life requires constant change and perpetual motion. Nzambi Mpunga is also referred to as Kalûnga, the God of change.[1] Similarities between the Bakongo belief of Kalûnga and the Big Bang Theory have been studied.[5]

Creation of earth[edit]

Like the creation of the universe, the Bakongo believe that in the beginning, the world was circular void (or mbûngi) with no life. Then a great force of fire (or kalûnga), emerged and filled this empty circle. Kalûnga heated up the contents of mbûngi, and when it cooled, it formed the earth.[1] The Earth, the starting point of the fire, then became a green planet after it went through four stages. The first stage is the emergence of the fire. The second stage is the red stage where the planet is still burning and has not formed.[1] The third stage is the grey stage where the planet is cooling, but has not produced life. These planets are naked, dry, and covered with dust. The final stage is green stage is when the planet is fully mature because it breathes and carries life.[1] As the Bakongo believe is part of the universal order, all planets must go through this process.[1][5]

Human creation[edit]

The Kongo cosmogram (also called the Yowa or Dikenga Cross) is a symbol in Bakongo spirituality that depicts the physical world (Ku Nseke), the spiritual world (Ku Mpémba), the Kalûnga line that runs between the two worlds, the sacred river that forms a circle through the two worlds, and the four moments of the sun.[6]

The creation of a Bakongo person, or muntu, is also believed to follow the four moments of the sun, which play a significant role in their development.[1]Musoni is the time when a muntu is conceived both in the spiritual realm and in the womb of a Bakongo woman. Kala is the time when a muntu is born into the physical world. This time is also seen as the rising of the sun. Tukula is the time of maturity, where a muntu learns to master all aspects of life from spirituality to purpose to personality. The last period of time is luvemba, when a muntu physically dies and enters the spiritual world, or Nu Mpémba, with of the ancestors, or bakulu.[1][7] Because Bakongo people have a “dual soul-mind,” or mwèla-ngindu, they are able to exist and live in both realms during the different moments of their lives. Even while in Nu Mpémba, a muntu still lives a full life as they prepare for Kala time once again.[1] The right side of the body is also believed to be male, while the left side is believed to be female, creating an additional layer to the dual identity of a muntu.[5]

Kongo cosmogram[edit]

The nature of Kalûnga is also spiritual. As Kalûnga filled mbûngi, it created an invisible line that divided the circle in half. The top half represents the physical world, or Ku Nseke, while the bottom half represents the spiritual world of the ancestors, known as Ku Mpèmba.[1]

The Kalûnga Line separates these two worlds, and all living things exists on one side or another. After creation, the line and the mbûngi circle became a river, carrying people between the worlds at birth and death. Then the process repeats and a person is reborn. Together, Kalûnga and the mbûngi circle form the Kongo cosmogram, also called the Yowa or Dikenga Cross.[1]

The four moments of the sun (musoni, or conception; kala, or birth; tukala, or maturity; and luvemba, or death) are also represented on the Kongo cross. They are believed to correlate to the four times of day (midnight, or n’dingu-a-nsi; sunrise, or ndiminia; noon, or mbata; and sunset, or ndmina), as well as the four seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter) and the four elements (water, fire, air and earth).[5]

Beliefs[edit]

General beliefs[edit]

The religion of the Kongo is deeply complex. According to historian John K. Thornton “Central Africans have probably never agreed among themselves as to what their cosmology is in detail, a product of what I called the process of continuous revelation and precarious priesthood.”[8] The Kongo people had diverse views, with traditional religious thought best developed in the northern Kikongo-speaking area.[8] There is plenty of description about Kongo religious ideas in the Christian missionary and colonial era records, but as Thornton states, “these are written with a hostile bias and their reliability is problematic”.[9] Kongo beliefs included Kilundu as Nzambi (god) or Jinzambi (gods, deities).[10]

In general, according to the Kongo cosmogram, the highest god, next to other high gods, reside at the top of the world, the spirits and other deities living below, followed by the physical realm populated by humans and animals, with water existing in the middle where the two worlds meet.[11]

Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural and passed down from one generation to another through folk tales, songs, and festivals,[12][13][14] include belief in an amount of higher and lower gods, sometimes including a supreme creator or force, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic and traditional African medicine. Kongo mythology, next to other nearby traditional religions can be described as animistic[15][16] with various polytheistic and pantheistic aspects.[17][1][18]Animism builds the core concept of the all Bantu religious traditions, including the Kongo religious beliefs, similar to other traditional African religions. This includes the worship of tutelary deities, nature worship, ancestor worship and the belief in an afterlife. While some religions adopted a pantheistic worldview, most follow a polytheistic system with various gods, spirits and other supernatural beings.[19] Traditional African religions also have elements of fetishism, shamanism and veneration of relics, and have a high complexity, comparable to Japanese Shinto or Hinduism.[20]

Spirits as well as dead ancestors could be communed with and those with authority got special rights to such communing. The priestly Nganga can interact with such spirits and ancestors. They would use spiritual cures to battle black magic in the world, sometimes using Nkisi. Nganga are not allowed to use black magic and only assisted clients to bring upon good fortune.[21]

Practices and charms[edit]

Humans may manipulate the universe through the use of charms called Nkisi. Within these charms are natural objects since it is believed all natural things contain a soul. These charms protect humans either by embodying a spirit or by directing a spirit to hunt evil.[11]

Spirits[edit]

A simbi (pl. bisimbi) is a water spirit that is believed to inhabit bodies of water and rocks, having the ability to guide bakulu, or the ancestors, along the Kalûnga river to the spiritual world after they pass away. They are also present during the baptisms of African American Christians, according to Hoodoo tradition.[22][23]

There is lot of spirits who surrounds Nzambi a Mpungu like Nzambici, his wife (spirit of earth), Nzazi (the spirit of thunder and lightning), Ngonda (spirit of moon and menstruations) and his brother Ntangu (spirit of time and sun), Chicamassichinuinji (ruler of seas and oceans), Mpulu Bunzi or Bunzi (male or female spirit of rain), Mbumba (rainbow serpent) and his wife Funza (female spirit of waters, twin phenomenon, malformations in children) or Kalunga (spirit of death and sea).[citation needed]

Derivatives[edit]

The traditional spirituality has its roots in Bantu-speaking peoples in Africa. As the faith traveled to the Americas it retained various traditions but often mixed with other faiths. Some surviving traditions include possession by the dead to learn wisdom from the ancestors, and working with Nkisi. The religions that have preserved Kongo traditions include Hoodoo, Palo Monte, Lumbalú, Kumina, Haitian Vodou, Candomblé Bantu, and Venezuelan Yuyu.[24][25][26]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Asante, Molefi Kete; Mazama, Ama (2009). Encyclopedia of African Religion. SAGE Publications. pp. 120–124, 165–166, 361. ISBN 978-1412936361.
  2. ^ “NPS Ethnography: African American Heritage & Ethnography”. www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  3. ^ Muyingi, Mbangu Anicet (2014-07-02). “The Place of African Traditional Religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the Advent of Christianity”. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. 5 (14): 539. ISSN 2039-2117.
  4. ^ “Kongo Religion”. encyclopedia.com. 2005.
  5. ^ a b c d Luyaluka, Kiatezua Lubanzadio (2017). “The Spiral as the Basic Semiotic of the Kongo Religion, the Bukongo”. Journal of Black Studies. 48 (1): 91–112. ISSN 0021-9347.
  6. ^ Gaskins, Nettrice R. (2016-01-02). “The African Cosmogram Matrix in Contemporary Art and Culture”. Black Theology. 14 (1): 28–42. doi:10.1080/14769948.2015.1131502. ISSN 1476-9948.
  7. ^ Van Wing, J. (1941). “Bakongo Magic”. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 71 (1/2): 85–97. doi:10.2307/2844403. ISSN 0307-3114.
  8. ^ a b John Thornton, “Religious and Ceremonial Life in the Kongo and Mbundu Areas,” in Linda M. Heywood (ed) Central Africans and Cultural Transformations in the American Diaspora (London and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), ISBN 978-0-521-00278-3, pp. 73-74.
  9. ^ John Thornton (2002), “Religious and Ceremonial Life,” Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-00278-3, pp. 72-73.
  10. ^ John Thornton (2002), “Religious and Ceremonial Life,” Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-00278-3, pp. 74-77
  11. ^ a b Gibson, Kean (2001). Comfa Religion and Creole Language in a Caribbean Community. ISBN 9780791449608.
  12. ^ Juergensmeyer, Mark (2006). The Oxford Handbook Of Global Religions. ISBN 0-19-513798-1.
  13. ^ S. Mbiti, John (1991). Introduction to African religion. ISBN 0-435-94002-3.
  14. ^ “The Place of African Traditional Religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the Advent of Christianity | Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences”. 2020-08-06.
  15. ^ Kimmerle, Heinz (2006-04-11). “The world of spirits and the respect for nature: towards a new appreciation of animism”. The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa. 2 (2): 15. doi:10.4102/td.v2i2.277. ISSN 2415-2005.
  16. ^ Vontress, Clemmont E. (2005), “Animism: Foundation of Traditional Healing in Sub-Saharan Africa”, Integrating Traditional Healing Practices into Counseling and Psychotherapy, SAGE Publications, Inc., pp. 124–137, doi:10.4135/9781452231648, ISBN 9780761930471, retrieved 2019-10-31
  17. ^ An African Story BBC Archived November 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ^ “The Place of African Traditional Religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the Advent of Christianity | Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences”. 2020-08-06.
  19. ^ Kimmerle, Heinz (2006-04-11). “The world of spirits and the respect for nature: towards a new appreciation of animism”. The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa. 2 (2): 15. doi:10.4102/td.v2i2.277. ISSN 2415-2005.
  20. ^ Asukwo (2013). “The Need to Re-Conceptualize African Traditional Religion”.
  21. ^ Erwan Dianteill. Kongo in Cuba: the Transformations of an African Religion. Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religious Phenomena. pp. 59–80.
  22. ^ Anderson, Jeffrey E. (2008). Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Conjure: A Handbook. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 114. ISBN 9780313342226.
  23. ^ Manigault-Bryant, LeRhonda S. (2014). Talking to the Dead: Religion, Music, and Lived Memory among Gullah/Geechee Women. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822376705.
  24. ^ “Kongo religion”. meta-religion.com.
  25. ^ Thompson, Robert Farris (1983). Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 9780307874337.
  26. ^ Mary Margaret McCurnin. “From the Old to the New World: The Transformation of Kongo Minkisi in African American Art”. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU Scholars Compass). p. 11. Retrieved 10 July 2021.