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Nkisi or Nkishi (plural varies: minkisi, mikisi, zinkisi, or nkisi) are spirits or an object that a spirit inhabits. It is frequently applied to a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa , especially in the Territory of Cabinda that are believed to contain spiritual powers or spirits.
For example, nkisi bundles were found for healing or misfortune. Archeologists found objects believed by the enslaved African American population in Virginia and Maryland to have spiritual power, such as coins, crystals, roots, fingernail clippings, crab claws, beads, iron, bones, and other items assembled inside a bundle to conjure a specific ...
Minksi bundles influenced the creation of mojo bags in Hoodoo. [25] [26] There is also a Central African influence of the mojo bag in African-American Hoodoo. For example, the minkisi and nkisi are spirit containers made by hand from a root doctor. These spirits are contained in a bag, gourd, shells and other containers.
In the 17th century, the Bakongo people expanded the concept of nkisi to include consecrated objects or charms that contained the essence of nature spirits and their spiritual powers. These minkisi (sing. nkisi) were used for protection and healing. [1] Minkisi were also used to make mojo, or conjure, bags. These mojo bags were essentially ...
Because they are aggressive, many nkondi with human figures are carved with their hands raised, sometimes bearing weapons. The earliest representation of an nkisi in this pose can be seen in the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Kongo, designed around 1512 and illustrated between 1528 and 1541, where a broken "idol" is shown with this gesture at the base of the shield. [5]
The Vili culture is rich in a secular history, a Matrilineality society which is the foundation of a Vili language full of nuances where proverbs have a prominent place; of an original measurement system, [1] of a spirituality whose Nkisi, [2] Nkisi Konde or nail fetishes are the famous physical representation. These artifacts are "commentaries ...
There is controversy about whether parrots are capable of using language, or merely mimic what they hear. Some scientific studies—for example those conducted over a 30-year period by Irene Pepperberg with a grey parrot named Alex and other parrots, covered in stories on network television on numerous occasions [7] —have suggested that these parrots are capable of using words meaningfully ...
Kongolese nkisi use different materials from the Haitian paquet, however. A paquet is a collection of magical ingredients - herbs, earth, vegetable matter - wrapped in fabric and decorated with feathers, ribbons and sequins.