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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.
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.
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 ...
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]
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 ...
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 ...
The nganga's costume was often modeled on his nkisi. The act of putting on the costume was itself part of the performance; all participants were marked with red and white stripes, called makila, for protection. [4] The "circles of white around the eyes" refer to mamoni lines (from the verb mona, to see). These lines purport to indicate the ...
[2] To guide man, Nzambici and Nzambi Mpungu created nature spirits—simbi, nkisi, nkita, and kilundu—and separated the physical world, called Nseke, from the spiritual world, called Mpémba, with a boundary of water, called the kalûnga line.