Nkisi
Nkisi are spirits within Bakongo spirituality. After the introduction of Catholicism, other spirits like nkisi were reduced to "lesser spirits" that no longer had relevant voices in spiritual matters.
↻ synthesized from 4 sources
When
- First attested
- 1500 CE
- Attested period
- 1500 – 2020
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Winti, Nzambi Ampungu, simbi, Mamba Muntu, Ala, Ajogun, Alusi, the Igbo pantheon, List of Yoruba deities, Loa, Oricha
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“Nkisi”
#110 · extracted by claude-sonnet-4-6
“it also created a hierarchy in Bakongo spirituality that reduced other spirits like Nzambici, simbi and nkisi to "lesser spirits" that no longer had relevant voices in spiritual matters.”
#2518 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“To guide man, Nzambici and Nzambi 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.”
#2751 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Nkisi - Bakongo spirits that inhabit objects to protect the person in possession of the objects”
#9090 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001