simbi
Simbi are spirits within Bakongo spirituality. After the introduction of Catholicism, other spirits like simbi were reduced to "lesser spirits" that no longer had relevant voices in spiritual matters.
↻ synthesized from 6 sources
When
- First attested
- 1500 CE
- Attested period
- 1500 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Veneration spread to the Americas through the Atlantic slave trade involving over 12.5 million Bantu peoples.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Lasirèn, Mae d'Agua, Maman de l'Eau, saint Marta la Dominadora, Watra-mama, Jengu, Nyàmbé, Mamba Muntu, Ala, Nzambi Ampungu, Kianda, Oricha
- aspect of
- Mamba Muntu, Mami Wata
- has aspect
- Mama Jo
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“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.”
#2517 · 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.”
#2750 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Mamba Muntu or Mami Wata manifested in the form of simbi and kianda water spirits with origins in Angola and the Congo region.”
#3073 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5