In Nkisi Malongo, the candle is such a simple and yet powerful instrument with many mysteries. Some of these mysteries I will not touch in public, others I will openly speak about in the spirit of teaching people that there is really so much to learn about something as simple as a candle. See the candle has many roles and among them it has two big ones; the light that shows the way and the wax that seals the truth. Similarly, the candle is understood as having two identities and two states. That leaves us with the candle being: 222.
The candles identities: Muenda, Mpemba Carire.
Muenda is the identity of a candle that is understood as just a plain candle. It is not being used in a spiritual function and is therefore, not a spiritually significant candle. Think of Muenda as the scented candles that people light to make their home smell good. I would caution, though, that all of life is spiritual and so Muenda itself is spiritual but is simplified in such a way to created the distinction between the sacred and non-sacred. In some cases, when working Nkisi Malongo, we are working Muenda when we think we are working Mpemba Carire.
Mpemba Carire is the identity of a candle that is understood as a sacred candle. This is when a Muenda passes to being used within specific rites or ceremonies and is used in specific ways. I was once told by a wise man; “Mpemba Carire is the ray of light in the eyes of the Nfumbe”. This explanation is very symbolic when you understand that “Nfumbe” is the spirit we work with and eyes collect light and use that light to draw images. So the ray of light in the eyes means the literal vision. With all that said, Mpemba Carire is the sight of the Nfumbe.
The two roles: Shows the way and Seals the truth.
As previously discussed when we explained the identities of the candle, Mpemba Carire is the sight of the Nfumbe. Nfumbe comes from a vast and dark spiritual world. We provide a beacon of light for them to know where we are and be able to come and see the acts that we carry out in their presence. In truth, they dont need this beacon to find us or witness the things we do. We do this symbolically, to show them that we have nothing to hide and to call upon them specifically to witness the acts taking place.
In use, the candle is also the one that seals the truth. It is no secret that in Nkisi Malongo, it is normal and common for priests to seal things. Seals are not only about keeping people out of the mysteries that they are not supposed to know, they are also about keeping the energies necessary to make certain things work stay where they are needed. Energy is very fluid in nature, it moves like the ocean. In this sense, it can be unreliable. Now if you put some ocean water inside of a glass, you have given it reliability by confining it within a specific area. This is a similar concept to why we seal energies.
The two states: Lit and Unlit
It is no mystery that a candle can only be either lit or unlit. There is no other state possible for this medium. While we live in a world inside of a universe that can have many variables, the candle is something that is truly binary. There is no in between, there is no compromise. The symbolism behind the states teaches us that in a world of many variables; our practice only has two states, right and wrong. There is no in between. When we correctly work with spirits, we are the candle that is lit. The ones that bring light, the ones that bring vision, the ones that bring clarity to ourselves and others. When we work with spirits incorrectly; we are the ones who are void of light, we bring no blessings, we bring no vision, we bring no clarity to ourselves and others.
A final note: 222
In modern spirituality, this would be called an Angel Number. Holding its own significance. Throw all of that away. Angel numbers and even the mainstream Numerology mean nothing in Nkisi Malongo. This is because Nkisi Malongo has its own understanding, its own numerology. Do not read into this tradition, attempting to understand it with the reading glasses coming from another tradition or spiritual practice. For us, 2 is ZOLE. For those initiated into Nkisi Malongo, they would know that Mpemba Carire is not the first thing that started their spiritual journey, it is the second. The first is, has and always will be NZAMBI. Remember, when intelligence is applied correctly it can be greater than power.