First I would like to acknowledge that this is a very complex subject and there are several different understandings to this subject. What I am writing about is my understanding and I am making an attempt to simplify the complex and sometimes misunderstood concepts for others to get a grasp, or an understanding of these concepts. This is what and how I was taught by my elders. If what I am saying does not resonate with what your elders taught you, feel free to disregard my writings and please do learn from your elders, respectfully.

The cosmology of this tradition is something that is not commonly talked about and is very obscure even to some practicing members of the tradition. They know names and certain key pieces of information but don’t fully comprehend where this energy fits into in the grander scheme of things. Keeping that in mind, one must understand that there are several different kinds of spirits and several tiers of existence as well as several different placements for these beings. The spirituality of a Kongo is a whole universe within a universe.

The very first concept people tend to misunderstand or not even know about at all is that there is placements for the spirits and energies. These placements are really determined in a very linear way. So what are we even talking about here? Well there are spirits that are attached to individuals, families and tribes. If you notice the order I mentioned them in, I went from lowest to highest on placements or hierarchy. Historically, a person’s individual spirits were very important but only to them and nobody else. Family spirits were attached to family lineages, almost like guardians of whole bloodlines. These spirits were venerated by the whole bloodline and were held in much higher regard than individual spirits. Tribe spirits watched over the entire tribe and were seen as the mightiest among spirits. They held the highest importance amongst all others. As we continue in this article, keep in mind that any spirit can fit into any one of these placements and so in some lineages the same exact spirits can have greater or lesser importance.

Mpungu or Kimpungulu (plural) are divine beings. These are equivalent to what Abrahamic religions would call God. There may be several beings classified as Mpungu, but one that is supreme even among the other Mpungu, that is Nzambi. Nzambi is the author of the universe and supreme being that all others answer to. Yes, Palo Mayombe does have one singular God that all of creation answers to. The other beings classified as Mpungu are beings that are so mighty that each one of them could easily be the residing God of this planet. This gives you a scale to how mighty we understand Nzambi to be. A God that is so mighty that it can create other gods and still be several orders beyond them, even though they are truly divine themselves. The Kimpungulu are mainly neutral beings with only one agenda; ensure that living beings on this world are progressing towards the supreme, Nzambi ia Mpungu. This classification has no parallels and no equals, they stand omnipotent and tower over any other kind of spirit. Due to their magnitude, our direct interaction with them is very limited.

After the mighty Mpungu come the range of spirits that we directly interact with. These are Kongo spirits that we understand to be elemental, that stand taller and stronger than other spirits. This range of spirits were directly venerated up until slavery washed up on the shores of the ancient Kongo Kingdom. When the Kongo-based shamanistic traditions were carried to the new world via slavery, the traditions evolved; necessitating the veneration and direct interaction with something even mightier, for usage in spiritual warfare. This specific range of spirits may include others, according to certain lineages and may exclude some of the ones that my lineage includes. The ones that I know of are the Nkisi (Earth), Simbi (Water), Nkita (Fire) and Ntembo (Air) spirits. Keep in mind that in certain lineages these names can vary, for example Nkita can be understood as water spirits and Bansua as fire spirits. In any case, these spirits could be found naturally, one could go to a river and interact with the Simbi spirit that was guardian over that river. One could go to an old tree and interact with the Nkisi spirit that was guardian over that tree. Keep in mind, this is an oversimplification. These different types of spirits had many roles other than just standing at rivers or trees. This explanation is just to give you a mental image of how one could find these energies.

The next step down the rabbit hole brings us to Nfumbe. Nfumbe have sub classes. This means that there are different kinds of Nfumbe. For the sake of ensuring the longevity of the tradition I will not name these. The understanding imparted upon me is that these are not elemental spirits but rather spirits that were once living people and are now in the spirit world. It is from this classification that we see ancestral spirits, spirits introduced into our spirituality, etc. In this classification of spirits we see many names used to describe specific kinds of spirits. The best example is Bankulu being “the ancient ones.” The understanding I was given of Bankulu is that these are ancestors that go so far back that they are shared ancestors, not ones specific to just our household. These spirits would not be a different kind of spirit, they would still be understood to be Nfumbe, they are just a specific type of Nfumbe.

Now that we have given a hierarchy and all these names and types of spirits, one can have a clearer image in their mind. A person can have the energy of a specific Mpungu they deal with individually, an Mpungu they deal with as a family and an Mpungu they deal with as a tribe. The same could be true with any of the other types of spirits. To picture this, imagine you are a black hole and these spirits orbit around you. Your individual spirits would be the smallest and closest stars to you, your family spirits would be slightly larger and further and your tribe spirits would be the largest and be furthest from you. One can see this in action in modern Nkisi Malongo when they analyze what the practice entails. Being Mayombe, where Sambranu Nzazi is the main Mpungu would mean that this Mpungu specifically is the main spirit of your tribe and holds the utmost importance. Having your own individual spirits as lower on the hierarchy. Briyumba does the same, except they have Sarabanda as the main Mpungu. Their main tribal spirit would be Sarabanda and he would take highest priority, followed by your specific individual spirit.