| Simbi | |
|---|---|
Water Spirit | |
 Mami Wata, Igbo artist,MIA | |
| Affiliation | |
| Abode | Atlantic Ocean, Seas, Rivers (Nzadi), Forests (Mfinda) |
| Ethnic group | |
| Equivalents | |
| Sawabantu | Jengu |
| Haitian | Lwa |
ASimbi (alsoCymbee,Sim'bi, pl. Bisimbi) is a Central Africanwater andnature spirit in traditionalKongo religion, as well as inAfrican diaspora spiritual traditions, such asHoodoo in the southern United States andPalo in Cuba. Simbi have been historically identified as water people, or mermaids, pottery, snakes, gourds, and fire. Due to the forced removal ofBantu peoples fromAfrica to the Americas, theveneration of simbi exists today in countries, such as the United States, Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti.
While there is little written historical record of the wordsimbi, there is consensus that it originated withinBantu-speaking andKongo-speaking communities and almost certainly began as a means for them to understand the spiritual nature of the world around them.[1] Some believe the wordsimbi derives fromsimba, a Kikongo word that means "to hold, keep, preserve."[1] The similar phrase,isimba ia nsi, which translates to "a distinguished person in the community," was recorded in an early Kikongo dictionary in the seventeenth century. This phrase and others, such askisímbi kinsí, which translates to "the very old person who does not die," are a few of the earliest evidences of the spiritual connection of bisimbi to the land of the living and the land of the dead.[1] The wordbasimbi also translates to "guardians" with the phraseisimba ia nsi later becoming "guardians of the land."[1]
TheBakongo people traditionally believe that bisimbi are magically water spirits (inkikongo:nkisi mia mamba) that can appear as a person, a snake, pottery, acalabash vine, orKalûnga, a spark of fire, similar to the spark that begot the universe in Kongocreation mythology.[2] There have also been claims of bisimbi appearing as birds, twisted trees andmermaid-like beings.[1] They are seen as the guardians of nature and the intermediaries who travel theKalûnga Line betweenKu Seke, the physical world of the living, andKu Mpémba, the spiritual world of the ancestors. Bisimbi are also believed to be spiritual guides, using storytelling and oral tradition to connect the living to the ancestors and their history.[2] The likening of the living elders to the bisimbi in the phrasekisímbi kinsí highlights the importance of Bakongo elders to the spiritual well-being of the community and the passing of their beliefs from one generation to the next.[1]
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The belief that bisimbi "inhabit rocks, gullies, streams, and pools, and are able to influence the fertility and well being of those living in the area"[2] was translocated to theUnited States by enslaved Bakongo andMbundu peoples.[1] Because forty percent of Africans taken during thetrans-atlantic slave trade[3] came fromCentral Africa'sCongo Basin, and bisimbi became revered in the United States inBlack American communities inHoodoo tradition across theAmerican South.[2][4] SomeBlack churches prayed to Kongo-derived simbi spirits duringBaptism and it was believed that simbi spirits were present when congregants were dipped into the water and washed clean. This belief highlighted the Central African influence on Christian baptism, the fusion of both traditional African and new Black American spiritual practices, and the evolving nature of Black spirituality in the Americas.[5][6]
Academic research on thePooshee Plantation and Woodboo Plantation inSouth Carolina, showed a continued belief of African water spirits among enslaved African Americans. Both plantations are "now under the waters ofLake Moultrie."[2] The earliest known record of simbi spirits was recorded in the nineteenth century byEdmund Ruffin who was a wealthy slaveholder from Virginia, and traveled to South Carolina "to keep the slave economic system viable through agricultural reform."[2]
"At Pooshee plantation on theSantee Canal not too far from Woodboo, Ruffin stated that a young slave boy went to a fountain for water late at night and was very frightened by a cymbee (Simbi water spirit) who was running around and around the fountain. Although few witnesses to the appearance of cymbees were found by Ruffin, he stated that they are generally believed by the slaves to be frequent and numerous. Part of the superstition was that it was bad luck for anyone who saw one to 'tell of the occurrence, or refer to it; and that his death would be the certain penalty, if he told of the meeting for some weeks afterwards." Another occurrence from an enslaved man said simbi spirits have long hair.[2]
InBlack American folklore, theGullah Geechee people in the Carolina Lowcountry have a children's story calledSukey and the Mermaid about a girl named Sukey meeting a mermaid named Mama Jo. Mama Jo in the story helps and protects Sukey and financially supported her by giving her gold coins. This story comes from the belief in Simbi spirits in Central Africa that came to the United States during theAtlantic slave trade. In Africa, Simbi nature spirits protect and provide riches to their followers. In Central Africa, there are folk stories of people meeting mermaids.[7]
The belief in bisimbi also exists in the traditional spiritual practices ofHaiti. While Haitian Vodou has been known for itsWest African influences, primarily those from Benin and Nigeria, it also contains Central African influences from theCongo Republic,Democratic Republic of Congo, andAngola in the form of bisimbi. Though often referred to aslwa, bisimbi such asMami Wata, Nsimba and Nzuzi are stillnlongo, or sacred, in traditional Haitian spirituality and culture.[8][9]
In an Afro-Cuban religion calledPalo, bisimbi are calledNkitas. They are deities of all aspects of nature, such as lakes, forests or mountains.[10]
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