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Anganga (pl.banganga orkimbanda) is aspiritual healer, diviner, and ritual specialist in traditionalKongo religion.[1] These experts also exist across theAfrican diaspora in countries whereKongo andMbundu people were transported during theAtlantic slave trade, such asBrazil, thesouthern United States,Haiti andCuba.
Nganga means "expert" in theKikongo language. The Portuguese corruption of the meaning was "fetisher."[2] It could also be derived from-ganga, which means "medicine" in Proto-Bantu. As this term is a multiple reflex of a Proto-Bantu root, there are slight variations on the term throughout the entire Bantu-speaking world.[citation needed]
In theKingdom of Kongo and theKingdom of Ndongo, expert healers, known asbanganga, underwent extensive training to commune with the ancestors in the spiritual realms and seek guidance from them.[2] They possessed the skill to communicate with the ancestors in the spiritual realm, orKu Mpémba, as well as divining the cause of illness, misfortune and social stress and preparing measures to address them, often by supernatural means and sacred medicine, orminkisi.[2]
They were also responsible for charging ankisi, or physical objects intended to be the receptacle for spiritual forces that heal and protect its owner. When Kongo converted toChristianity in the late fifteenth century, the termnganga was used to translate Christian priest as well as traditional spiritual mediators.[3] In modern Kongo Christianity, priests are often called "Nganga a Nzambi" or "priests of God."[citation needed] The owner and operator of annkisi, who ministered its powers to others, was thenganga.[4]
An English missionary describes how annganga looks during his healing performance:
Thick circles of white around the eyes, a patch of red across the forehead, broad stripes of yellow are drawn down the cheeks, bands of red, white, or yellow run down the arms and across the chest.... His dress consists of the softened skins of wild animals, either whole or in strips, feathers of birds, dried fibres and leaves, ornaments of leopard, crocodile or rat's teeth, small tinkling bells, rattling seedpods...[4][5]
This wild appearance was intended to create a frightening effect, orkimbulua in theKongo language. The nganga's costume was often modeled on hisnkisi. The act of putting on the costume was itself part of the performance; all participants were marked with red and white stripes, calledmakila, for protection.[4]
The "circles of white around the eyes" refer tomamoni lines (from the verbmona, to see). These lines purport to indicate the ability to see hidden sources of illness and evil.[4]
Yombe nganga often wore white masks, whose color represented the spirit of a deceased person. White was also associated with justice, order, truth, invulnerability, and insight: all virtues associated with the nganga.[citation needed]
The nganga is instructed in the composition of thenkondi, perhaps in a dream, by a particular spirit. In one description of the banganga's process, the nganga then cuts down a tree for the wood that s/he will use to construct the nkondi. S/he then kills a chicken, which causes the death of a hunter who has been successful in killing game and whose captive soul subsequently animates the nkondi figure.[6] Based on this process, Gell writes that the nkondi is a figure an index of cumulative agency, a "visible knot tying together an invisible skein of spatio-temporal relations" of which participants in the ritual are aware.[7]
InSouth Africa, theinyanga has a medicinal role, in contrast to thesangoma, who deals with divination and theancestral spirits, however, the distinction has become blurred in some areas and manytraditional healers tend to practice both arts.[8][9] InSwahili,mganga refers to a qualified physician or traditional healer.[citation needed]
Among theShona people ofZimbabwe, an'anga is a traditional healer who uses a combination of herbs, medical/religious advice and spiritual guidance to heal people. In Zimbabwe, N'angas are recognized and registered under the ZINATHA (Zimbabwe National Traditional Healer's Association).[10][11]
They are believed to have religious powers to tell fortunes, and to change, heal, bless or even kill people. Traditionally N’angas were people’s main source of help in all matters of life. They have existed for centuries, well before the British colonial era. Guerrilla leaders are said to have consulted with N’angas during theRhodesian Bush War.[12][citation needed]
Even today, N'angas are consulted by the people for advice and healing of many illnesses. Sometimes N'angas refer their patients to western medical practitioners and hospitals in case of emergency or illness they cannot cure with the help of their healing spirit.[13]
In the United States, nganga, who acted as spiritual leaders, played a key role inHoodoo practices, which combined Kongo religion,Christianity andindigenous Americanherbal knowledge.[2]
In Cuba, the termnganga refers to a clay pot or iron cauldron that is kept in the homes ofPalo diviners, called paleros. Similar to mojo bags in the United States, these banganga contained items from important places in nature and spiritual items, such as forest dirt, volcanic ash, and the hair, ashes or bones of an ancestor. They were seen as means to honor Nzambi, the mpungo and mfumbi (ancestral spirits), and the forces of nature.[14]
Many inverted positions ofcapoeira, includingbananeira,aú,rabo de arraia, and others, are believed to have originated from the use of handstand by nganga imitating their ancestors, who walked on their hands in the spirit world.[1]
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