Simbi

A Simbi (also Cymbee, Sim'bi, pl. Bisimbi) is a water and nature spirit in traditional Kongo spirituality, as well as in Hoodoo. Etymology While there is little written historical record of the word simbi, there is consensus that it originated within Kongo-speaking communities and almost certainly began as a means for the Bakongo people to understand the spiritual nature of the world around them. Some believe the word simbi derives from simba, a Kikongo word that means "to hold, keep, preserve." 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 as kisímbi 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. The word basimbi also translates to "guardians" with the phrase isimba ia nsi later becoming "guardians of the land." Kongo spirituality The Bakongo people traditionally believe that bisimbi are magically water spirits (in kikongo: nkisi mia mamba) that can appear as a person, a snake, a calabash vine, or Kalûnga, a spark of fire, similar to the spark that begot the universe in Kongo creation mythology. There have also been claims of bisimbi appearing as birds, twisted trees and mermaid-like beings. They are seen as the guardians of nature and the intermediaries who travel the Kalûnga Line between Ku Seke, the physical world of the living, and Ku 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. The likening of the living elders to the bisimbi in the phrase kisímbi 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. Hoodoo