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65-530: The practice of Myal as a spirit possession originated in Jamaica. It derived from the Kongo religion . It was once theorized to be of Akan origin, because of its popularity with Akan slaves. However, Myal was also popular with Kongo slaves. The centrality of spirit possession is a core component of both Myal and Kongo religion. This evidence suggests that Myal is more closely related to Kongo. Myalism resulted from

130-454: A Bakongo person , or muntu , is also believed to follow the four moments of the Sun, which play a significant role in their development. Musoni is the time when a muntu is conceived both in the spiritual realm and in the womb of a Bakongo woman. Kala is the time when a muntu is born into the physical world. This time is also seen as the rising of the Sun. Tukula is the time of maturity, where

195-416: A complex animistic system and a pantheon of spirits . The principle Creator God of the world is Nzambi Mpungu , the sovereign master, and his female counterpart, Nzambici . While Nzambi Mpungu, who gave birth to the universe and the spirits who inhabit it, is vital to the spirituality, ancestor veneration is the core principle. The Bakongo cosmos is split between two worlds: the top half representing

260-579: A course he had been teaching since 1995 into a new book, A Cultural History of the Atlantic World , in 2012. This book was an attempt to rethink the heritage of the Americas, and particular North America as owing as much or more to the larger Atlantic World as to the extension of Europe. Thus it sought to have comprehensive coverage of Africa, both American continents and the Caribbean; while at

325-509: A creator god and ancestor or African spirits. These spirits are invoked in Myal rituals. It holds that a human has two souls: the duppy , which departs the Earth after death, and the second spirit, which acts as the person's shadow and needs protection from evil. Under slavery, Myalists would ingest a mix of cold water and branched callaloo to induce an intoxicated state and then dance to commune with

390-496: A history from below description of daily life and culture in the country by mining carefully the extensive documentation of the Capuchin missionaries in the country. In this work, he deliberately ignored using either earlier or later materials and much of the ethnographic materials so as to determine continuity and change in the kingdom. Thornton would return to this theme in writing the biography of D Beatriz Kimpa Vita in showing

455-525: A meeting point between the physical world and the spiritual world. The living saw it as a source of physical nourishment through hunting and spiritual nourishment through contact with the ancestors. One expert on Kongo religion, Dr. Fu-Kiau, even described some precolonial Kongo cosmograms with mfinda as a bridge between the two worlds. In the 17th century, the Bakongo people expanded the concept of nkisi to include consecrated objects or charms that contained

520-485: A muntu learns to master all aspects of life from spirituality to purpose to personality. The last period of time is luvemba , when a muntu physically dies and enters the spiritual world, or Ku Mpémba , with of the ancestors, or bakulu . Because Bakongo people have a " dual soul-mind ," or mwèla-ngindu , they are able to exist and live in both realms during the different moments of their lives. Even while in Ku Mpémba,

585-424: A muntu still lives a full life as they prepare for Kala time once again. The right side of the body is also believed to be male, while the left side is believed to be female, creating an additional layer to the dual identity of a muntu. The nature of Kalûnga is also spiritual. As Kalûnga filled mbûngi, Kalûnga transformed into a body of water that acted as a line, dividing the circle in half. The top half represents

650-512: A role in the Kingdom of Kongo becoming a more male-dominated society, marginalizing the belief in the dual male/female identity of all Bakongo people and creating a gender hierarchy based on Portuguese culture, where men were traditionally at the center of spiritual matters. By the early 17th century, oral tradition stated that Nzambi Mpungu was surrounded by lesser nature spirits, who were so powerful that they were given individual names. There

715-622: A sacred space, where sightings of "cymbee" spirits were often recorded by Black Americans . Today, the finda is still a significant element in Hoodoo . In Brazil, kalunga embodies the idea that, in the realm of the living, we stand erect, but in the realm of the ancestors, everything operates in a reversed manner. Inhabitants of the netherworld (or the ancestral realm) are inverted compared to us, as viewed from our mirrored perspective. With this particular worldview, practitioners of African martial arts deliberately invert themselves physically to emulate

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780-545: A specific simbi to invoke the spirit into the mojo bag. Bakongo spiritual philosophy influenced the creation of mojo bags, with Black Americans including certain natural ingredients or animal bones, to house the simbi spirit or an ancestral spirit inside a bag for either protection or healing. Due to the Atlantic slave trade, Bakongo religion was translocated to the Americas along with its enslaved practitioners. Some surviving traditions include conjure, dreaming, possession by

845-467: Is consensus among historians that this reduction of nature spirits to lesser spirits was due to Portuguese the influence of monotheism and their shunning of "idols." During this period, Nzambi Mpungu began to exist as a separate spirit from his female counterpart, Nzambici , and was seen the Creator God , while Nzambici was seen as his wife, the "God the essence, the god on earth, the great princess,

910-489: Is in detail, a product of what I called the process of continuous revelation and precarious priesthood..." The Kongo people had diverse views, with traditional religious thought best developed in the northern Kikongo-speaking area. There is plenty of description about Kongo religious ideas in the Christian missionary and colonial era records, but as Thornton states, "these are written with a hostile bias and their reliability

975-603: Is married to fellow Africanist historian and collaborator Linda Heywood . Thornton held various history faculty positions in the United States and Africa during the 1980s including the University of Zambia , Allegheny College and the University of Virginia . He joined the faculty at Millersville University in 1986 and joined the Boston University faculty in fall 2003. Thornton focused initially on

1040-540: Is problematic". Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural and passed down from one generation to another through folk tales, songs, and festivals, include belief in an amount of higher and lower gods, sometimes including a supreme creator or force, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead , use of magic and traditional African medicine . Kongo mythology, next to other nearby traditional religions can be described as animistic with various polytheistic and pantheistic aspects. This includes

1105-463: Is said that the brother originally lived by the sea, and one day, Ntangu challenged Ngonde to a foot race, believing he could beat his brother. However, Ngonde was successful and defeated Ntangu. This is believed to be the reason why the Moon can be seen during the day with the Sun, but the Sun cannot be seen at night. Chicamassi-chinuinji is the ruler of seas and oceans. Mpulu Bunzi is the goddess of

1170-473: The Kumina religion. Myal was generally tolerated by slave owners because of its stance against Obeah and its adoption of Christian elements. By the 1860s, Myal-based churches became referred to as "Revivalist" churches and were established as Baptist churches. From 1858 to 1859, a Christian revival swept Jamaica, adding energy to local religious life. Two branches of this revival, the 60 Order or Revival Zion and

1235-537: The 61 Order or Pocomania, emerged. Revival Zion adopted more orthodox Christian practices, while Pocomania continued more African practices. Myal as a separate religion is no longer practiced, its rituals can be found in Revivalism, Kumina , and Convince . The folklorist Venetia Newall noted that Pocomania "has rarely been recorded in England, and evidently tends to Peter out quickly" on arrival. Myalists honor

1300-404: The Bakongo believe that in the beginning, the world was circular void (or mbûngi ) with no life. Then a great force of fire (or kalûnga ), emerged and filled this empty circle. Kalûnga heated up the contents of mbûngi, and when it cooled, it formed the Earth. The Earth, the starting point of the fire, then became a green planet after it went through four stages. The first stage is the emergence of

1365-679: The King of Kongo to storm into their houses of worship, or nzo a quimpazi , and destroy any traces of idolatry along with the buildings. Belief in nkita persisted, with the spirits even providing power from the spiritual world for the Bakongo people to create sacred medicines called minkisi . In the Kingdom of Ndongo in Angola, nature spirits were called kilundu . They existed in the same context as nkisi and nkita. However, like bisimbi, kilundu were largely believed to be spirits that were once living people, who transformed into spirits after they entered

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1430-511: The Kisama. There they died, entered the spiritual world and were transformed into nature spirits whose purpose became to protect those who venerated them from diseases. This person to nature spirit transformation concept was also recorded in the Kingdom of Kongo in the 20th Century. A man named Mbola is said to have died and transformed into a simbi water spirit that inhabited a stream and taught

1495-469: The Kongo spirits are believed to have been created largely as a means for the Bakongo people to understand the natural world around them. Most of them have a connection to the earth, water, the sky, fire and the stars. "The land is eternal. The earth withers in the dry seasons but flourishes with the coming of the rains. The sky bears the winds that brings the rains and shuffles the clouds to hide and then reveal

1560-403: The Sun provide the essential pattern for Bakongo religious culture. These “four moments of the sun" equate with the four stages of life: conception, birth, maturity, and death. For the Bakongo, everything transitions through these stages: planets, plants, animals, people, societies, and even ideas. This vital cycle is depicted by a circle with a cross inside. In this Yowa or dikenga cosmogram ,

1625-579: The United States, Bermuda, Barbados, England and the Netherlands, they went on to suggest that the Christian background of many early slaves may account for their high manumission rate and their role in cultural foundations of the Americas. Thornton's work on the African Diaspora had also been accompanied by a growing interest in the indigenous people of the Americas, and their interaction with Europeans. Inspired by this idea,Thornton turned

1690-594: The ancestors, and drawing strength and power from the ancestral realm. John Thornton (historian) John K. Thornton is an American historian specializing in the history of Africa , the African Diaspora and the Atlantic world . He is a professor in the history department at Boston University . Thornton was born 3 May 1949 in Fort Monroe , Virginia . His father, Col. Robert L. Thornton,

1755-498: The article "Demography and History in the Kingdom of Kongo" (1977), and a contribution on another baptismal document in the First Edinburgh Conference on African Historical Demography (1978). Thornton's thesis, published as The Kingdom of Kongo: Civil War and Transition, 1641–1718 (Madison, 1983) advanced the idea that Kongo's centralization was the result of a massive buildup of slave-worked plantations in

1820-444: The cooperation of ethnically diverse African slaves. The term "Myal" was first recorded by Edward Long in 1774 when describing a ritual dance done by Jamaican slaves. At first, the practices of Obeah and Myal were not distinguished. Over time, "Myal-men" involved in spirit possession became involved with Jamaican Native Baptist churches and incorporated Myal rituals into them. Over time, these Myal-influenced churches began preaching

1885-642: The daily life of Kongo in her times (1684–1706). Thornton's second book, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400–1650 ( Cambridge University Press , 1992, the second edition in 1998 extended its framework to 1800) was an examination of the Atlantic portions of Africa and their involvement in the Atlantic slave trade , as well as the impact of Africans in the American countries to which they were carried. In this work, Thornton sought to demonstrate that Africans had been more active participants in

1950-468: The dead to learn wisdom from the ancestors, traditional healing and working with minkisi. The spiritual traditions and religions that have preserved Kongo traditions include Winti , Hoodoo , Palo Monte , Lumbalú , Kumina , Haitian Vodou , Candomblé Bantu , and Venezuelan Yuyu. The concept of mfinda as a spiritual space also emerged in the colonial United States through trans-Atlantic slavery and became known locally as finda . The finda then became

2015-413: The dry season through consecrated objects, called nkisi . It was believed that a Nganga Nzazi could also use the power of thunder and lightning as a spiritual weapon. This power activated when a Nganga Nzazi simulated the sound of thunder by knocking two consecrated sculptures, called biteke , together. Ngonde is spirit of Moon and menstruations, and his brother Ntangu is spirit of time and Sun. It

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2080-420: The essence of nature spirits and their spiritual powers. These minkisi (sing. nkisi) were used for protection and healing. Minkisi were also used to make mojo, or conjure, bags . These mojo bags were essentially small bags where magical items were normally stored. They were also believed to contained the spiritual power of nkisi. A nganga created mojo bags for individuals, using ingredients connected to

2145-403: The extraordinary power of the spiritual world. These objects or spirits held different names by region. In the Kingdom of Loango and the lower Nzadi River to the north, they were called a nkisi (pl. bakisi , mikisi or minkisi ) . They are nature spirits, animated objects . They inhabit specific areas where their families and villages are located and usually have a special connection to

2210-463: The fire. The second stage is the red stage where the planet is still burning and has not formed. The third stage is the grey stage where the planet is cooling, but has not produced life. These planets are naked, dry, and covered with dust. The final stage is green stage is when the planet is fully mature because it breathes and carries life. As the Bakongo believe is part of the universal order, all planets must go through this process. The creation of

2275-575: The first generation of captives in art, music, and language. He also suggested that resistance in the form of revolts in particular had roots in African military systems, and this last point was pursued in detail in several studies of slave revolts and the Haitian Revolution . His studies of Africa in the slave trade led him, at the urging of English historian Jeremy Black to write a systematic study of African wars and military culture in

2340-433: The first generation of slaves brought to the colonies of these two countries came from Central Africa. They then went on to argue that the long contact between this region and Europe, the conversion of many of the people to Christianity, and the adaptation of various European items of culture, they could be considered " Atlantic Creoles " a term popularized by historian Ira Berlin . Basing themselves of many local archives in

2405-473: The forest, or mfinda ( finda in Hoodoo ). The Kingdom of Kongo used the term chibila , which referred to sacred groves, where they would venerate these forest spirits. The Kongo people also believed that some ancestors inhabited the forest after death and maintained their spiritual presence in their descendants' lives. These particular ancestors were believed to have died, traveled to Mpémba, and then were reborn as bisimbi. Thus, The Great Mfinda existed as

2470-455: The four seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter) and the four classical elements ( water , fire , air and earth ). Prior to European colonization, Nzambi Mpungu and his female counterpart, Nzambici , were perceived as the one Great Spirit who existed everywhere simultaneously and gave life to all things. Nzambi Mpungu was the "sovereign master," the God of the sun (fire) and change. It

2535-402: The history of the Kingdom of Kongo . From the start of this work, Thornton became convinced that the status of Kongo as a Christian country had not been fully recognized through his work on missionary baptismal statistics which he sought to show reflected large scale baptism and used this material to write a treatise on Kongo demography. His work on baptismal records resulted in the publication of

2600-464: The importance of baptisms and the eradication of Obeah, thus separating the two traditions. After the abolition of slavery, conservative Christian churches began to lose followers to Bedwardism and Myalist Native Baptist Churches. After 1814, the Myalist chapels started to become more visible. By the 1840s, many Congolese indentured laborers arrived in Jamaica where they revitalised Myal practices and

2665-587: The introduction of Catholicism by the Portuguese, there was a massive effort to convert Central Africans by creating connections between Christianity and their traditional religions. While it was largely a failure for ethnic groups such as the Mbundu , the Portuguese were able to deceive the Bakongo people by convincing them that Nzambi Mpungu was the Christian God and separating the deity from Nzambici and

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2730-420: The living how to use his spiritual power for healing and to create sacred medicines, which became known as mbola . Unlike the others, nkondi were specifically used as a means to inflict pain on those who came against the kingdom. As previously mentioned, nature is essential to Kongo spirituality. While nature spirits later became more associated with water, or kalûnga , they were also known to dwell in

2795-440: The meeting point of the two lines of the cross is the most powerful point and where the person stands." The Bakongo believe that in the beginning, there was only a circular void, called mbûngi , with no life. The Great Spirit, Nzambi Mpungu, summoned a spark of fire, or Kalûnga , that grew until it filled the mbûngi. When it grew too large, Kalûnga became a great force of energy and unleashed heated elements across space, forming

2860-439: The mother of all the animals, the one who promises her daughter to the animal who shall bring her the fire from heaven." She is also referred to as Nzambi , the mystery of the earth, "the mother of a beautiful daughter, gives mankind all laws, ordinances, arts, games, and musical instruments. Nzambi settles quarrels between animals, and in the stories giving her decision is embedded an immense amount of Fjort law." Nevertheless,

2925-402: The other spirits. Not only did this act make way for an easier conversion of the Bakongo people to Christianity, it created a hierarchy in Bakongo spirituality that reduced spirits like Nzambici, the simbi and nkisi to "lesser spirits" that no longer had relevant voices in spiritual matters. They became akin to angels and thus, subservient to Nzambi Mpungu, or God. This may have also played

2990-403: The people living in those regions who venerate them. In the eastern region in the Kingdom of Kongo , nature spirits were called nkita (also nquita ) after a subset of the Bakongo people who referred to themselves as aquaquita , with their spiritual leaders holding the title Nganganchita . This Kimpasi group was the target of many raids by Roman Catholic priests, who received support from

3055-560: The period of the slave trade, which appeared in 1999 as Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500–1800 ( University College of London , 1999). In 2007 he and his longtime collaborator (and wife) Linda Heywood published Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585–1660 (Cambridge University Press). This work demonstrated that thanks to English and Dutch privateering on Portuguese vessels, virtually all

3120-422: The physical world, or Ku Nseke , while the bottom half represents the spiritual world of the ancestors, known as Ku Mpèmba . The mbûngi circle, one longer a void, became the universe with the Sun at the center. The Kalûnga Line separates these two worlds, and all living things exists on one side or another. Simbi spirits are believed to transport Kongo people between the two worlds at birth and death. Then

3185-455: The physical world, or ku nseke and the bottom half representing the spiritual world, or ku mpèmba . Expert healers, known as Banganga , undergo extensive training to commune with the ancestors in the spiritual realms and seek guidance from them. The religion of the Kongo is deeply complex. According to historians John K. Thornton and Linda M. Heywood , "Central Africans have probably never agreed among themselves as to what their cosmology

3250-413: The position of the sun as it rotated around the earth to seek guidance from the ancestors and the bisimbi. These water spirits were said to be present during the baptisms of African American Christians , according to Hoodoo tradition . Supernatural objects that were reduced to the derogatory term, fetishes , by the Portuguese were said to be inhabited by nature spirits or deified people who embodied

3315-583: The process repeats when a person is reborn. Together, Kalûnga and the mbûngi circle form the Kongo cosmogram , also called the Yowa or Dikenga Cross. Represented on the Kongo cosmogram are the four stages of life: musoni, or conception; kala , or birth; tukala , or maturity; and luvemba , or death. They are believed to correlate to the four moments of the Sun: midnight, or n'dingu-a-nsi; sunrise, or ndiminia ; noon, or mbata; and sunset, or ndmina , as well as

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3380-474: The rain and harvest. In some Kongo villages, Bunzi is a male spirit called Phulu Bunzi , who is believed to be the chief blacksmith and lord spirit of the waters. Mbumba is the rainbow and a water serpent who reached the sky by climbing trees. A simbi (pl. bisimbi) is a water spirit that is believed to inhabit bodies of water and rocks, having the ability to guide the ancestors, along the Kalûnga river to

3445-537: The same time following up the cultural threads he had first explored in Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World . The book was awarded the World History Association's annual prize for 2012. He shared the 2008 Herskovits Prize for his book (co-authored with Linda Heywood ) Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585–1660 . In 2012, he was awarded

3510-464: The spirits. Most Revivalist faiths involve oral confessions, trances, dreams, prophesies, spirit seizures, and frenzied dancing. In Pocomania, male religious leaders are usually called "Shepherd", and in Revival Zion, the male leaders are called "Captain". Female leaders are generally called "mother". Kongo religion Kongo religion ( Kikongo : Bukongo or Bakongo ) encompasses

3575-547: The spiritual world ( Ku Mpémba ) to protect them. These ancestral spirits are also believed to inhabit bodies of water, known as kalunga (also called n'langu or m'bu) , and the forest, known as mfinda. Nzazi is the nature spirit of thunder, and Lusiemo is the nature spirit of lightning. Spiritual experts who dedicated themselves to Nzazi gained the title a Nganga Nzazi ( Nganga means expert in Kikongo) and invoked his power to cause thunder, lightning and rain during

3640-443: The spiritual world after they pass away. They are seen as the guardians of nature and the intermediaries between the physical world of the living and 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. Spiritual leaders called banganga (sing. nganga ) underwent an extensive initiation process to learn

3705-528: The spiritual world. This created evidence of a unifying concept of the two worlds and the four moments of life across ethnic groups in both Kongo and Angola . It also verified that even nature spirits were to go through the lifecycle. 17th Century oral tradition recounts the story of two kilundu named Navieza and Cassumba who left their homeland in the Upper Ganguela region to flee disease. While on their journey, they took shelter in "an isolated hut" in

3770-467: The sun's rays... the Nzadi River flows forever... to eventually join the vast sea." At the center of Kongo religion are the ancestors, or bakulu , who are believed to maintain a spiritual existence in the physical world ( Ku Nseke ) after death, through the "dual soul-mind" ( mwèla-ngindu ). Because of this, the ancestors are seen as spirits, who watch over the Bakongo people and direct power from

3835-488: The trade that was previously believed, arguing controversially that African economic strength and power were sufficient to force Europeans to deal with them on their own terms. At the same time, he also argued that Africans were not stripped of their culture in the Middle Passage and retained most of it in the first generation of their captivity. He tried to show how African sensibilities continued to be dominant in

3900-639: The traditional beliefs of the Bakongo people . Due to the highly centralized position of the Kingdom of Kongo , its leaders were able to influence much of the traditional religious practices across the Congo Basin . As a result, many other ethnic groups and kingdoms in West-Central Africa , like the Chokwe and Mbundu , adopted elements of Bakongo spirituality. The spirituality is based on

3965-467: The universe with the Sun, stars, planets, etc. Because of this, kalûnga is seen as the origin of life and a force of motion. The Bakongo believe that life requires constant change and perpetual motion. Nzambi Mpungu is also referred to as Kalûnga, the God of change. Similarities between the Bakongo belief of Kalûnga and the Big Bang Theory have been studied. Like the creation of the universe,

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4030-420: The vicinity of its capital during the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries, and allowed kings to be overwhelmingly powerful. However, he argued, the persistent civil wars of the seventeenth century and the rise of a new population center in the coastal province of Soyo led to the depopulation of São Salvador and the loss of its centralization. In addition to this larger theme, Thornton also tried to integrate

4095-436: The worship of tutelary deities , nature worship , ancestor worship and the belief in an afterlife . While some religions adopted a pantheistic worldview, most follow a polytheistic system with various gods, spirits and other supernatural beings . According to researcher Molefi Kete Asante , "Another important characteristic of Bakongo cosmology is the Sun and its movements. The rising, peaking, setting, and absence of

4160-605: Was believed that Nzambi Mpungu/Nzambici created the universe, the spiritual world ( Ku Mpémba ) and the physical world ( Ku Nseke ). Contrary to what the title "the Great Spirit" implies, Nzambi Mpungu/Nzambici and the spiritual nature of the Kongo people did not exist under the same confines of hierarchy as the omnipotent God of the monotheistic Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam ). All spirits within Kongo spirituality were believed to be of equal status and each had their own purpose across both worlds. After

4225-634: Was then serving in the US Air Force , eventually becoming a professor of Business Administration at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. His mother, Mary E. (Kelly) Thornton, a classicist, was also later a professor at Miami U. His sister is novelist Betsy Thornton . His daughter Amara Thornton is a historian of archaeology working in the United Kingdom. He was educated at the University of Michigan (1971) and UCLA (1972 and PhD 1979). He

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