A Simbi (also Cymbee, Sim'bi, pl. Bisimbi) is a Central African

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

and nature spirit in traditional Kongo religion, as well as in African diaspora spiritual traditions, such as Hoodoo in the southern United States and Palo in Cuba. Simbi have been historically identified as water people, or mermaids, pottery, snakes, gourds, and fire. Due to the forced removal of

Bantu peoples The Bantu peoples are an Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct native Demographics of Africa, African List of ethnic groups of Africa, ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. The language ...

from Africa to the Americas, the veneration of simbi exists today in countries, such as the United States, Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti.

Etymology

While there is little written historical record of the word ''simbi'', there is consensus that it originated within Bantu-speaking and Kongo-speaking communities and almost certainly began as a means for them 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, pottery, a calabash vine, or ''Kalûnga'', a spark of fire, similar to the spark that begot the universe in Kongo

creation myth A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...

ology. 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

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" was translocated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

by enslaved Bakongo and Mbundu peoples. Because forty percent of Africans taken during the trans-atlantic slave trade came from Central Africa's Congo Basin, and forty percent of all enslaved people brought to South Carolina between 1733 and 1807 were people of Kongo descent from

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, bisimbi became revered in the United States in Black American communities in Hoodoo tradition across the American South.

Sightings

The earliest known record of simbi spirits was recorded in the nineteenth century by Edmund Ruffin who was a wealthy slaveholder from Virginia, and traveled to South Carolina "to keep the slave economic system viable through agricultural reform." "At Pooshee plantation on the Santee 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.

Folklore

Sukey and The Mermaid

In Black American folklore, the Gullah Geechee people in the Carolina Lowcountry have a children's story called ''Sukey 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 the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

. In Africa, Simbi nature spirits protect and provide riches to their followers. There are folk stories of people meeting mermaids in Central Africa and the Middle Passage.

Haitian Vodou

The belief in bisimbi also exists in the traditional spiritual practices of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. While Haitian Vodou has been known for its

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n influences, primarily those from Benin and Nigeria, it also contains Central African influences from the Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and

in the form of bisimbi. Though often referred to as lwa, bisimbi such as Mami Wata, Nsimba and Nzuzi are still ''nlongo'', or sacred, in traditional Haitian spirituality and culture.

Palo

In an Afro-Cuban religion called Palo, bisimbi are called ''Nkitas''. They are deities of all aspects of nature, such as lakes, forests or mountains.

In culture

* Governor General Michaëlle Jean of Canada, who was born in Haiti, bears two simbi serpents as supporters on her coat of arms.

Citations

References

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