Twins, Simbi Spirits, and Lwas in Kongo and Haiti

Abstract

After decades of neglect, the Congo-Angolan element in American popular culture is now enthusiastically pursued and discussed. African culture does not open itself easily to understanding. In the search for trans-Atlantic parallels and connections, one cannot simply help oneself to traits as though Central African culture, or any other, were a sort of plumbers' supply store to which you can go in search of a widget like the one you have at home; enthusiasm may have to wait on patient labors of translation that recognize that each word, idea, or object is embedded in matrices of language, history, and ritual practice. In the work of translation, we must also recognize that the English terms with which we necessarily begin are by no means free of ambiguity and implicit moral valency. The topic of the relation between Kongo beliefs in simbi spirits and the popular religion of Haiti is both rich and difficult. It is well known that the Petro series of Haitian spirits called lwa includes many that are called simbi or by simbi -related names. This paper provides ethnographic details to supplement the meager published documentation of Kongo cults related to simbi spirits and to enrich the study of religious innovation in Haiti and elsewhere in the Americas. It is precisely in the details of Kongo culture, rather than in general conceptions of “African religion,” that specific correspondences are likely to be discovered.

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