Songye Power Figure (Nkisi)
The Songye people of the Republic of the Congo used Power Figures called Nkishi, (plural - minkisi), also referred to as nkishi, is the general name for an object containing a spirit(s) and there were two types. Typically, each community will have a central large nkisi figure and smaller ones keep by individuals within that community. The large carved community nkisi was used to deal with communal concerns such as crop failure, widespread illness or territorial disputes and protecting its health and fertility, punishing wrongdoers, and keeping witches and evil spirits away. Each Songye village would possess one of these power figures to be brought out during ceremony. Prayers and requests would be asked of the figure - only positive wishes would be granted. Sculpted by a carver to represent a heroic ancestor, the figure became the repository for a powerful spirit when a ritual specialist inserted magical substances into cavities in the head and the abdomen and added a large goat horn (Capra hircus) inserted into the top of the head, rising above and symbolizing power (the wisdom of the elders), fertility and fecundity, as well as perhaps serving as a connection with the cosmos. These Power figures were placed on an altar in a special house and were considered so dangerous that they were never handled with bare hands, only with sticks. When impending danger was sensed, two men would carry the figure through the village to ward off evil, holding it with wooden poles passed under its armpits. Individuals make requests to ancestors through personal smaller nkisi figures. Prayers and requests would be asked of the figure - only positive wishes would be granted. Once a year (the 1st day of the 1st quarter of the lunar cycle), all individual minkisi are placed around the community nkisi to mark the ritual celebration of mukapasu (the day associated with prosperity and regeneration).
Nkisi was the joint creation of a skilled carver and a trained nganga or ritual practitioner. The figures themselves are always male and have a combination of characteristics that constitute a generalized reference to ancestors. They served as a container for potent ingredients used in magic and medicine, and in judicial and healing contexts. The power of such figures depends on their magical ingredients ("bishimba"), concealed in the abdominal cavity, in the top of the head, or in a horn set into the cranium of the statue. These hidden substances acquire potency and interact with the spirit world when assembled according to a precise formula followed by the "nganga," or ritual practitioner. Protective amulets were often placed in the chest of the sculpture. Most important are the many different types of substance and paraphernalia applied to the figures. Most of these are regarded as inherently powerful or aggressive - substances as parts of lions, leopards, snakes, bees and birds of prey; the sexual organs of crocodiles and earth from the tracks of elephants; human elements taken from such exceptional categories of person as suicides, sorcerers, epileptics or twins. Items of regalia may also festoon the figure, recalling the typical attributes of chiefly dress or of the hunter.
The Nkisi Power Figure pictured stands approximately 32 inches (81.3 cm) tall, 8 inches (20.3 cm) wide and 9 inches (22.9 cm) depth; carved from single piece of wood with enlarged belly usually carved with opening at belly button (receptacle for bishimba), a horn extends from the top of the head 8 inches (20.3 cm) and has a single hole in it for the insertion of magical ingredients ("bishimba"); protective amulet is attached at the top of the chest, just below the chin; some of the fetish materials and shells are still attached around the bottom of the figure; iron strips are attached to forehead (refer to great powers of the blacksmith as well as to the dangerous, celestial powers of lightning). These iron strips and the carved facial features of the this Nkisi Power Figure are regional variations that was used by the Songye people at or near Milembwe, Republic of the Congo.
Photo: Songye Community Nkisi Power Figure from Milembwe, Republic of the Congo
Personal collection of Ron Ruble, Ruble's Wonderings Museum.
