Editing Creator deity (section)

=== Kongo religion ===
The [[Kongo people|Bakongo people]] traditionally believe in [[Nzambi a Mpungu|Nzambi Mpungu]], the Creator God, whom the Portuguese compared to [[God in Christianity|the Christian God]] during colonization. They also believe his female counterpart called ''Nzambici'', the ancestors (''bakulu'') as well as guardian spirits, such as Lemba, the [[Simbi|basimbi]], [[Nkisi|bakisi]] and bakita.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Ras Michael |title=African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry |publisher=Cambridge |year=2012 |isbn=9781107668829 |edition=1st |location=New York, NY |pages=90–114}}</ref> Oral tradition accounts that in the beginning, there was only a circular void (''mbûngi'') with no life.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last1=Asante |first1=Molefi Kete |title=Encyclopedia of African Religion |last2=Mazama |first2=Ama |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2009 |isbn=978-1412936361 |pages=120–124, 165–166, 361}}</ref> Nzambi Mpungu summoned a spark of fire (''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 the universe with the sun, stars, planets, etc.<ref name=":02"/> 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 Mpunga is also referred to as Kalûnga, the God of change.<ref name=":02"/> Similarities between the Bakongo belief of Kalûnga and the [[Big Bang|Big Bang Theory]] have been studied.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Luyaluka |first=Kiatezua Lubanzadio |date=2017 |title=The Spiral as the Basic Semiotic of the Kongo Religion, the Bukongo |journal=Journal of Black Studies |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=91–112 |doi=10.1177/0021934716678984 |jstor=26174215 |s2cid=152037988 |issn=0021-9347|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Nzambi is also said to have created two worlds. As Kalûnga filled mbûngi, it created an invisible line that divided the circle in half.<ref name=":02"/> The top half represents the physical world (''Ku Nseke'' or ''nsi a bamôyo''), while the bottom half represents the spiritual world of the ancestors (''Ku Mpèmba'').<ref name=":1" /> The Kalûnga line separates these two worlds, and all living things exists on one side or another.<ref name=":02" /> After creation, the line and the mbûngi circle became a river, carrying people between the worlds at birth and death. Then the process repeats and a person is reborn.<ref name=":02" /> A simbi (pl. bisimbi) is a water spirit that is believed to inhabit bodies of water and rocks, having the ability to guide ''bakulu'', or the ancestors, along the Kalûnga line to the spiritual world after death. They are also present during the [[baptism]]s of [[Black church|African American Christians]], according to [[Hoodoo (spirituality)|Hoodoo tradition]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Jeffrey E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1pFxDwAAQBAJ&dq=simbi&pg=PA108 |title=Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Conjure: A Handbook |date=2008 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=9780313342226 |location=Westport, Connecticut |page=114}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Manigault-Bryant |first1=LeRhonda S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dw8tBAAAQBAJ&q=spirits |title=Talking to the Dead: Religion, Music, and Lived Memory among Gullah/Geechee Women |date=2014 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=9780822376705 |location=Durham}}</ref>