Editing Simbi (section)

== Kongo spirituality ==
{{Main article|Kongo religion}}
The [[Kongo people|Bakongo people]] traditionally believe that bisimbi are magically water spirits (in [[Kongo language|kikongo]]: ''nkisi mia mamba'') that can appear as a person, a snake, pottery, a [[Calabash|calabash vine]], or ''Kalûnga'', a spark of fire, similar to the spark that begot the universe in Kongo [[creation myth]]ology.<ref name=":2">{{cite web |last1=Adams |first1=Natalie P. |title=The "Cymbee" Water Spirits of St. John's Berkeley |url=http://www.diaspora.illinois.edu/news0607/news0607-3.pdf |access-date=16 April 2021 |website=The African Diaspora Archeology Network |publisher=University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign}}</ref> There have also been claims of bisimbi appearing as birds, twisted trees and [[Mermaid|mermaid-like beings]].<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref name=":2" /> 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.<ref name=":1" />