View source for Mfinda

{{Short description|Concept in Kongo religion}}
[[File:Kongo Cosmogram 4.png|thumb|This depiction of the [[Kongo cosmogram|Kongo Cosmogram]] is based on a description by Dr. Fu-Kiau. It depicts the physical world known as Nseke, the spiritual (ancestral) world known as Mpémba, the [[Kalûnga Line|Kalûnga river]] that runs between the two worlds, the four moments of the sun, and the mfinda (forest) that spiritually connects both worlds.]]
'''Mfinda''' is a spiritual concept of the forest in [[Kongo religion]].

== Belief ==
Nature is essential to Kongo spirituality. While [[simbi]] (pl. bisimbi) nature spirits later became more associated with water, or ''kalûnga'', they were also known to dwell in the forest, or ''mfinda'' (''finda'' in [[Hoodoo (spirituality)|Hoodoo]]). The Kingdom of Kongo used the term ''chibila'', which referred to sacred groves, where they would venerate these forest spirits. The Kingdom of Loango called them ''bakisi banthandu'', or spirits of the wilderness.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Ras Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1rEgAwAAQBAJ |title=African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-107-66882-9 |edition=1st |location=New York, NY |pages=26, 27, 90-102, 106-110, 119-121, 123}}</ref> The Kingdom of Ndongo preferred the name ''xibila'' (pl. ''bibila'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dennett |first=Richard Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-RmooAEACAAJ |title=At the Back of the Black Man's Mind; Or Notes on the Kingly Office in West Africa |publisher=Forgotten Books |year=1906 |isbn=9781605060118 |pages=114–118}}</ref>

The Kongo people also believed that some ancestors inhabited the forest after death and maintained their spiritual presence in their descendants' lives. These particular ancestors were believed to have died, traveled to Mpémba, and then were reborn as bisimbi. Thus, ''The Great Mfinda'' existed as a meeting point between the physical world and the spiritual world. The living saw it as a source of physical nourishment through hunting and spiritual nourishment through contact with the ancestors. One expert on Kongo religion, Dr. Fu-Kiau, even described some precolonial Kongo cosmograms with mfinda as a bridge between the two worlds.<ref name=":2" />

=== Nganga ===
Mfinda is also where Kongo secret societies, such as ''Kinkimba'' and ''Lemba'', initiated new healers. Expert healers, known as [[Nganga|banganga]] (sing. nganga) underwent extensive training to commune with the ancestors in the spiritual realm and seek guidance from them. These new initiates learned how to locate nature spirits and build a connection. Once they became official banganga, it became their duty to seek them out in the forest and venerated them with shrines, sacred trees, and ''[[Nkisi|minkisi]]'' (sing. ''nkisi''). In return, the ancestor or nature spirit would pass on untold history, advise the nganga, or allow them to harness their powers for healing or protection.<ref name=":2" />

=== American diaspora ===
The concept of mfinda as a spiritual space also emerged in the [[Thirteen Colonies|colonial United States]] through [[Atlantic slave trade|trans-Atlantic slavery]] and became known locally as ''finda''. Bakongo descendants saw the wilderness as a symbol of freedom but also sorrow. Because early enslaved Bakongo had no ancestors on this side of kalûnga (which became synonymous with the [[Atlantic Ocean]]), it meant they had no blood tie to the new lands in which they were transported.<ref name=":2" /> Thus, banganga had no way to connect to the spiritual world. To remedy this, some [[Kongo people|Bakongo]] and [[Ambundu|Mbundu]] willingly committed acts of sacrificial suicide so that they could become ancestors or [[simbi]] and connect the living to ''Mpémba'', the spiritual world. The finda then became a sacred space, where sightings of "cymbee" spirits were often recorded by [[African Americans|Black Americans]]. Today, the finda is still a significant element in [[Hoodoo (spirituality)|Hoodoo]].<ref name=":2" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{Kingdom of Kongo|state=autocollapse}}

[[Category:African diaspora]]
[[Category:African mythology]]
[[Category:Afro-American religion]]
[[Category:Bantu religion]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Kongo]]
[[Category:Kongo]]
[[Category:Kongo culture]]
[[Category:Kongo religion]]
[[Category:Nature]]
[[Category:Paganism]]
[[Category:Religion in Africa]]