planet because it has gone through four stages.
The first is the emergence of the fire, the second is
the red stage, where the planet is still burning and
has not formed. The next is the grey stage where
the planet is cooling, but has not produced life.
These planets are naked, dry, and covered with
dust. Finally, the green stage is when the planet is
fully mature because it breathes and carries life.
As part of the universal order, all planets must go
through this process.
Another important characteristic of Bakongo
cosmology is the sun and its movements. The ris-
ing, peaking, setting, and absence of the sun pro-
vide the essential pattern for Bakongo religious
culture. These “four moments of the sun” equate
with the four stages of life: conception, birth,
maturity, and death. For the Bakongo, everything
transitions through these stages: planets, plants,
animals, people, societies, and even ideas. This
vital cycle is depicted by a circle with a cross
inside. In this cosmogram ordikenga, the meeting
point of the two lines of the cross is the most pow-
erful point and where the person stands.
PersonThe Bakôngo person, ormuntu, is a living-energy
being and a physical being. Therefore, themuntu
is a complex “pattern of patterns” or “principle of
principles” in being. Muntu is distinguished in
creation becausemuntuhavemwèla-nginduor a
dual soul-mind. The mwèla-ngindu has experi-
ences at each moment of the sun. The first
moment ismusoni, a time of beginnings. It is the
time of human conception in the womb.Kalais
the time of the sun rising and the physical birth of
a person.Tukulais the period of maturation and
the peak of creativity, a time when the person
ideally demonstrates mastery of life, whether in
familial, social, artistic, or spiritual realms.
Luvembatime is marked by physical death. A per-
son’s dual soul-mind or mpève-ngîndu interacts
with the local and/or world community after
death and continues to have experiences in theku
mpèmbain preparation for a new cycle of cre-
ation. For the Bakongo, a person is akala-zimi-
kala, a living-dying-living being.
The person standing at the crossroads forms a
“V” within thedikenga. The V is a sacred image
appearing throughout Bakongo weaving and
artistic designs. The three points of the V are also
represented in the three firestones, foundation of
Bakongo social order, and the three different col-
ored ingredients used in the divinatory calabash
and the three divisions of the precolonial Bakongo
kingdoms.Denise MartinSee alsoMuntu; NzambiFurther Readings
Asante, M. K.(2007).The History of Africa. London:
Routledge.
Fu-Kiau, K. K. B. (1991).Self Healing Power and
Therapy:Old Teachings From Africa. Baltimore:
Imprint Editions/Black Classics Press.
Fu-Kiau, K. K. B. (1994). Ntangu-Tandu-Kolo: The
Bantu-Kongo Concepts of Time. In J. Adjaye (Ed.),
Time in the Black Experience(pp. 17–34). Westport,
CT: Greenwood.
Fu-Kiau, K. K. B. (2001).Tying the Spiritual Knot:
African Cosmology of the Bantu Kongo.Principles of
Life and Living. Brooklyn, NY: Athelia Henrietta
Press.
Thompson, R. F. (1984).Flash of the Spirit:African and
Afro-American Art and Philosophy. New York:
Vintage, 1984.BAKOTA
The Bakota are an important ethnic group whose
principal location is the northeast of the country
of Gabon in Central Africa. They call their lan-
guage iKota. They are also known as Kota, Kuta,
and iKuta. Their neighbors, the Fang, call them
Mekora. Because the Bakota are organized along
patriarchal lines, they have developed many sub-
groups based on various patriarchies. Thus, one
can find Menzambi, Bougom, Sake, Ikota-la-hua,
and Ndambomo people who will say they are also
Bakota. In effect, these are subclans with their
own particular style and accent of speaking the
iKota language.
The meaning of the termBakotais controver-
sial, but it seems likely that the idea of bonding is
central to the meaning in the iKota language; this
is in line with much of the thinking in AfricanBakota 91