Candomblé Bantu


Candomblé Bantu is one of the major branches of the Candomblé religious belief system. It developed in the Portuguese Empire among Kongo and Mbundu slaves who spoke Kikongo and Kimbundu languages. The supreme and creative god is Nzambi or Nzambi a Mpungu. Below him are the Jinkisi or Minkisi, deities of Bantu mythology. These deities resemble Olorun and the other orishas of the Yoruba religion. Minkisi is a Kongo language term: it is the plural of Nkisi, meaning "receptacle". Akixi comes from the Kimbundu language term Mukixi.

Etymology

The word "Bantu" means "people"; it is a combination of ba, a plural noun marker and -ntu, meaning "person". "Banto" was a generic term used by the Portuguese in Brazil to describe people who spoke Bantu languages.

Pantheon