THE KINGDOM OF KIMBANDA = Baba Osvaldo OmotobatalaBy Osvaldo Omotobatdld. All Rights Reserved © 1999 ISBN 978-0-557-62778-3 It is forbidden any kind of reproduction, transmission or filing in recoverable systems of this book, whether for public or private use, by mechanical or electronic means such as photocopies, recordings or any other total or partial system of this book, with or nonprofit, without express permission from the author. Lulu.comINTRODUCTION Kimbanda was (and in some places still is) one more line within Afro-Brazilian cults and syncretism whose influences are Bantu, South American indigenous peoples, Catholic, Nago or Yoruba, modern spiritualism and Eastern currents Among all the melting pot of cultures that arrived to Brazil these types of syncretic cults were born, that many do not understand or confuse with some types of more pure and traditional religions, like some of the nations of Candomble. We must also clarify that, due to the syncretism between Exu (Esti) and the Devil, there was a lot of confusion on this subject, and even today many still believe that Kimbanda is some kind of satanic worship. We will also make clear that the Exu of Kimbanda is not the Exu of Candomblé (the minor orixa from Yoruba culture). The Exu of Kimbanda is just an Egun (the soul of a person who belonged to the cult) and that arrives as a messenger of the true Eshu (Exu). The same thing happens with other Lines or Bands dedicated to some Orixa. For example, in the Ogun Line (in Umbanda or in some other syneretic cults) the ones who arrive are the spirits of Indigenous Americans or African descendant Blacks, who in life would have been warriors who used the sword and who also belonged to the cult. And even though we know that those who arrive are not the Yoruba Orixa Ogun himself, we also call them "Ogum Beira Mar" (Seaside Ogum) , ‘Ogum 7 Espadas" Seven Swords Ogum), etc. The real name that should be given to the Spirit of Kimbanda would be "Kimbandas', as it comes exactly from the name of these great sorcerers. The kimbandas are a sort of "Magic Healers" that became popular in Bantu Africa as much as during slavery days in Brazil, due to their trance states, their way of using cigars and drinks, and their almost direct contact with the dead. Since in many aspects these "kimbandas' had a certain resemblance to the Yoruba Esé, after their death they were considered his messengers, according, to Bantu and indigenous traditions, as the two cultures believe that the Spirit of a shaman or medicine man returns to Earth through tance states provoked in some other living witchman, and according, to his/her actions on Earth he or she would become a messenger of some Nkisi or Encantado (energies of Nature) We are dealing with Egun-Exu (Exu of Kimbanda) spirits, who lived about the end of Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries, what explains their dressing and behavioural manners. Moreover, we must also note that the organization that many authors introduced and still present as the true hierarchical organization of Kimbanda, is only a textual copying, (or plagiarism) of an ancient diabolical evoking, book from Western culture, about "demons’, their hierarchies and powers, whose title is Grimorinm Verum. Given that this book already existed before the discovery of Brazil, and given that we consider Kimbanda as we know it an Afro-Brazilian cult, any studies about Kimbanda based on the organization found on that book would be as wrong as studying the Yoruba pantheon on the basis of the history of Catholic saints.Thus, based on studies that have taken us half of our life, we finally gathered enough data and knowledge to be able to offer the reader the closest approximation to the organization of Kimbanda, which is also supported by popular beliefs and by many of the spirits who manifest in this cult We will also make clear that Kimbanda is not synonymous of the Devil, or darkness, or witchcraft, It's like any other spiritist expression, a way to get ahead in daily life and try to grow spiritually, with "compadres" (buddies) and "comadres" (midwives) on our side, giving us joy in times of grief through their advices and “force”. We know that unfortunately some unscrupulous people use the "magic" of Kimbanda for the practice of evil, but this is men’s fault, not from the Entities; it would be like blaming the gun for killing, when the offender or benefactor (depending, on the use given to this weapon) is only the one who carries it. Baba Osvaldo OmotobatLEGENDS AND MYTHS ‘THE BEGINNING as in Kimbanda In the beginning there was only Nzambi, the uncreated, owner of all the mirongas (secrets). It was a great mass of throbbing semi-material energy, threatening to explode at any moment. Nzambi decided it was in a state of maternity, and suddenly there were millions of bits of matter rolling counterclockwise from the center. The universe had been created: Nzambi had become Ngomi (the visible universe), and each tiny piece of matter became a star, a planet, etc, From then all the components of the universe started separating from each other, becoming increasingly larger. At this point Nzambi decided to create a Creature that would wander through all the various spaces, Nzambi began to focus on a fixed point and gave life to Exu, or Aluvaia. Exu was doubly created, man and woman at the same time, just like Nzambi was. At the moment of its creation from a very tiny bit of Nzambi, it gave Exu seven special powers, and said: 1 “To be able to tour the areas I can’t reach for myself, I give you the key that opens the limits between one space and another, between light and darkness, warm and cold” 2. “I give you the gift of being free to choose between good and evil” 3 "You will have the knowledge and memory of everything from your birth, and your own experiences may enrich your wisdom”. 4" T give you the power to create living creatures, shedding your own energy on inert matter”. 5 "You will be able to travel in time, so you can know the past and future of everything that’s below you, but not your own future”. 6 "You will have the intelligence to understand any type of creature, superior or inferior to you”, 7- "If necessary, you will have to chance to divide yourself, creating, spiritual beings similar to you, but with less powers and capacities. Be careful with this, for once you divide yourself you will not unite again, because that secret remains with me”.THE BIRTH OF ALL THE OTHER EXU {as in Kimbanda) Exu had a mission: visiting all the places Nzambi could not reach. In particular, the zone that was the realm of darkness, because as Nzambi itself was a great Light, it could never see the shadows. Exu had been made in a dark red color, containing lots of moving particles, shiny as red-hot coals. This colouring allowed Exu to be in any kind of space, from light to dark. After some time, and alter wandering, through several dark spaces, Exu began to feel vain, and decided that he would never return with Nzambi, crowning himself as “King of the Dark Zone". Over time he realized he wasall alone, and trying to imitate Nzambi he used his power of division creating seven Beings out of himself, giving his own powers and faculties to each other, but with less force than him. He told them: “Each one of you has been created to handle a single space; as there are seven different dimensions, and this is the way to be in all of them at the same time” Each of these Beings crowned himself King of a space, and so the first seven crowned kings in the Kimbanda mythology were born: 1- Rei das7 Encruzilhadas/ Rainha das 7 Encruzilhadas (King and Queen of the Seven Crossroads) 2- Rei dos7 Cruzeiros / Rainha dos 7 Cruzeiros (King and Queen of the Seven Crossings) 3. Rei das7 Liras/ Rainha Maria Padilha (King of the Seven Lyres / Queen Maria Padilha) 4 Rei da Kalunga/ Rainha da Kalunga (King and Queen of the Kalunga or Cemetery) 5- Rei das Almas / Rainha das Almas (King and Queen of the Souls) 6 Rei das Matas/ Rainha das Matas (King and Queen of the Forests) 7- Rei da Praia/ Rainha da Praia (King, and Queen of the Beach) As every kingdom was originally divided into seven areas, each of the kings decided to divide himself in seven more parts, so they could be everywhere at once. A consequence of Exu’s power to divide himself was that each of the new separate parts acquired his own personality. All the other resulting, Exu also split themselves in seven parts after their birth, and this division went on as a chain reaction bomb, until the last ones did not have enough energy nor powers to divide themselves anymore. Then the expansion stopped. The first 57 Exu were the most powerful ones, and became chiefs of all the rest. They were responsible for giving a name to all the ones powerful enough to be called “Exu”, and they also gave them their assignments within each territory. Those in the 6lower level, the ones who had no power, were not given any mission nor place within the Kingdom of Exu. When they realized there was no place for them, all these spirits met and a large group of them went straight to talk with King Exu (Exu Rei), the first of all, who now took the place of a god. Upon arriving they kneeled down at the great throne, with their heads resting on the big red carpet embroidered with gold thread, and not daring to look at the King’s face they exposed their problems to him. The King politely heard their complaints and told them to calm down, as he envisioned in the future a very important mission for them. He also told them that he would give them a bit of his energy to compensate their trouble. So he did, and using his power to shed energy in inert matter, Exu took their spirits and trapped them in material bodies. These were the first human beings living on Earth. They were androgynous (with both sexes), and their sexual organs were only half-developed. This had the great disadvantage that they were unable to have any offspring. When they died, King Exu had to use his energy again to replace their spirits in the matter.THE SEX DIVISION Time passed, and King Exu realized he was wasting his energy bringing the androgynous creatures to life, and since he did not recover it he was weakening, Then he thought about a way of solving this situation. So he realized that he owned the key that opens all the boundaries between things, and that this key also closed them, being able to separate spaces or things. Then he decided to split these creatures in two different sexual genders, so the human beings themselves would be responsible for creating an offspring without his contribution, and his resulting loss of energy. When alll the androgynous men died, King Exu gathered them and told them that, in order to perpetuate their existences somehow, he should split their two genders in two separate material and spiritual bodies. There was a great controversy: many of them began complaining, others murmured, some wept and others remained silent. A seventh part of all them revolted and ran away, shouting that they didn’t want to be “split” because they were already weak enough, and being like this wasn’t their fault atall. King Exu shouted at them —If your wish is to stay like this, so be it! But you will not have any material bodies for your spirits, because from now on there will only be bodies with defined sexes! Then King Exu extended his hand and created a new space within all kingdoms (they were divided in seven until then), locking them up there. Then he said: — For revolting against your King and your destiny, as @ punishment you shall nover be neither man nor woman, neither here nor when you incarnate on Earth Your space will be the darkness, and you mission will have to do with sexual aberrations and immoral acts. Later on, this rebel group became known as “Kiumbas”, meaning utter darkness; but they are also called “obscured”, meaning they belong to the group of spirits with no light. In other cultures they were known as “succubus and incubus”. Their function is to harm people in their sexual and moral integrity, ie dragging them to commit acs contrary to the nature of each sex. Kimbanda worshipers always try to put this kind of spirits away, as they are also entangled, envious, disruptive, etc. Occasionally, despite King Exu’s words, somebody with both sexes appears on Earth, to remind people where they come from, and maybe because some Kiumba was forgiven. Then King Exu turned to all the rest, the six remaining, parts of the total. He split their spirits and gave thom sexually defined bodies. It was the birth of Man and Woman, whose mission is to get together and procreate, so there will always be bodies available in which to incarnate in. For these spirits that did not revolt and agreed to be split in two sexes, King Exu created a room inside every kingdom: in this way, now kingdoms had nine territories. A neutral space, neither good nor bad, neither light nor dark, occupied by the souls still in need to overcome themselves in order to gain new spaces. After genders were split in two, female and male spirits began an argument to decide who should command over the other. King Exu told them: —You must understand that you need each other, since you were One beforeyour separation, Man shail command in certain aspects, while woman shall do it in others.BEGINNING OF THE FIRST RELIGIONS The whole planet Earth, gases, minerals, water, the forces of nature, plants, etc, were a part of Nzambi and had its essence of purity. When Exu separated both sexes he no longer worried about losing energy, but about trying to recover it. So King Exu decided that, in order to regain his own essence, he should take it from the creatures he made himself, And within the cult in his honor, he demanded the sacrifice of human beings, since Exu’s energy was in the blood. At the dawn of humanity, sacrifices of men, women and children became common all over planet Earth and in different cultures. Let's get back to all the rest of the Exu, Since they were a part of King Exu, they made the same mistakes and tried the same solutions as him, but on a smaller scale. Following the decreasing order of powers, all the other Exu created animated beings as well: at first animals had both sexes, until they were also split in two. That was the birth of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, etc. But in animal kingdom, less evolved creatures remained at the lowest levels of it Less powerful Exus, for instance, were the creators of worms or snails. They didn’t have enough energy to separate them in two sexes, so until today they remain hermaphrodites. Men took his first stops in religion and magic. He had a thirst for power and knowledge, and he thought that the only god who owns everything was Exu. Some people claimed for eternal life, and Exu had no choice but to tell them that there was a Higher Being, higher than him, called Nzambi Opongo/Nzambira Lapong, who owned that secret and all the others. These men felt disappointed and abandoned the cult of Exu, becoming bitter enemies of Exu and inciting other men to abandon their religion. They were prophets who proclaimed the existence of a hitherto unknown, God, inaccessible and invisible. Given the increasing number of worshippers of that God and the arrival of a new kingdom, King, Exu felt that his own kingdom and glory were endangered, and resolved to go back to Nzambi’s area to find out the secret of eternal life, and please again the faithful ones he had lost. When he arrived where Nzambi was, he blataltly lied saying, that, since there were so many spaces left to wander around, travelling so much had consumed his primal energy and that fearing for his life, he wanted to know the secret of eternal life. Nzambi told him: “I perceive that you are lying. Even more, the reason for your weakness is that you used your power of division to create material beings. 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