Death and the Invisible Powers: The World of Kongo Belief

"The description of Kongo culture is vivid, beautifully clear, and absolutely authentic, as only a native could make it. The marvelous anecdotes are worth any amount of anthropological summary...I don't know of anything of its kind that is both as good, ethnographically, and as readable." - Wyatt MacGaffey. Rich in anecdote and firsthand experience, "Death and the Invisible Powers" is an account of the spiritual life of the Kongo people by a native of Lower Zaire. Setting aside the stereotypes about Kongo beliefs and practices, Simon Bockie reveals a subtle, coherent religious outlook that governs all aspects of Kongo life. Bockie shows that Kongo life is communal, rather than individualistic. But the communal order of this world is only part of the larger design that extends into the invisible world of spirits. Communication with the invisible world is an integral part of daily life, and traditional beliefs are still vigorously held by many educated and Christianized Africans, who have adapted them to urban settings. For Bockie, this reaffirmation of African cultural identities is a significant aspect of contemporary African life that may offer encouragement to African Americans in their search for roots.