Aka Cosmos

The world of the Aka is one of what they know.  They are rarely educated in a formal setting so their knowledge of the world tends to be exaggerated in some sense.  The group believes in two types of "god" figures although they do not overly worship either.  The first is a creator god, Bembe, who is thought of as the one who put everything where it is, the Aka believe that Bembe worked very hard on creating everything there is now, and because of this Bembe has gone into eternal slumber or retired.  The other spirit that now guides and watches over the material world in Dzengi who is seen as the spirit of the forest.  He is the one who gives the Aka everything they have, the Aka will make sacrifices for Dzengi during the spring and fall.  These two spirits are traditions within the Aka which seem to be dying off as more and more Aka move out of the rainforests and into actual cities and communities.  Ceremonial dances are held frequently to ensure the productivity of the hunt, but also on the occasion of a death.  To deal with private matters, more intimate rites may be performed, perhaps with the assistance of an nganga.  An nganga is essentially the Aka version of a shaman and he tends to also serve as a consort to the spirit world, usually with the help of hallucinogens.  The Aka are also people who have a set of cultural taboos, known as ekila, which serve as a spiritual and moral guidance.  The Aka also tend to believe in a connection that each individual has to the spirit world, which can be tapped into with the help of an nganga.