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KITAPO

Kitapo (alternative spelling Chitapo) is the Bemba name of an ancient water spirit who protects children from the waves and rapids in the Kafue River of Zambia. She is known as a river mermaid who much like the water spirit Mami Wata, rewards the pure-hearted while punishing the un-virtuous, and is therefore equally loved and feared. She is part of a vast pantheon of African/Carribean water creatures that are said to dwell in pools, springs, lakes, mouths of rivers, rapids, and waterfalls.

These spirits are called ngulu by the Bemba, and are still propitiated for blessings of rainfall and abundant harvests by both Christian and non-Christian populations in today's Zambia.

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Merbeings have existed for centuries in all of Africa, and many shrines have been built at the sites of these sacred locations. In the spirit of creating this sanctuary with the guiding hands of my Indigenous Zambian Ancestors, this is my shrine for the water. 

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