A nkisi is a power or spirit from the invisible world of the dead, who may also reside in a statue. A nkisi can offer protection from disease and other calamities, punish criminals, and affirm agreements, alliances, and protestations of innocence.<Br>The ritual specialist or nganga brings a nkisi to life by attaching an empowering substance (bilongo) to it. Bilongo entices a spirit to come down from the heavens and to take up residence in the figure. In this healer figure, there are remnants of bilongo in the small receptacle on the belly. The mirror is the eye of the nkisi. Through the mirror, he had identify and deter the evil spirit that causes the disease.<Br>The nganga would swing this nkisi around in their air, to cure sufferers. After that the nkisi was probably hung in the sufferer’s hut, until the evil had been averted. The disease consisted of an evil spirit that manifested itself in the person’s body. The sufferer would also be instructed to keep to a prescribed list of dietary and other rules.