As shown by its congruence with the kemetic cosmological argument, In the hierarchical classification of Kôngo spirits are found:

1. Nzâmbi Ampûngu Tulêndo, the transcendent supreme spirit. The terms mpûngu and n’kisi are synonymous, and mean power or spirit. The transcendence of Mpûngu Tulêndo, the Most High, means that the prayers of true initiates are never directly addressed to him.

2. The bikînda: the transcendent celestial spirits. They are co-existent and co-eternal with Nzâmbi Ampûngu Tulêndo. Hence, like for the Most High, prayers are not addressed directly to them.

3. The spirits of the holy ancestors:

a. The bakisi (plural of the word n’kisi in the meaning of spirit): these are the temporal manifestations of bikînda.

b. The bakulu ba maza: the ancestors who inhabit a world of holiness symbolized by water, mpêmba. The bakisi inhabit us and animate us, while the bakulu surround us and protect us.

4. The bisimbi (plural of sîmbi): they are tutelary spirits, genii who inhabit the elements of nature and animate them.

Between the spirits of the ancestors (bakisi and bakulu ba maza) and the bisîmbi, a category of spirits called nkita or bankita must be inserted. These are the spirits of the holy ancestors who are attached to a person or to an element of nature and serve it. Hence, by the way, we speak of nkita-sîmbi. This is their use in the divine practice of Bukongo, i.e., requiring the purity of the initiate. The Kimpasi was a school of the nkita.

However, it must be remembered that the power (n’kisi) acquired in divine practice can be perpetuated and transmitted by faith as human power. The nkita is then symbolized by an object (often taken from the water) also called nkita, it is then used in the human practice of Bukôngo.