Kantamasi

Who are the kantamasi?

Where many winti have their roots in Africa, the kantamasi are described by practitioners as spirits that came into being in Suriname itself. They belong to the forest and are linked with termite mounds, often near a kankantri, the giant kapok tree held sacred in Winti.

Kantamasi are described as brave, direct and sometimes blunt. They are said to be able to move unseen, which fits their life in and around the termite mound: present, but not always visible.

Kantamasi in dreams

The clearest sign is colour. A pangi in yellow with black stripes, or yellow with green, is linked by practitioners with the kantamasi. A termite mound, especially by a large tree, can also point in that direction.

Because clothing is often the key in Winti dreams, it pays to remember which colours you saw. A yellow-and-black pangi points within the tradition to something different from red and white, which belongs to the ingi, or white and blue, which belongs to Aisa.

What kantamasi asks

Accounts of what the kantamasi ask for vary, and the forum offers few fixed answers. What recurs is respect for the place where they live: not disturbing the termite mound and the kankantri lightly.

Someone who dreams of a figure in yellow and black, or keeps ending up at a termite mound, can have that looked at within the tradition through a luku. That makes clear whether a kantamasi walks with the family and what it asks.

How this winti can show itself in dreams