Bakongo

Creation and Cosmology

The principle creator of the world is Nzambi Mpungu, the sovereign master. After creating the world and all creatures in it, Nzambi Mpungu withdrew and has little interest in the world and its inhabitants. Although Nzambi Mpungu withdrew, he still causes the rain to fall and seeds to grow into food to sustain people. Nzambi Mpungu is also responsible for their health and the birth of children. Nzambi Mpungu is strong, rich, and good, although also responsible for death. Nzambici is God the essence, the god on Earth, the great princess, the mother of all the animals. Nzambi is the mystery of the Earth. She was sent to the Earth by Nzambi Mpungu, who then marries her, making him the father of all creation. Nzambi gave humanity all laws, ordinances, arts, games, and musical instruments and settled quarrels between animals. She also stole a part of Nzambi Mpungu's fire. Other deities among the Bakongo are Ntangu who is the sun, Ngonde the moon, Nzassi who is thunder, Lusiemo who is lightning, and Chicamassi-chinuinji who dwells in the sea.

Like many African groups, the Bakongo have numerous accounts of creation and the origins of things. Often in these narratives, the activities of different deities or characters vary from, contradict, or clarify previous information. This is the nature of oral cultures, in which storytelling is fluid and contextual, but also in which knowledge is esoteric. In such cultures, stories mask deeper knowledge that is known only to initiates. What follows is an account of Bakongo cosmology, from an ngdânga, an initiate into an Africa way of thinking, using concrete and less symbolic or mythological language.

The world was empty of all life in the beginning. A fire force, kalÛnga, emerged within this empty circle, or mbÛngi, and heated up its contents, which, when cooled, formed the Earth. The Earth, the starting point of the fire, is now a green [Page 90]planet because it has gone through four stages. The first is the emergence of the fire, the second is the red stage, where the planet is still burning and has not formed. The next is the grey stage where the planet is cooling, but has not produced life. These planets are naked, dry, and covered with dust. Finally, the green stage is when the planet is fully mature because it breathes and carries life. As part of the universal order, all planets must go through this process.

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