Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Baluba Mythology
Baluba Mythology
Baluba Mythology
The Baluba are one of the Bantu peoples of Central Africa. Their creator deity's name is Kabezya-Mpungu.
Contents
Creation myth of Kabezya-Mpungu
Notes
References
External links
In the creation story, Kabezya-Mpungu decides to become invisible after creating the world and the first
humans who did not yet have a heart. After balancing the rain, sun, moon, and darkness, he leaves. To
replace the visible god, he sends the people Mutshima ("heart"), the life-giving or divine part of humans.
..I don't want that humans will see me any more. I return into myself and send
Mutshima...Then Kabeza-Mpungu disappeared. Thereafter, the heart appeared, in a small,
hand-sized vessel. The heart cried and turned towards Sun, Moon, Darkness and Rain:
"Kabezya-Mpungu, our father, where is he!" "Father is gone, we don't know the way he
went". "Oh how much I am longing to see him" the heart replied, "to talk to him. Since I
cannot find him, I will enter into this man. So I will wander from generation to generation".[1]
Since then all humans have been endowed with Mutshima, the heart.
Notes
1. Cited according to the German version of the text from Carl Einstein's book. The German text
reads: Ich will nicht, daß Menschen mich länger sehen. Ich kehre in mich zurück und sende
Mutima...Darauf verschwand Kabezya-Mpungu. Es erschien darauf das Herz, in einem
kleinen, handgroßen Gefäß. Das Herz schrie und wandte sich gen Sonne, Mond, Finsternis
und Regen: "Kabezay-Mpungu, unser Vater, wo ist er!" "Vater ist fort, und wir kennen nicht
den Weg, den er ging." "Gewaltig sehnte ich mich" erwiederte das Herz, "mit ihm zu
sprechen. Da ich ihn nicht finden kann, trete ich in diesen Mann. So wandere ich von
Geschlecht zu Geschlecht. For the English version of Charlotte and Wolf Leslau see
external links.
References
Carl Einstein (Ed.) 1925: Afrikanische Märchen und Legenden; Rowohlt, 1925. Neuausgabe
(1980) MEDUSA Verlag Wölk + Schmid, Berlin. (in German)
Carl Einstein. African Legends (https://www.keyando.net/african-legends-carl-einstein-hg/),
First English edition, Pandavia, Berlin 2021. ISBN 9783753155821
Charlotte Leslau, Wolf Leslau (Ed.): African Folk Tales; Mount Vernon, 1963, N.Y. : Peter
Pauper Press
External links
Creation Myth of Kabezya-Mpungu (http://www.copyediting-l.info/ugandacreationmyth.html)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may apply. By
using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.