Bakuba Mythology
In the beginning, the great god Mbombo ruled over darkness and water. When his stomach began to throb and burn, he vomited up the Sun, the Moon and the stars, which produced light. The heat from the Sun made the water evaporate, creating clouds above and drying the land below it. Mbombo vomited up trees and plants for the land and lightning to create fire. Then he vomited up fish, insects, and animals, including the leopard, eagle, and monkey. Then he vomited up the first woman and the first man. For a while, lightning produced fire to keep the two humans warm. But when lightning began to strike trees and animals, Mbombo banished it to live in the sky. Mbombo taught the man and woman to make fire by rubbing branches together to spark a flame. The woman and man had a son and daughter named Woto and Labama, who married each other. Woto was a curious man and wanted to see what else was in the world. He and Labama traveled west, past forests and rivers, until they came to a desert. Labama was unhappy about living in such a barren place, so Woto blew his horn again and again. The sound coaxed trees to rise out of the desert land, forming an entire forest where the couple built a house and brought up their own children. This creation account is similar to the Bushongo creation account from a neighboring tribe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
SOURCE:
African Mythology A to Z – Library Binding – May 1, 2010- Second Edition – Written by Patricia Ann Lynch (Author), Jeremy Roberts Dr (Editor) – Copyright © 2004, 2010 by Patricia Ann Lynch
