Theism: African Religion and the Bible
1.
The Fall: legend:
The first woman gave birth to a child which was stricken with a deadly
illness. She prayed to God for a cure. God gave her a test. He prepared two different dishes of
food: One dish was a tasty stew (of
mush) on which God put a little bag containing death. The other dish was quite repugnant looking,
covered with flies on which God put a little bag containing life. The woman was well instructed as to the kind
of food God had prepared and with regard to the consequences of her possible
disobedience. One day she was very
hungry and God was away, so she took the tasty dish. She had hardly tasted it when her child
died. So death came into the world. This is the story that we were told about how death came about when we young called (utushimi)
2.
The tower of Babel: legend recalls that the migration of people
was caused by the fall of the great tower the sons of princes had built. When the high tower collapsed, a great number
of people, engaged in constructing it, died.
3. Other
references to the Bible:
a)
the first born (ibeli) have
special names and are endowed with special powers regarding heredity (Exodus 13).
b)
soldiers going to war;
hunters going to the chase; fishermen going to fish; farmers going to the
harvest, etc, all are forbidden marriage relations with their wives (Exodus 14).
c)
an eye for an eye, a tooth
for a tooth (Exodus 21, 24).
d)
sorcerers are put to death
(Exodus 22, 18).
e)
first fruits (Exodus 33,
19).
f)
taboos regarding animals
(Lev. XI, 7): eg wild pigs for chiefs; a
few impure birds & reptiles (Lev. XI, 13-19; 29-32; 41-44), all these are
forbidden to Africans as well. (Note
also the rules regarding impurities, ablutions, fire, water, in-laws (mako)).
g)
(** This paragraph appears
only in the second manuscript) ‘Pa mwela akasuba nga takabalike, pa kwanika
amale babula umwana wa libwe uo bapelako amale, babula no mufito bashilapo
umusalaba. (Atemwa: babulo mwiko
bashilapo musalaba) e kulomba akasuba kuli Lesa’. (** In the cold season, when the sun does not
shine and the millet spread on the ground does not dry, people take the small
grinding stone with which they grind millet, and charcoal, and draw a cross (on
the stone). Or, they take the wooden
spoon (mwiko) and write a cross on it with the charcoal: this is done to beg for the sun.)
1. 2. IMILUNGU - NGULU, gods
and higher spirits
Between ‘Lesa,’ the supreme and
only one God, and man who has to struggle in his social, economic and family
life, there is a world of spirits and semi-divinities, which are considered
independently of God, yet, they influence the destiny of man. These are the ‘IMILUNGU’ and the ‘NGULU’.
1.2.A. Imilungu - Divinities
These are the great phenomena and
forces of nature which the African has divinized. Here are some of them:
a)
MULENGA is demi-god of
nature who does not have a habitat properly speaking. His mother is Nakonkola. He is dreaded because of his evil doings,
epidemics and plagues. In 1894 a cattle
pest killed many animals in the bush.
Mulenga was its author. Again, in
1927, a plague of smallpox ravaged the country, and Africans claimed that they
had seen Mulenga in the sky holding a
bent bow and arrow in his hand with which to kill men. Again, in the spring when an epidemic killed
many fowl, Mulenga was the cause. To him
is attributed earth tremors and other phenomena (finjelengwe). In this honor small huts for the spirit
worship (mfuba) are erected on high anthills (fyulu). These ‘mfuba’ have two doors, one facing the
east and the other the west. On his
circuits in the night to the east, Mulenga must pass the ‘lufuba’. If he sees a ‘lufuba’ to his liking he groans
as he passes it, but he does not harm anybody.
No offering of beer or flour is made to him. Women seek to appease him by throwing their
cinders from the house towards the west.
Africans sometimes dream about Mulenga, especially when they are
suffering from indigestion. Then, they
assert that Mulenga has appeared to them with a most forbidding mien. Mulenga is also called Kaino.
b)
MUSONDA is a god of nature
who resides in a lake at the source of Kalungwishi river. Mporokoso district. He is called ‘Musonda we tandwa’ (lake),
‘Shincinda’ and ‘Musonda wa mpemba’ (tree haunted by his spirit). His wife is Congo Watundusa. Here is the legend:
Once, the ancestors crossed
the river Kafubu when they came upon a huge cloven rock in the middle of which
they found elephants’ tusks and offerings of cloth inserted. The ancestors said to each other: “Here we have a treasure. Let us pull them out.” They put themselves to work until they had
completely split the rock in two and rolled it into the plain (ico tumona na
nomba icilibwe ico bakunkulwishe). Until
today we see this rock which they had rolled out. It is Kabwe.
The ancestors then continued their journey until they came to a pool
where riches had been deposited. They
now began to bail out the water (kupasha amenshi) and they carried on work for
many days. The water emptied out soon
became a river, now called Kalungwishi. (Amenshi yapongoloka, yasanguka
umumana, e Kalungwishi = The water
poured out, was changed into a river. It
is the Kalungwishi.) But, the pool never
completely dried up. One day, they saw
Musonda seated on a throne holding the spirits (ifinshingwa) of the Lunda
people in servitude since they had formerly come to seize the elephants’ tusks.
The Africans state that even
today the bottom of the lake is still white from the elephants’ tusks. In the midst of this one sees the black
shadows of the Lunda passing backwards and forwards holding in their hands
their double-edged axes (mpoko) and knives.
The Lungu offer sacrifice
and prayers to Musonda. When these rites
are pleasing to Musonda the weeds which cover the lake withdraw to the north,
and the lake appears in all its whiteness.
But when Musonda is displeased, weeds almost completely cover the lake
leaving only a little opening. Its water
becomes black. The nearby pagans set up
shrines (mfuba) to Musonda, and make offerings of beer and cloth (imyala). These offerings are given to Musonda by
Mukupa, Chitoshi and sometimes by Mwamba.
The python (ulusato) a son of Musonda (Mwana Musonda), is also venerated
there.
c)
CHISHIMBA Chamakota, this is
the magnificent falls near Chilubula mission (Kasama district). The falls are considered to be haunted by the
spirit (ngulu) of Chishimba.
The legend: When Chiti came into the Ituna country, there
was a man
called Chishimba, a polygamist, who had two
daughters born from his two
wives Nakaela and Ntanda. Two suitors presented themselves to
Chishimba. One Kampinda married the
older daughter, while the other, Mutumuna,
married the second born. The mother-in-law, Nakaela prepared a rich
porridge (bwali) for the two daughters.
Bearing the two dishes, she presented herself at Kampinda’s hut which
was in complete darkness. Then, she
hurried over to the Mutumuna, which was lit up with a lamp placed in a basket
(lusaniko or lwasho). Kampinda, when
told that his mother-in-law had hurried away from his hut, was angry on account
of this slight to his character, and began to criticize harshly his
father-in-law (amuseba). The angry
Chishimba threw herself into the first fall.
Nakaela then threw herself into the second fall. Mutumuna threw himself into the third fall
and Ntanda into the fourth fall.
Kampinda however took himself off into flight. The lamp was taken to Chitimukulu who had
wanted to steal it. This lamp is
preserved today at Mwalule (the burial place of the para-mount chiefs of
Bemba).
Chishimba has his priest who
make offerings to him. There are the
priests (shimapepo) on both sides of the river, ‘Mw’ishilya lya Kasenga (on the
side of the Kasenga). They are Munshele,
Namwaba and Chombo, while on the side of Kasula (Mw’ishilya lya mu Kasula) they
are Mulanga, Kankobwe and Chisutula.
Chishimba also has his diviners and interpreters (bakasesema). There are Mutoba-Mpande, Kalonga, Nakatonya,
Shimwaba and Chipapa. The priests either
belong to the frog or otter totems (abena luo = frog clan; abena mbao = other
clan).
When a wild animal dies on
one bank of the river near the falls, people on the other side of the river may
not cross the Luombe to take it away.
The heirs of Chishimba are the sons of Nshili Mfumu. At the time of writing, they are Mariko Lobati,
Gabrieli Kwimbe and Isako Shimwaba.
d)
KAPOPO MUKALI and
Cishimweshimwe.
Kapopo is an ‘ngulu’ in the
country of Lubumbu at Nshinga at Mwebe.
The legend:
There was a man-eating
dragon (calemina abantu (…) it eat men called Shimweshimwe. Kapopo made a huge
pot from anthill earth (aimbe culu abumba icilongo icikalamba). He shut up all the chiefs in it. Kapopo said: ‘Kantinye ici cintu. Aikala pa culu, aoca, afula mafumo. Ici cintu caisa, canunsha abantu mu nongo
aciti: Panunka untu untu. Caya: Cabwela aciti: Panunka untu untu. Awe Kapopo acilasa, casuka cafwa.’ (** Let us make this thing afraid. He stayed on the anthill. He lit a fire and forged spears. This thing approaches, it smells the stink of
human flesh in the pot, and says: “it
stinks very much.” He goes away. It returns and says: “It stinks much.” Then Kapopo pierces it with his spear, and it
dies.)
e)
MAKUMBA and NGOSA.
The Ushi people, in Mansa
district, has two great protecting spirits (ngulu) called Makumba (male) and
Ngosa (female). They live in a little
temple three meters in diameter at the source of the rivers Mansa and
Nambushi. A priestess resides there to
care for the sacred fire. Several
priests look after the temple, the senior of whom is Chilaluka, a marvelous ventriloquist
who consults the spirits from time to time.
Makumba and Ngosa are two meteors weighing only several ounces, and the
legend says that they fell from the sky.
Makumba, the male, is enveloped in python skins, crowned with a massive
head of white feathers. There are
adorned with shells (mpande), the royal emblems. Formerly, Makumba was consulted by Msidi,
Kanyanta and other powerful chiefs.
The woman Ngosa, sister of
Makumba, stays beside him and is also covered in python skins. These oracular fetishes are firmly believed
to be of a miraculous origin, and they have procured much wealth and great
renown for their guardians. Formerly,
when these fetishes were carried in front of the army, victory was assured. There was one exception; the Arab chief
Chiwale on one occasion desecrated the temple and took away Makumba and
plundered all his riches.
f)
Other demi-gods: CHANGA and KAPONGOLO (near Kasama).
Changa is a mountain in the
heart of which is a wonderful cave: ‘e
canga mwibwe’ (** this is Changa of the
rocks).
There
is also Kapembwa near Lake Tanganyika; Mwenya of the Cishinga people
(Kawambwa); Chisha, a mountain divinity by the Lungu whose priest bears the
name of Chisha and who intercedes for the people with the god.
All the above divinities and others, are natural
phenomena divinized by Africans which have magical influences over human beings
through the medium of the spirits (ngulu) of ancestors. These ancestral spirits have kind of incarnated
themselves with the forces of nature.
These are gods properly speaking even although they are sometimes called
‘ngulu.’ (** Mulungu - ngulu. The term ‘mulungu’, or muungu,’ is borrowed
from the languages of East Africa, Swahili, Cichewa etc. The term ‘ngulu’ is a local word, which the
Bemba found when they came in the country.)
Our bemba names carry so many meanings of idol worship, thats why when you are a born again christian you need to break all the ngulu (demons) from your name and all curses that come with it. Knowledge is power i hope someone learns something from this as for me i have a learnt a lot from this. GOD BLESS YOU ALL
By Mulenga
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