The Baluba are one of the Bantu peoples of Central
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
. Their creation deity's name is Kabezya-Mpungu.
The Baluba creation story makes a connection between God's invisibility or unavailability, and the endowment of humans with a soul or divine component longing for God.
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.
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The Baluba are one of the Bantu peoples of Central
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
. Their creation deity's name is Kabezya-Mpungu.
Creation myth of Kabezya-Mpungu
The Baluba creation story makes a connection between God's invisibility or unavailability, and the endowment of humans with a soul or divine component longing for God.
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 Mutima...Then Kabeza-Mpungu disappeared. Thereafter, the heart appeared, in a small, hand-sized vessel. The heart cried and turned towards Sun, Moon, Darknes 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".
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Since then all humans have been endowed with Mutshima, the heart.
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