Creation Myth (Bushongo Mythology)

## Compatibility Version

In the beginning, there was nothing. Just primordial water, and an old, tired god named Bumba. One day, Bumba fell ill from the loneliness he had endured for aeons; the sickness was so intense that he vomited, and the sun came into being. As the universe was flooded with light, the edges of the world were shown - but then, Bumba vomited the moon, and the world was at balance. Then he created the stars, again from vomit.

But Bumba was still in terrible pain, and he retched nine creatures: Koy Bumba the leopard, Pongo Bumba the crested eagle, the crocodile, Ganda Bumba, and one little fish named Yo, then, old Kono Bumba, the tortoise, and Tsetse, the lightning, swift, deadly, and beautiful like the leopard, then the white heron, Nyani Bumba, also one beetle, and the goat named Budi.

Then, last of all, humans came from Bumba. And then the world flew into activity, starting with when the Heron created all birds. After that, the crocodile shaped serpents and the iguana. Every beast with horns was created from the goat. Yo, the small fish, brought all the fish of the seas and waters. The beetle created insects. Then the serpents in their turn made grasshoppers, and the iguana made the creatures without horns.

But, something seemed incomplete, and the three sons of Bumba promised to finish the world. The first, Nyonye Ngana, made the white ants, but died in the process. Restless in searching for their creator, the white ants have ever since scoured the earth for her body, to give her a proper burial. Chonganda, the second son, brought forth a marvellous living plant from which all the trees and grasses and flowers and plants in the world have sprung. The third son, Chedi Bumba, wanted something different, for all his trying made only the bird called the kite.

Of all the creatures, Tsetse, lightning, was the only trouble-maker. She stirred up so much trouble that Bumba chased her into the sky. Then mankind was without fire until Bumba showed the people how to draw fire out of trees, and showed the how to make the firedrill and liberate it. Sometimes today Tsetse still leaps down and strikes the earth, causing damage.

When at last the work of creation was finished, Bumba walked through the peaceful villages and said *"Behold these wonders, they belong to you"* Thus from Bumba, the First Ancestor, came forth all the wonders that we see and hold and use, and all the brotherhood of beasts and man.

## Scholar Version

The version of their mythology given by the Moaridi, the Bambala elder who is the official historian of the kingdom, is as follows - *"In the beginning, the world consisted only of water, and there was absolute darkness. In this chaos Bumba, the Chembe [God], reigned alone; he was like a man in form, but of enormous size, and white in colour."* This opinion is backed up by sources from Oxford University (https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095535192) and Valencia College (https://www.studocu.com/en-us/document/valencia-college/mythology/lecture-notes/boshongo-creation-world-of-myth/2119475/view), so can be taken as fact. As well as this, all three sources agree that Bumba vomited the sun, the moon, and the stars in that order, however very few sources cite loneliness as an explanation to his illness.

The creatures vomited by Bumba afterwards are also agreed upon: Koy Bumba the leapord, Pongo Bumba the crested eagle, the crocodile, Ganda Bumba, and one little fish named Yo, then, old Kono Bumba, the tortoise, and Tsetse, the lightning, who was described as swift and elegant like a leapord, then the white heron, Nyanyi Bumba, also one beetle, and the goat named Budi. And then, the First Ancestor, sometimes referred to as Woot or Bomazi, appears, and it is agreed upon that he is light-skinned, similar to Bumba.

Past this point, sources become harder to come by, however https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095535192 is considered reliable and documents what happens next. It states that *" Nyonye Ngana attempted to make white ants, but died in the effort. Chonganda, the second son, created a plant from which all trees and plants have sprung. The third son, Chedi Bumba, created the kite."*

In most sources (Including the Oxford source previously mentioned), Tsetse, lightning, is placed as a trouble-maker, and chased into the sky by Bumba, however she continued to occasionally strike the earth.

### Symbolism

Valencia College, on the creation myth, states

> *"The dominant theme in this myth is that of creation out of the male principle. Bumba's vomiting reminds us of the Egyptian High God's creation by spitting and seed spilling. The absence of the female principle here suggests a patrilineal culture. The fact that Bumba is white suggests that this is a late myth, affected, like so much African mythology, by the presence of the white race in colonial Africa."*
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