Mbumba The Rainbow Python

Viper's children are orphans, python's are divine.

Suddenly, a purpurine dragonfly crossed the bay and landed on the red of the rainbow python. This brief tone-on-tone moment lasted only an instant.

– It's beautiful! exclaimed the forest queen. A red comet dragonfly piercing orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

– That's seven colors! continued the voice of the waters.

This was why human beings heard with their heads: eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth, seven doors but only five senses for most, since humanity had moved away from the trees.

My legend originates from the borders of Kouilou and Niari, beyond the Mayombe's reliefs, the plains and forests lining the oceanic coast.

The elders praised me long before the young indigenous girl named Nombo became the root of a new dynasty in Loango, to regenerate sovereignty. Loango, a prosperous city-state and province that celebrated me so much! Once, power was represented by seven stars in the palm of a single hand, the firm and powerful one of Ma Loango. They harmonized in her heart with my seven colors.

The Thomi, ministers of the cult, prayed to me to protect the fecundity of wombs, to guarantee the fertility of lands, and to end droughts. I delivered, according to sibylline appearances, the feminine, celestial, masculine, terrestrial, crystalline, and divine waters. Over the centuries my fame has spread to the four winds. On the other side of the ocean, in Haiti, at Bois Caïman, during a mysterious ceremony my evocation mingled with prayers and songs. In the north of the country, since a tracker discovered sacred ceramic scales in the forest at the foot of a centenary Ceiba, I am no longer confused with Mbùmà the horned viper of the forest inhabitants, the Aka, nor with Mbomo the python. The same night a Thomi had a revelation in the Kouilou. And little by little, children, elders brought me out of oblivion by addressing their requests to me.

Title

Mbumba The Rainbow Python

Themes

courage | good vs evil

Emotions

awe | reverence | pride

Lesson

The rainbow python teaches that forgotten powers live on in earth, water, and ancestral memory, and when called upon with reverence, they answer.

Animals

Dragonfly, Insects, Snakes, python

Characters

MBUMBA: The divine Rainbow Python, seven-colored, protector of fertility and ender of droughts Queen Forest (Reine Forêt): A mystical entity appreciating the beauty of MBUMBA Voice of the Waters (Voix des Eaux): A mystical entity acknowledging the colors of MBUMBA Thomi: Ministers of the cult, who pray to MBUMBA for protection and fertility Nombo: The young native woman who became the founder of a new dynasty in Loango.

Special Objects

scales of sacred ceramic

Back-grounds

Kouilou and Niari regions, Plains and forests of the oceanic coast, City-state of Loango.

Source

‘Congo Tales’ Told by the People of Mbomo, written by S.R. Kovo N'Sondé, Wilfried N'Sondé published by Prestel Publishing