This is Pt. 8 of my series of posts giving info on the mpungo, the pantheon of Palo Mayombe and other Congo based belief systems. Today weâll learn about Baluande (Kalunga):
[Kimpungulu are the primary deities of the native Congo religion and its diaspora in the Americas. The singular form of kimpungulu is mpungo or mpungu, and in the Americas, where few devotees speak proper kikongo, and plurals are usually designated by the addition of a final letter âsâ, a novel back-formation of the plural has been coined, so these gods and goddesses are more familiarly known as the mpungos]:
The Mysteries of Baluande
by Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold from Palo Mayombe: In The Garden of Blood and Bones:
Baluande represents the embodiment of the mothers as they manifest in the waters. Baluande embodies the powers that made Tiembla Tierra possible. Through their interaction the wisdom of the mountains flows within the waters of ancestral memory. The etymology is difficult, but might signify that which is on the surface and that which is most elevated. This can be the surface resting on the Kalunga itself, the water-mirror, hence she is popularly known as Madre de Agua or Mama Kalunga. The Kalunga is in particular the salty waters of the great oceans but is also the realm of death, or perhaps more properly Kalunga is the realm of active ancestry. The ancestors that continue to influence us are understood differently to the modern Western idea of the dead. Ancestors are found both in the waters and in the centre of the earth. The latter in Kikongo called Kumangongo and though similar to Hades, we need to understand this as a good thing. A similar division of death is found in Nordic myths. Here we find two realms, one is relegation to the waters and the golden halls of Ran, while the other is Valhall situated in the centre of divinity. The latter is reserved for warriors and hunters, those who died in bravery and with honor. The kingdom of Ran was just as wonderful as Valhall â but Ran also gained dominion over the mysterious, and what was on the brink of the natural. The fact that the ocean does not produce but rather consumes light brings another important factor into the equation, and one which might explain the waters as the medium not for change and movement, but for transformation and metamorphosis.
Baluande is also known as Mpungo Kasimba, meaning spirit that lives in the cavity of the waters, clearly a reference to the occult and hidden virtues of water as it hides within the mountain. She is also Mbumba Mamba, secret of the water or serpent of the water, in the sense of fertility and abundance. The same idea is found in Nkita Kiamasa and Nkita Kuna Mamba. Her association with snakes and fertility seem to be the most salient aspects of her potency. It is an mpungo considered to induce stability and joy in oneâs life and brings riches, comfort, and wealth. She is a tremendous force when it comes to altering oneâs fortune. This spirit is also referred to only as Mboma or Mbomba meaning serpent, boa, python (mboma-ndongo) and this tells us of the importance of both waters and serpents in African cosmology. Baluande is the power behind transformations on every scale, from turning a poor man into a rich man, to turning an unfavorable situation to ones benefit, to the Trans-Atlantic Crossing. This specter of manifestation testifies to her serpentine nature â which is one of secrecy and unpredictability. A serpent can never be really tamed, as the waters can never be tamed. Baluande gives riches freely and abundantly, but she is also the serpent that spins the wheel in the hands of Fortune.
As Mama Kalunga she was syncretised with La Virgen de Regla who in turn was seen as the orisas Yemoja and Olokun. She is the patron of sailors, fishermen, mermaids and mermen and all transitions and discoveries concerning water.
Other names given to her are Kalunga Mpaka Ndoki, Mayanguera, PatrĂłn de los Congos, Bamba di Ngola, and Muana Lango.
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