God of Justice and Righteousness and the Elements-gctid108920

[Malongo]

Mbote. What would be the correct way of saying "God (Nzambi) of Justice and Righteousness" in KiKongo?

From my studies I know that as far as the elements:

Earth- Ntoto
Fire: Tiya
Water: Maza
Wind: Tembo (would the same word be used for Air as well?)

Matondo....

[Mani Kongo]

Righteousness = nsongi and its principle = unsongi in Kikôngo
 
It's from page 788 of the book that you can download in this thread.

Justice (in french) = unsongi in Kikôngo
 

To be just/fair (in french) = sônga-sôngele in Kikôngo
 

With that being said, I still don't know the exact way to translate your sentence so I'll ask some elders and I'll get back to you.
And I'll also ask about the possible differentiation between air/wind as an element.

[Malongo]

I appreciate it Mpangi. It really means a lot.

[Mani Kongo]

Malongo;109060 wrote: I appreciate it Mpangi. It really means a lot.

Ka diambu ko mpangi ami.

[Mani Kongo]

I've  put the question out there and so far I had only one answer and this answer wasn't what I expected so I don't have the answer to your question yet.
But what I have is a prerequisite to going any deeper b/c we wouldn't understand Kôngo thoughts/concepts with anything else than a Kôngo mind.
Here is the answer in the very own words of someone who was born and raised in the Congo and who had the blessing to receive some wisdom from his elders :

The literal translation of justice doesn't exist from a Kongo point of view !
It is purely a western conception and it is a source of conflicts when applied in our land.
 For the Bakongo people, in a conflict, someone is always guilty and there's always a victim.
 If the one who is guilty hides himself and denies, there was the Nkissi Kondji as it was called in Kongo land and it was supposed to discourage the biggest liars.
The goal of a judgment was to bring reparations to the victims after the guilty had confessed. The family of the victim would receive a compensation relative to the prejudice. The family of the guilty was supposed to stand together with him/her, according to the saying (Kikata Na Nga Kio), which means : Nobody's alone in the world, even a handicapped person has its family. When someone in your family had commit an infamy the whole family was indexed. It was not an individual affair. And if your family wouldn't stand together with you, that was the assurance of a death penalty.
The verb used for a judgment is often Ku Samba, which comes from the verb samba which means slice or cut. We couldn't slice/cut into nothing if the guilty was not known. This situation was rare because a nganga would come into play to designate the guilty. And if the victim's party felt wronged, it could trigger wars !
 Therefore both parties had to agree before the judge to say that they were agreeing with the verdict, so there was very little room for miscarriage of justice.
In the Western world, there is another way. You have the judicial police which investigates, and the justice which imposes unilateral judgment with or without a jury. This mode of operation applied in Kmt is the origin of many civil wars. When there are dead men for example, we must repair the damage, the Kmtyw way, ku samba, to avoid ideas of retaliation in the future. You can not just try and put the perpetrators to prison. The family of the deceased will always seek revenge, and vice versa !

I tried to translate the best way I could and to stay true to his words. This answer he gave me shows us what real justice is and of course it lead me to ask him another question and we'll see what he says.
I'm still searching for other answers concerning your questions and thank you for asking them b/c we end up with this piece of wisdom that gives us a glimpse of what traditional law and order was for our Kôngo Ancestors letting us know what to return to.

Malèmbe

[Malongo]

Malembe Mpangi,

Thanks for the input. I have researched Dr. Fu-Kiau's Kmtyw Cosmology of the Bantu Kongo and have yet to make any inroads into the actual translation. The word Righteousness would probably be more important of the two as its meaning, to me at least, embodies the journey we make around the Yowa or Dikenga. I'm of the opinion that living through the righteousness of Nzambi Mpungo and the Bakulu is the most empowering element we can employ in our lives. Now there are people who believe that I'm stupid for believing that but after seeing Dr. Fu-Kiau speak in person, that is what I believed his message to represent. That coupled with teachings of another Elder have greatly influenced me. Perhaps the translation would be "Nzambi ya Nsongi", but perhaps it's not that easy.

[Mani Kongo]

I agree with you on the word Righteousness b/c I think that Justice cannot be manifested without Righteousness. Being righteous means being "just"/fair so that's the foundation for any justice to take place. It do seems to be at the center of Kôngo traditional thought/world view and way of life.
I will submit "Nzambi ya Nsongi" along with other ideas to those who know and we'll see.

[Mani Kongo]

Kiambote,
The brother who gave me the first response I posted told me that he's going to ask around for "Nzambi ya Nsongi" so I'm waiting on that.
I asked another brother who told me that the best way to say this is "Nzambi A Mpungu A Longi". He didn't give more than that but by looking at the various dictionaries and resources I think I understand.
To me it says something like "Nzambi the Almighty Teacher/Example".

Here we have "mpûngu" meaning "most high in dignity".
That already comes pretty close to what you have in mind, right ?
 

Here we have "longi" meaning teaching, lesson, exhortation, reprimand.
(with "longa-longele" meaning teaching)


And here we have "Elongi" with the same meaning.
The plural form is "malongi". Malongi ma Kikongo = Lessons of Kikongo.
 
 

You might already know some of these things but I broke them down so that everyone in our mbôngi can benefit from it.

[Mani Kongo]

Kiambote kiâku Malongo,
I'm still waiting on different responses, but you didn't tell me what you thought/felt about "Nzambi A Mpungu A Longi".
In the meanwhile, I did a little bit of research on my own and this is what I found regarding the "air" element:
According to our Great Ancestor Baba Fu-Kiau, "ku mpève" means in the air; in the wind; spiritually.
And I also found out that "mupepe" could be the term you need as it is listed as "air" along with the three other elements that you already know how to name.
You can view it here. (Thirteenth line starting from the bottom or press Ctrl+F and type in "mupepe" then Enter and it will be highlighted)

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

Ngânga gave my daughter Ama one of her middle names Mpolo-Lunûngu - the healing of Justice with reference to mpèmba mpolo. Lunûngu is the justice part of this.

[Mani Kongo]

Obadele Kambon;111046 wrote: Ngânga gave my daughter Ama one of her middle names Mpolo-Lunûngu - the healing of Justice with reference to mpèmba mpolo. Lunûngu is the justice part of this.

It is a great honor and responsibility to receive this particular name and by the master himself.

[Mani Kongo]

@Malongo are you trying to relate the 4 elements with the 4 stages/positions of the Dikenga dia Kongo ?

[Malongo]

Forgive me brother for not responding. I was not able to connect to the internet for a few weeks. I appreciate the time you have taken to investigate this for me.

"Nzambi A Mpungu A Longi" is easy enough to understand and they way you broken it down makes a lot of sense. What I'm trying to capture with the "God of Righteousness" is the resolution to recite this with complete firmness and unwavering devotion to stay on the path of Justice and Righteousness as a way to draw oneself closer to Bakulu, Minkisi, Kimpungulu, and ultimately, Nzambi Mpungo.

As far as the four elements, Fire, Water, Earth and Air/Wind, I'm looking for their literal translation so they can be honored. Example:

Nzambi ya Maza
Nzambi ya Tiya,
Nzambi ya Ntoto
Nzambi ya Tembwa (which I believe means air or wind, I've also heard the word nkili mentioned but I'm really not sure)

I find it interesting that you listed the ku mpeve as I have been researching the word Mpeve lately and a translation for "spirit" (another term and concept which is important to me. I've come across "Mpeve za wonsono" which I believe means "all spirits". Let me know what you think. I'm hoping that I would be able to respond more promptly. Ntondele Mpangi. Once again, this means a lot to me.

[Mani Kongo]

@Malongo, no problem mwâna-mbuta.
I understand that you need this to be precise since you will use it for a really serious matter so I will try to gather the best info I can.
I will study what you just posted and get back to you on that too.
In the meanwhile, a brother asked me how could he develop a Kongo shrine. I also asked around for that but didn't get any response at all. Did you ever build/develop one ? If so, I would love to hear what you have to say on that subject.
I speak to you later.
Wènda mbote.

[Malongo]

@ManiKongo My friend, in my honest opinion, a Kongo shrine could be that dedicated to Bakulu, and/or that dedicated to Minkisi. In the case of the former, there a few different variations and the one I'm most familiar with is that of the Kongo-Cuban tradition. As for the latter, as you probably well know only the initiated Nganga can effectively erect one even though I have seen some that go and buy statues of Nkisi (from Kmtyw Art dealers) bring it home without really knowing what they're doing or what they actually purchased (again, my opinion). A shrine should always contain a representation of its purpose. If its for Ancestor veneration, then there should be something that not only represents the Ancestors, but that can be infused with their very essence so the energy (what we in Kongo-Cuban call "Wanga") can manifest itself. In turn, a communion will begin to form as we give our attention to this essence and nourish it with prayers, libations, offerings, etc. We seek the guidance of those that walked here before us (na zulu ya ntoto) and who gave us our lineages so that we may achieve deliverance.

Nzila A Longi- The Path of Righteousness....