The branches of the Bwiti · 3/3

The Bwiti Ngondet, a branch of the Missoko

House of Rapontchombo · after the transmission of Jérôme Mouele Niangou

Of all the branches of the tree of the Bwiti, the Ngondet is the one that best shows how this tradition is truly handed down: not through books, but through lineages. The published studies of the Bwiti barely mention it; the lines of initiation, however, keep its exact memory, name by name, from master to disciple. It is this living memory that a spiritual father of the House, Jérôme Mouele Niangou, agreed to commit to writing, and it is this memory that this article presents.

A branch handed down from guardian to guardian

In the Bwiti, each branch lives through its initiates: it exists neither in an institution nor in a register, but in the unbroken chain of those who have received it and passed it on. The Ngondet is a branch of the Missoko, the way of the ngangas and of vision; one enters it young, sometimes very young: Jérôme Mouele Niangou was initiated into it at the age of 8, after the Djombi Tawo Tawo received among the Massango at 5 and the Mwiri, and before later receiving the Disumba.

Mpongwe mask with a whitened face, black ridged crest and red lips — Mpongwe mask from the coastal region, early 20th century · musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, inv. 71.1948.64.1.

The lineage of the Ngondet, name by name

Here is the lineage of the Bwiti Ngondet as Jérôme Mouele Niangou handed it down, published with his consent. Each initiate bears two names: his administrative name and his Kombo, the customary name:

Pascal Madouma (Kombo, customary name: Adoumaghana)
Moussavou Mabounda Dessayo (Kombo: Doubila), initiated by Pascal Madouma
Pierre Mbadingua (Kombo: Dibouba), initiated by Moussavou Mabounda Dessayo
Jérôme Mouele Niangou (Kombo: Niangou), initiated into the Bwiti Ngondet by Pierre Mbadingua

Engraving: Moussavou Mabounda Dessayo, known as Doubila, seated, his face marked with white kaolin, raffia hood and collar, leopard-print cloth, a bundle of leaves on his knees — Moussavou Mabounda Dessayo (Kombo: Doubila), the spiritual father who initiated Pierre Mbadingua (Dibouba) into the Bwiti Ngondet · engraving after a photograph provided by the House of Rapontchombo, published with its consent.

Pierre Mbadingua, known as Dibouba, standing before the village houses in ritual dress: a beaded headband with a red feather, cowrie necklaces and a panther-skin loincloth — Pierre Mbadingua (Kombo: Dibouba), who initiated Jérôme Mouele Niangou into the Bwiti Ngondet · engraving after a photograph provided by the House of Rapontchombo, published with his consent.

Engraving: Jérôme Mouele Niangou standing in ceremonial dress, headdress, tooth necklace, leopard-print garments, ritual cane in hand — Jérôme Mouele Niangou (Kombo: Niangou), initiated into the Bwiti Ngondet by Pierre Mbadingua · engraving after a photograph provided by the House of Rapontchombo, published with its consent.

Four generations of men, their Kombo, the customary names, and a chain that reaches back beyond any written archive: that is what a branch of the Bwiti is. It is this same principle of lineage that underpins the Omengo branch of Maison Assiga at Pointe-Denis, and it is in the name of this principle that the tradition of the clan welcomes to the temple the initiates of the other ways, from the Disumba to the Missoko.

Placing the Ngondet in the tree

One trunk, one root: the Missoko grows from them and bears the Ngondet; the Omengo of Maison Assiga also springs from the Disumba trunk. Each name leads to its article. The sister societies of the coast (Ombwiri, Ndjembè) are not branches of the Bwiti; they grow beside it.

Sources

The lineage of the Bwiti Ngondet and the initiatory journey were provided by Jérôme Mouele Niangou himself and are published with his consent: his portrait on this site.
On the ways of the ngangas to which the Ngondet is close: Julien Bonhomme, Le miroir et le crâne. Parcours initiatique du Bwete Misoko (Gabon), Paris, CNRS Éditions / Éditions de la MSH, 2006.
The other branches: Disumba, Missoko, Omengo; the overview: What is the Bwiti?.