Ancient BaNtu Connection: Kamitic/Kemetic Color Symbolism and African Cosmology II

Hetepu Family.

Summer is almost here and I hope to be travelling to some historic places where our ancestors once stood. A few years back I visited Jamestown and Williamsburg, VA where the Williamsburg Museum actually acknowledge how the first Africans on North American shores were from the Kongo Angolan region. For those of you who don’t know and are new to my blog, the Kongo people prior to be taken to the Americas were not forced into Christianity. Many of them willingly converted to the new faith before the start of the Maafa (the Africa Slave  Trade/Holocaust).  At the Williamsburg Muesuem they actually have a Kongo rosary from the late 1600s or early 1700s. The interesting thing about this rosary was that it didn’t have Jesus on it but instead Queen Nzinga. (I wish I could have taken a picture…I really tried and even tried sketching it but lost the drawing). It was a clear fact, that the Kongo people actually Africanized Christianity prior to their arrival. So this year my family reunion is in Atlanta, GA and I hope to visit Savannah, GA to see the First African Baptist Church.

First African Baptist Church 1775

First African Baptist Church was built in 1775. It claims to have been the first church originally founded in 1773, but it is contested by First Baptist of Virginia. My interests in this church is that this is where the Kongo floor diagram was found.

Kongo Cross First African Baptist in Savannah, GA

According to historians, the church was also on one of the stations on the Underground Railroad. Escapees were hidden under the church and the holes in the floor boards acted as vents. It appears that in typical African thinking to identify where the runaways were they marked the spot with an X.

Kongo Cross used for Ventilation during Underground Railroad

But, I was wondering if there were more signs of the Kongo influence that have gone unnoticed.  Since the money to build the church was donated by slaves who were saving to purchase their freedom and everything was hand built by them also.

Court of the Kongo Kingdom and First African Baptist Sanctuary

A look at Fist African Baptist sanctuary is very similar to the Kongo court.  Can you see the Kongo Upper Land and how it was converted using the archway?

First African Baptist Sanctuary

The lights above give an allusion that something glorious is taken place, while something within is sacred.  This is where the idea appears to have originated from.

The queen is depicted in the position Funda Nkata, a very common pose among the noble class and religious authorities that indicates dignity or authority.

Notice how the enclosure begins or opens up at the bottom.

Kongo Yowa Cross

If you will recall, the Kongo Cross or Cosmogram begins from the Musoni moment as well.

Maa Aankh Cosmogram

Also, in the Kamitic / Kemetic traditions, Amun Ra is said to be the True Creator. Correction, not Creator but the Originator because the Kamitic thinkers liked to personify concepts in order to better understand them. Amun Ra as you can see is not a god nor is he The God.  The God in the Kamitic / Kemetic language was called Nebertcher or “Lord of Everything”.  Amun Ra we see simply means the Hidden Ra (Energy or Force).  Now, a closer look behind the pulpit of First African Baptist and there are stain glass windows of their pastors.

First African Baptist Sanctuary stain glass windows

Notice how it forms a cross, but here’s where it stretches back to Kamit/Kemet (Ancient Egypt). Notice that there are nine marks or small discs encircling the image. Again, it should be noted that these were made around the late 1700s and early 1800s by ex-slaves and enslaved African Americans.

First African Baptist Sanctuary stain glass windows

 This same number also appears in the patchwork ceiling, which resembles a quilt.

First African Baptist Sanctuary patchwork ceiling

The number nine is a sacred number in Kamit/Kemet because it refers to the Kamitc Tree of Life also called the Paut Neteru, which was introduced by Ra Un Nefer Amen in his Metu Neter series. The number nine is also sacred in various African traditions as it refers to the gestation period and thus the completion of a cycle. When you look at the ceiling you see that each segment is composed of nine smaller segments. It is another way of drawing the Kongo Cross using diamonds and squares.  It basically is another illustration of an individual’s life term.

White Hedjet Crown

The fact that the ceiling is white gives another meaning, which reveals African cosmology at its best in North America. This is because remember, the color white in African thinking symbolizes the ancestral dead.  Remember, this is a symbolic concept that early Africans as far back as Kamit / Kemet created, which is why Osar’s (Asar, Ausar, Osiris in Greek) is known as the Lord of the Dead (Ancestors).  The name of Osar’s backbone or column is called djet, the symbol of strength. Even the root term of Osar’s crown ‘djet’ refers to inner strength.   Are you starting to see the picture?

Djett: Osar’s Backbone

When we put together the color white with the concept of completed cycles on the ceiling. What we have here is the Kongo Cross turned upside down. The larger squares symbolize those who completed their cycle in the land of the living. That’s right. What we have above is an African view of Heaven. Where one would hope to die and see their deceased loved ones, but there’s a double meaning. This means the reason the pastors each have nine marks surrounding their image is because the Africans found another way of honoring those who lived a full term.

First African Baptist Stained Glass Window

The other meaning or I should say the most important interpretation is that the ancestors above are looking over (protecting) their descendants, thus the church itself has just become a Kongo Cross or Maa Aankh, and in case you’re wondering.  Above the ceiling of course is where the Almighty God Nebertcher or Nzambi is imagined to be over it all, hence the Lord of Everything.

Of course, all of this is just my theory but, when you look at the floor of the sanctuary, which is red or reddish brown.

FAB Sanctuary

What comes to my mind is the land of the living or TASETT on the Maa Aankh.

TASETT – The Red Lands. Literally also known as the desert region of Lower Kamit or Egypt. Metaphorically, it symbolizes our Lower Self and the Land of the Living (Physical Realm).

It should be clear that our ancestors thought about God, their ancestors, and the heavenly realm on a daily basis as indicated by this quilt, which also resembles the patchwork ceiling.

Woman holding African American Quilt from 1700s

Now, another interesting fact that I have found about African First Baptist is that even their logo is a Kongo design.  Of course, it is not known if the artist was aware of this or not (most likely not).  Whatever the case, that is not the point.

FAB Logo

 The point is that our ancestors really did leave instructions for us in stone.

Kongo Cross on Colonoware

We just need to take the time and investigate our culture, practices and traditions, instead of running behind everyone else’s.

Basic Kongo Cosmogram

No we do not need imitate, mimic, resurrect or reconstruct an exact replica of what our ancestors did because culture is not static, it is always evolving.

This is what the Kongo Yowa Cross (above) and Maa Aankh (below) indicate.

All we have to do, is search for God and we will find our ancestors there waiting to point us in our cultural direction.

Hope this helps.

Hetep.

Like this post? You may want to check out: Ancient Ancient BaNtu Connection: Kamitic/Kemetic Color Symbolism and African Cosmology I,
So Early Christian Stole From Kamit/Kemet Now What? Part 1 or So Early Christian Stole From Kamit/Kemet Now What? Part 2

Have You Been Called? Understanding African Cosmology and the Calling Amongst African Americans

Hetepu (Peace) Family.

Hope all is well. This is something that has really been on my mind since Malcolm X’s birthday is nearing and the rising disturbing actions and behaviors perpetrated by our youth in their desperate attempt to make money.  I have also wanted to address this issue about because some people have been asking if Kamta is a New Age thing.  So I have been letting this subject run around in my mind for a minute in order to address is appropriately.

Kamitic priest in leopard pelt

Because shamanism has become such a very popular term to throw around by anyone claiming to be spiritual and not religious or refusing to follow the order of organized religion. I have decided to write this post to clarify, specify and distinguish Kamta from the New Age shamanistic movements. Please understand that I have nothing against New Agers because everything has its purpose, but I want to make it clear that this is not a trend.  I have to keep telling this story in order to raise consciousness, not because it is the trendy thing that is in fashion now, but because it is a Way of Life pertaining to my survival.

Portuguese ship

Kamta is a Spirit – led shamanic tradition based upon Kamitic (Ancient Egyptian) philosophy and Afrospiritual thought.  When the Africans were enslaved and brought to North America, unlike those taken to the Caribbean and South America, they were unable to maintain and retain all of their religious beliefs because their formal introduction spiritual system had been disrupted or simply destroyed. This along with the fact that there were various ethnic groups with different cultures and spiritual beliefs also made it difficult for the spiritual systems transported to Protestant Christian North America from Africa to survive. Fortunately, prior to the advent of the Slave Trade, many of the people from the Kongo region had willingly converted to Roman Catholicism or were at least familiar with the Christian faith due to their encounter with Portuguese merchants and missionaries.  Consequently, those Africans brought from the Kongo Angolan region were able to retain majority of their spiritual beliefs under the guise of Christianity. Although, they were not able to create or recreate a formal initiation system such as the ones that exist throughout the Afro diaspora, they were able to maintain an informal initiation system that follows what is commonly referred to as the Rule of the Sun.

Kongo Cross (also called the Dikenga or Yowa)

The Rule of the Sun is based upon African Cosmology particularly the Yowa, Dikenga also called the Congo or Kongo Cross. The general understanding of the Kongo Cross is that the human soul like the sun rises, zeniths, sets and is reborn again to create another dawn. Spiritually speaking, we rise and peak in our awareness, but when we experience problems, setbacks, calamity, dishonor, illness, etc.  It is because we are spiritually dying or our sun/soul is setting in the West. The reason we spiritually die is because we have picked up impurities (egocentricities) from dwelling amongst the living in the physical world like selfishness, egotism, fear, etc.. So, spiritual death occurs in order to purify our soul. If we survive the problem, illness, fall from grace, etc.  It is believed that we have traveled to the spiritual world and were reborn like the dawning sun. So along with this core belief, early African Americans believed that when someone experienced a spiritual death.  It was because they were being Called to the spiritual world to obtain their spiritual gifts.  Although good and evil existed in the Kongo mind, the whole battle between the good and evil was seen as a way in which one finds his or her true Self.  In other words, it was seen as way to establish and maintain balance, so that an individual could learn to stand on the edge of both worlds.

Basic Kongo Cosmogram

Now the Calling in the African American community was similar to other shamanic societies, in the sense that those who were called at an early age displayed unusual birth signs such as being breeched, born with a caul over their head, having uncommon birthmarks and so on.  But, the most common form of calling in the African American community  was the fall from grace in which the individual after experiencing problems had some sort of epiphany or revelation.  This is because all adversity was seen as an individual going through a dying phase, because as one elder told me “You have to go through something, in order to get something.” This something that the individual must go through is of course the adversity and hardship of the physical world.  The something that the individual is going to get refers to their reward, their talent, purpose, destiny, etc. that will be obtained spiritually (or from the spiritual world).  This is why it is not uncommon to hear of individuals within the African American community today being “Called” to the pulpit to be a preacher.  In the olden days, the Calling was not just about being an evangelist.  The Calling pertained to doing any type of ministry (God or Spirit-led) work in regards to helping people in the community such as being a seer, a healer, prayer warrior, and so on.

Robert Johnson the Blues Musician Who Supposedly Sold His Soul to Play the Guitar

Those familiar with African American folk beliefs will not understand the basis of Robert Johnson’s Crossroad Ritual and will now understand the reason what Johnson did was considered evil is because his blues music was not helping his community. It was only going to make him richer, which is why the man who allegedly teaches him was called the devil.

The Transformation from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X to El Hajj Malik Shabazz

The Calling is a form of initiation based upon the Kongo Cross and it refers to being initiated and inducted into the spiritual fold to help the community. Like most initiations, which end of something old and the beginning or start of something new. It was understood that anytime an individual experienced any sort of unusual hardship, setbacks, obstacles, problems, etc. the individual was being Called.   This is the most accepted undocumented belief in the African American psyche.  It is the reason those individuals that have undergone a complete transformation such as the legendary Malcolm X (and a host of others), are so cherished in the African American community.  It is because African Americans like most people love a “comeback to grace” story and it is because the basis of our culture centers on the Rule of the Sun.

Because the Church became the most respected institution that white America during slavery (for the most part) would not meddle with.  Many of the people that were Called were given regular titles within the institution such as deacon, evangelist, missionary, etc. but there were also those who were known as Father, Papa, Poppa, Uncle, Brother, Mother, Momma, Auntie and Sister “so – and – so”.  Each of these individuals at some point in time assisted in the healing services that occur inside the church.

Contemporary Ring Shout

Like most shamanic traditions, African American religious service usually consists of a form of ritual called praise and worship, which consists of songs, music, dancing and trance called, filled with the Holy Ghost.  Next, the preacher that gives the congregation a message from God and at times can also include being prayed upon for healing using blessed oil.  The reason most people don’t think of it as being a shamanic trance induction service is because it is so norm and most people think that shamans are spooky witchdoctors running around with masks and bones in their nose chanting some unpronounceable language. A true shaman mediates between the spiritual world and physical world for his or her community. Everything that the shaman does is for the community because their spiritual development and advancement depends upon the people they serve. This is why typically those who were called in the African American community also did and continues to do something in regards to the church.

It is because of the Kongo Cross, anyone can participate in any form of African American spirituality (spiritual tradition, spiritual practices, folk practices, etc.) because it all centers on you going through something and surviving. It is simply put a spirituality that is based upon survival, which celebrates one’s success or victory over adversity.  And, this is what makes African American spirituality a form of shamanism.

Disney’s Shadow Man of New Orleans

But, this form of spirituality has been steadily suppressed because in the early twentieth century, African Americans were routinely harassed and even imprisoned because of their religious beliefs. Today when people think of African religions or spirituality, it conjures up images of evil sorcerers. As a result, older African Americans familiar with this form of spirituality have often denied any association with it out of fear of being ostracized. Because African Americans were separated from the Motherland, in general unfamiliar with African cosmology and the old Kongo spiritual systems are nonexistent due to slavery and colonization. Slowly but surely, this system has continued to fade into extinction as the elders that followed and taught the system transition and are not able to pass their wisdom on to younger generations.

Emmett Till and Lil Wayne Controversy

Today, a great cultural tragedy is occurring on several fronts. From one perspective, because of the lack of a cultural spiritual tradition, youths unfamiliar with their own ancestral history are mocking and ridiculing their heritage.  (i.e. the entertainer Lil Wayne).  This is also due to the fact that many still suffer from Afrohagiophobia, which according to http://www.mamiwata.com/part2.html.

“A pathological fear and irrational intimidation of African spiritual and esoteric science, ancestral veneration, and its ritual and cultural expressions. The simplest spirit manifestations that were once understood in their cosmological context, now ”spooked” the newly conditioned generations of African-Americans.”

On the other hand, many people are exploring, searching, investigating, embracing, imitating and mimicking spiritual systems that are foreign to their culture and wondering why these systems are not working and helping them to bring money, peace of mind, or harmony to their relationships.  I am very well aware of the latter because I have put in my time researching and dabbling in various faiths and traditions myself. I have firsthand experience and know that if you do not belong to a particular cultural group, contrary to what anyone tells you. You are not going to get everything as the individual who is born into that culture.   There is going to be a lot of information that is going to be lost in the cultural translation.  A person born and raise Baptist, COGIC, Pentecostal, etc. and converts to Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. is just not going to get everything because those spiritual systems are tailored to the cultures they serve.  I have even witnessed and talked to people who were involved in various African and Afro-American religions and they have told me about the indifferences that exist there as well.

Kongo Cross on Colonoware

So, here comes Kamta to save me.

After doing all of this research and studying all of these philosophies years ago. After trying to make a dying relationship with a “spiritual person” work and trying to incorporate all of these metaphysical ideas, I became deathly ill. Meaning, I almost died twice. How I survived was by throwing out everything that didn’t work and relying upon what I knew that did. I always have to tell people my story so that they can understand what happens when you don’t accept your calling, because it is real.

Queen Nzingah

While I was undergoing my own rebirthing process that is when I began putting rhyme to reason and that’s how I learned about the Kongo people and our ancestral tradition, which can be traced back to the Ba-Ntu people who dwelled in Kamit/Kemet (Ancient Egypt).  It was because the original Kongo systems for the most part is nonexistent that Kamit/Kemet became the inspiration behind this system and I discovered the Maa Aankh cosmogram. By the way, this is totally within the Bantu-Kongo thinking because Kongo traditions have survived throughout the diaspora by adapting and modifying existing philosophies to fit their purpose.

So, the battle between good and evil is not seen as an eternal conflict between God and the devil, but between man and woman’s higher and lower selves allegorized as the battle between the Upper and Lower Lands of Kamit. It is the same Kongo concepts of the physical world above and the spiritual world below where one has to travel and meet Osar in order to be reborn, so that he or she can be stand on the edge of both worlds.

Unify Your Kingdom Within

Now, the key differences between Kamta and other shamanistic systems is that everyone is called to do something because the Rule of the Sun is a way of introducing and inducting everyone into the cultural fold of communal service.  For instance, I have a cousin who just celebrated being drug free for 15 years now.  His ministry is helping other drug addicts.  He had to undergo that little experience in order to fulfill his purpose in life.  As I have mentioned before, since I have overcome and survived lupus. My responsibility has been to help others to do the same thing. This is one of my callings. There is a saying and it holds true for Kamta and it is, “Everyone is Called but only a few will answer.”

Maa Aankh Cosmology

The point that I am trying to make is that we have our own spiritual traditions, our own ancestors, our own spirits and guides that we can work with and are willing to assist us out of this bind that we find ourselves in.  We do not have to make up, create or mimic another’s cultural tradition especially when they do not share our concerns and would not dowse us with water if we were on fire.  Our ancestors left us with all sorts of guides and maps.  We just have to use them.  So, I am writing this post to help you all to understand that if you have been called what you need to do, because the only ones who can tell you about it have either transitioned into the spiritual realm or are refusing to talk about it because they are suffering from Afrohagiphobia. Hopefully, this post will help you to understand why certain systems aren’t working for you and what you need to do to find your Maa (Way).

Sincerely, I hope this helps.

Hetepu (Peace),

Rau Khu

Copyright 2013

So, Early Christian Stole From Kamit/Kemet Now What? Pt.2

Hetepu (Peace) Family,

How are you all doing? Hopefully, everything is well with you all.

Well, I decided to post a second part due to the overwhelming response I received from the last post, and also because a received a lot of inquiries as to where I got my information from.  One email in particular (I won’t state the individual’s name) where the reader stated, “Man this is great stuff! Where you get your information from so I can do the science on it?”

In most of the emails I received, I answered honestly by stating that it came from within, but for a lot of people that response was not what they wanted to hear. I must admit after reading it and contemplating on it, it sounds very cliché; as if I am trying to hoard all that I have learned and prevent someone from knowing what I know. At least that is how I use to feel when people gave me a similar response when I was much, much younger.

So, let me give you a little bit more insight about this subject.  I will not bore you with how I am even got to this point in my life where I was even receptive to the Spirit. Such as the people I met from the Caribbean, the teachers, the backsliding, the calling, the initiation, and how I discovered the Maa Aankh cosmogram.  Yeah, that is a whole story within itself that I wrote about extensively in my first work: Maa Aankh Vol. I.  I will skip right to the historical details and how it falls in line with our purpose.

Let’s begin…

Portuguese ship

Around the 1480s Portuguese ships settled along the coast of Africa along the Zaire estuary.   There are numerous explanations as to why the Portuguese were sailing around the African coast. Some claim that they were trying to replenish their finances due to the massive losses of the Crusades. Others claim that they were trying to avoid the Muslims. Whatever the reason, they settled along the West Coast of Africa and the first people they encountered were people from the Kongo-Angolan Kingdom.

Now contrary to popular belief, these First Contact Europeans didn’t get off the ship with a bible in one hand, a whip or club in the other, and began enslaving people in their own land. No, our ancestors’ story is somewhat similar to how the first Europeans encountered most Native people in the Americas and the Pacific.

In the beginning, the Kongolese people avoided these pale skin strangers in their hot garb, like the plague. After seeing that these people weren’t going anywhere they befriended them and shortly after trade began. Sounds like a familiar story we all have heard before. Right?

So, as trade goes. The Kongolese and Portuguese began trading all sorts of raw goods. The first goods that were traded according to some sources were gold and ivory.  Then suddenly someone got the idea to trade prisoners.  As most historians have acknowledged, it was believed that the prisoner would pay their debt of servitude off and be set free. No one could have imagined that the atrocities that followed would be so grave and severe.

Well, like all stories that speak about trade between different cultures.  It wasn’t long afterwards that the mingling of beliefs and ideas occurred.  Before long, ‘some’ of the Kongolese people became increasingly interested in the Portuguese Christian faith. One of these individuals in particular, was the Kongo manikongo (ruler) who would later try to convert the entire kingdom to this new faith.  Naturally, there was opposition to this from fellow chieftains, which led to a civil war.

Portuguese before the ManiKongo

In the end, the ruler of the Kongo kingdom came out on top and established a peaceful but unequal peace agreement with the Portugal crown.  One would suspect that the Kongo ruler may have believed that by forming such an alliance with a more economical and technically advanced country, that it would greatly advance his own kingdom. As a result, most of the Africans brought to the New World were prisoners of war shipped from the ports off of the coast of the Kongo.  Most (if not all) of these Africans were indentured servants.

Now, what is rarely discussed is why did the Kongolese people willingly convert to Christianity? What was it about Christianity that captivated the Kongo people? Most historians don’t even discuss this because they take a Darwinistic perspective, which is that the Africans were just primitives fascinated by the Europeans. A deeper look into the Kongolese beliefs or African cosmology reveals possibly why the Christian faith intrigued some of them so much.

The Kongolese Beliefs

Unlike most of the West Africans nations, which believed in a Supreme Being and had a pantheon of divinities (orishas, abosom, vodou, etc.). The Kongo belief system was a very complex and sophisticated system, but simplistic enough for some of them to see how it mirrored the Christian faith. First, the Kongo people believed in one Supreme Being (like all of the West African people) but their religious beliefs centered on veneration of their ancestors called nkuyu (similar to Christian martyrs), basimbi spirits (similar to angels/saints) and bakulu (similar to devils).

The Kongo cosmology there was four distinct parts, which were governed by Four Moments of the Sun. Each of these ‘Moments’ in turn mirrored the four paths of humankind.  For instance, Sunrise signaled a new beginning and the birth into world.  The Midday Sun, which shined high in the sky, thus allowing everything to grow towards it, signified an individual’s growth and the knowledge they acquired in life.  When a person died, it was seen as the Sun setting in the West, thus marking the end of the day. And, last but not least, the Midnight Sun was seen as a time of rest.  This symbolized that the person’s soul had returned back home from whence it ascended from, the great waters called Kalunga. This created what was known as the Kongo Cross, dikenga or Yowa, which is very similar to the Christian crucifix.

Now, so that we don’t lose perspective, those familiar with the Kamitic/Kemetic (Ancient Egyptian) beliefs can easily see the similarities between the two cultures. This same African cosmology linking the sun and the human soul, is what archaeologists have told us is the voyage of Ra. For years, most people accepted the Westerners’ interpretation as literal gospel because they weren’t familiar with African cosmology or thinking. Only Sir E. A. Budge, who is now looked upon as charlatan by his colleagues, noted and documented these distinct similarities between the Kamitic/Kemetic people and the people of West Africa – particularly those in the Kongo.  Even I had overlooked this until my grandmother had passed to the ancestral realm, and a year after her death. I noticed that her obituary clearly stated her Sunrise “her birth date” and Sunset “her last day on earth”.  This is when it hit me like a ton of bricks that Ra is not the Sun! And, that Khepera, Ra, Ra Atum and Amun Ra were all the Kamitic/Kemetic Four Moments of the Sun!

Let me make it plain, the same African cosmology that existed in the Kongo existed in Ancient Egypt.  Khepera is Kala (notice black in color), Ra is Tukula (both refer to the color red), Ra Atum corresponds to Luvemba (both refer to the color white and the west) and Amun Ra and Musoni (both refer to the color yellow and midnight).

Again, only Budge was keen and brave enough to make the connections. In fact in his book, Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, he states that major emphasis is placed upon the moon and not the sun. This is because according to Ancient African cosmology the moon corresponds to rebirth. There are some other reasons as well but I will let you research that those. Just to give you a hint, if you talk to anyone that participates in African traditions they will tell you constructive work is done during the waxing and repelling work done during the waning. Again, all referencing and practices based upon African cosmology, which can be traced all the way back to Ancient Egypt because the moon corresponds to Amun Ra, which translates esoterically to “The Hidden Ra” .

I still get chills up my spine just thinking and talking about it, because the interesting thing is? How did my deceased grandmother know about this? She didn’t study anything about Egypt? Answer, it is in our blood – genetic memories. Now, so that you don’t think I am crazy…it is not like my grandmother’s ghost appeared and she physically showed me this. No, it was more like a thought, a hunch, whereas I remembered seeing her when she was alive and the next thing I know. My attention was directed to her obituary. This is one of the ways our ancestors speak to us, but the most common form is through our dreams.

Why our dreams you ask?

Answer. It is because when we sleep our consciousness like the setting sun, travels to the spiritual realm, the 12 hours of night (as one group of  the Kamitian (Kemetian) sages called it), which is where the Dead reside, hence Osarian like people, such as my grandparents.

Oh, it gets deeper, and I guarantee you that when you get it. You will clearly say, “It is like fire shut up in my bones.”

Ok, back to the African cosmology and the Kongo belief system. As I stated it was divided into Four Moments of the Sun, and these were divided into two distinct areas.  One of these areas was seen as the Land of the Living and the other was the Land of the Dead. The ‘Living’ move about freely and do whatever they want, while the Dead dwell in the great waters of Kalunga. Kalunga is considered to be the abysmal waters where life began (in the Kamitic/Kemetic tradition they called this Nyu or Nyun). It separates the Land of the Living from the Land of the Dead.

In all of the West African religions and traditions the color of the Dead is the color white.  In fact, the land of the Dead in KiKongo is called Ku Mpemba (Land of White).  In the Kongo, this concept is based upon the fact that river clay is white or pale in color, hence it is absent of life. White is called in KiKongo mpemba and it was used to purify people because the color white is also the symbol of purity.  Today this term continues to exist in places where Kongo descendants were taken such as Brazil, where chalk is still called pemba.  Also, in Cuba, the term survives among Paleros (a religious sect based upon the Kongo beliefs) where chalk is called pembe.

Brazilian Pemba Chalk

The interesting thing about this is that according to Wyatt MacGaffey, one of the leading scholars on the Kongo culture, the Land of the Living is believed to be flawed and full of gross errors. When a Great person died it was believed that they took with them their knowledge, wisdom and experience, hence their “know-how” on how to successfully live life.  Therefore, when an individual did wrong it was out of ignorance but also because they had lost connection with the ancestral Dead.  So, when an individual was taken before the tribunal because of a lawsuit. If the individual was found innocent, it was believed that the just judgment returned innocence, knowledge, wisdom, peace, blessings, etc. from the ancestral dead.  As a result, the one found to be innocent was anointed with white clay and a great celebration took place.

Got that?

White Hedjet Crown

The one found to be innocent was anointed with white clay/powder and the people celebrated. Now, think back several thousand years ago about the Kamitic/Kemetic people. Hru (Horus in Greek) has been accused of being a bastard and all sorts of unlawful acts by Set. Thankfully, Hru is then found to be innocent of all crimes and is awarded the white Hedjet crown.  When the tribunal ruled in Hru’s favor, what was he said to have brought back? Yes, it was said that he resurrected the Kingdom of Osar. He restored or brought back knowledge, wisdom and the righteousness of Osar (Osiris in Greek), the first Kamitic/Kemetic Ancestor.  Again, the Western scholars took it literal, which is why most of us never put together what the Kamitic/Kemetic people were talking about the evolution of consciousness.

Red Deshret Crown

Just like in Ancient African cosmology and Kongo belief, the Land of the Living was believed to be flawed (full of sin or impurities) according to Kamitic/Kemetic belief. Remember in the Kongo the land of the Living is believed to be flawed, imperfect and full of sin. In predynastic Kamit/Kemet, they called this the Land of Set, the Red Lands or TASETT. The Kamitic/Kemetic writers tried to make the point even more clearer by saying that Set gouged out Hru’s eye, to really drive the point home that while living in the physical realm, the Land of the Living or Land of Set, we pick up a lot of impurities that affect our soul-awareness.  When you put it together this explains why Hru’s colors are red, the crown of the northern region is red, and why he needs the white Hedjet crown to make the Double Pschent crown.

The Double Pschent Crown

So, you see, when the Kongo people first saw the Portuguese, it is very likely that they thought they were the Dead or their ancestors due to their white skinned. If this theory is correct, it would explain the reason why they avoided them because the Dead sometimes have a bad habit of taking the Living back to the ancestral realm below Kalunga. After interacting with the Portuguese they may have began to believe that the new faith Christianity was a gift from their ancestors. After all, the crucifix resembles the Kongo Cross.  Jesus didn’t say anything that was contrary to popular belief. Not only that, Jesus was born, he lived, died and was reborn – another Kongo concept realized according to African cosmology.

Queen Nzingah

Of course, it wasn’t until later when other European countries became interested in the trading of Africans, that it was realized that these people were not ancestors at all. But, by that time, the damage had already begun and only a few like Queen Nzingah had tried to undo the deeds of their elders.

Colonoware

Those Kongo people carted to New World, probably thought that they were being punished by their ancestors and therefore dragged to the underworld, as the Europeans loaded them upon their ships with white sails, and sailed across the great abysmal waters of Kalunga.

Colonoware

It was only after arriving in the New World, that the Kongo people realized different and probably had the same revelation as their siblings did in their homeland. I will not talk about the various traditions that were created in the New World as a result of this interaction, but in the United States.

Ring Shout

The Kongo people already familiar with Christian concepts began adapting, modifying and altering the faith to suit their purposes. It is only when you see a ring shout or hear coded songs used by slaves who escaped to freedom that you realize, that these Africans didn’t convert to Christianity nor were they forced to accept it. Let me say that again.

All of the Africans were not forced into Christianity. This is a myth. 

They modified Christianity to suit them or as some would say Africanized Christianity.

Contemporary Ring Shout

Examples of this Africanized Christianity can be seen all throughout history from the Ring Shout to the speech by Dr. King in Washington.  During the Great Awakening when Africans supposedly converted to the Methodist and Baptist faiths because of baptism. A closer look will reveal that the Kongo descendants changed the Kalunga concept of water, which is where the Dead resided to the Holy Spirit. For instance, even the great Apostolic and Pentecostal movement that occurred on Azusa Street is another example of African Spiritism.  Today, when you hear people talk about this, they make it seem as if everything was okay, but many white Christians have known all long that their version of Christianity had been tainted with a foreign system. This is why one of the so-called fathers of the Azusa Street Movement, Charles Fox Parham, initially denounced according to Rev. Thomas L. Kinkead as an event taken over by “hypnotist”, “spiritists” and fortunetellers. This is because the actual founder of the movement was a black student of Parham named, William J. Seymour.  Clearly, Seymour unfamiliar with African Spirituality in 1906, had taken the spirit of the ancestors and now gave it the name Holy Ghosts, which is why people “speak in tongues” when they are struck by the Spirit.

Azusa Street Revival

Now, I am not saying all of this to ridicule anyone because of his or her faith. I am just trying to get you to understand that most of the Christian rules performed in the church today are African – particularly Kongo – influenced.  Even the whole spirit descending down can be traced to a particular spirit that is believed to perch up high and descend among followers, called “cymbees”, which is derived from the BaSimbi spirits, a type of ancestral spirit with a tricky nature.

Why the Kamitic/Kemetic Philosophy?

Our ancestors made Christianity theirs out of survival because that is how the Kongo belief system was, it adapts to survive. This is the reason almost 700 years later we can still trace it back to the Kongo origin and go even further back to Kamit/Kemet.

The reason for the Kamitic/Kemetic philosophy is because I have learned that when a tradition is practiced with no spiritual science, it degenerates and becomes superstition. This is the state that most of our people are in. They just go to church because it is the thing to do. The remedy for all problems you will hear people say, “Go to church and pray” as if that will make everything all right. This is because the African spiritual sciences haven been lost and prior to the advent of the slave trade. Many Europeans didn’t have any spiritual sciences either. If they had they wouldn’t have blessed the slave trade, the Salem burning of women and all of the other atrocities that have occurred under the guise of Christianity.

Kamitic/Kemetic Falcon

Fortunately, Kamit/Kemet has remained unchanged and even though people can claim what they want. We can always go back and compare notes because their beliefs were chiseled in stone.  As a result, it becomes a simple “Show and Prove” when you understand the Kamitic/Kemetic teachings. If anyone claims that a certain thing came from Kamit/Kemet, all we have to say is prove it and by that. I do not mean just show where it exist in some book, but prove it in life. This is what I have tried to do with the Maa Aankh and even though there are no books or any other references that indicated that the Kamitic/Kemetic people had such a cosmogram. You can clearly see the cultural connections.

When we put aside the intellectual babble and start to trust our intuition.

This is when we get into the real power because Osar you see refers to indwelling intelligence within us that is associated with our elevated ancestors. All we have to do is listen to the voice within that is encouraging us to take the higher road. This Voice that speaks from within is full of knowledge and wisdom, which is why Hru could never defeat Set until Osar stepped in to the picture. This is why the double Pschent crown was so important because it was a visual and spiritual reminder to be strong on the outside but to trust your intuition because it is wiser and stronger.

This is what Osar was all about and why I am so grateful for having learned about it. And, one day when we choose to move beyond the intellectual perspective and truly delve into the invisible spiritual perspective. That is when we will see the beauty of our own traditions and really appreciate it all.

Hope this helps.

Hetepu

Derric “Rau Khu” Moore

For a full discourse see: Maa Aankh Volume 1: Finding God the Afro-American Way By Honoring the Ancestors and Spirit Guides. 

Return to So, Early Christian Stole From Kamit/Kemet Now What? Pt.1

So Early Christians Stole From Kamit/Kemet Now What? Pt. 1

Hetepu (Peace) Family,

Long time no hear. Hope everything is going well with you all.

For those of who don’t know, I just celebrated another cycle completed (birthday).  I had some major challenges this past year, but I made it through the storm, I’ve been reborn and now I am basting in the glorious rays of Rau (see the Maa Aankh for more information), which brings me to the title of this post.

Maa Aankh Cosmogram from Kamta Copyright Derric Moore 2011

I have heard for years, ever since I started this walk that Judaism, Christianity and Islam stole from the Kamitic/Kemetic (Ancient Egyptian) people. And, before we proceed, I would like to say that this is totally untrue. In ancient times, people borrowed ideas left and right, because they were all trying to make sense of the world around them. So, I only used the word “stole” as an attention grabber. Most of the ancient people did not have the same sentiments as people do today.  This racial undertone that exists nowadays only came into effect after the Western perspective became worldwide.

It is important to understand this so that we do not make the grave error of throwing the bathwater out with the baby sort of speak.

Sure people had prejudices back in those times, but it was not based upon skin color.  Back in ancient times, prejudices were more cultural, which is why you find in the bible that the Hebrews were against the Gentiles. Even though the biblical accounts claim that the Ancient Egyptians despised the Hebrew people by forcing them to build pyramids and things with mud bricks, which has, finally been disputed by archeologists and historians worldwide. Evidence reveals that the Ancient Egyptians were very tolerable of other cultures, but they were a very proud, nationalistic people.

 What this means is that many of the ideas and concepts that read about in the bible are very similar to the Kamitic/Kemetic ideas and concepts, because we’re reading another culture’s interpretation of our work. It’s like two people watching the same movie but getting a different interpretation and understanding of the film due to their upbringing. This is why there are so many direct similarities as follows:

1. Both Hru and Jesus were born of a virgin.
2. Both Hru and Jesus were of royal descent.
3. Both Hru and Jesus’ birth was announced by angels
4. Attempts were made on both Hru and Jesus as children to kill the forthcoming messiah.
5. Both Hru and Jesus were baptized at the age of 30. Hru by Anup the Baptizer and Jesus by John the Baptist.
6. Both Hru and Jesus resisted temptation by the devil on a mountain up high.
7. Both Hru and Jesus had 12 followers or disciples.
8. Both Hru and Jesus are reported to have performed miracles.
9. Both Hru and Jesus raised the dead. Hru raised his father Osar (Osiris in Greek) and Jesus raised Lazarus (L-Azarus or EL-Azarus, which is derived from EL-Osar or EL-Asar). And, the list goes on from Abraham’s birthright, which was originally Hru’s to the concept of this world belonging to the devil.

But, what does this mean?

Does this mean that it was all a lie? Does this mean that religion is fake or a man-made product to get the masses to follow blindly? Does this mean that we should hate the Christian religion because of the gross err of the Roman Catholic Church who anointed the genocide of indigenous people in the Americas and blessed the slave trade? Does this mean we should hate Christians because of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG), whose Anglican missionaries twisted the scriptures thus creating the ridiculous Hamitic curse, in order to justify slavery? And, we can go on and on…

Well, to be honest with you I use to hate Christianity, until I learned that most of the concepts written in the bible were Kamitic/Kemetic in origin, which means we have a poor translation of it. I can’t fault the people for trying; they tried and failed by comparison. Period. One of the Codes of Maa (See MAA: A Guide to the Kamitic/Kemetic Way for Personal Transformation) stressed that we shouldn’t obsess and worry over the past but, we should concentrate upon the present in order to make a better future. That being said, I am so grateful for being made aware of the Kamitic/Kemetic philosophy and theology because it is very life changing.

How? Well, it has to be understood that there are some archeologists, historians and other scholars, that don’t want people to know this, but contrary to popular belief. The Kamitic/Kemetic people didn’t worship all sorts of gods and goddess as claimed. They did believe in a number of intelligent spiritual beings just like we do today. But, one major difference between them and us is that they didn’t interpret their spiritual texts literally, and this is what makes their philosophy and theology so life changing.

You see, although the Kamitic/Kemetic people believed in Osar (Asar, Ausar, and Osiris in Greek), they understood that Osar was the godhead within us all. In fact, all of the so-called gods and goddesses are all metaphors describing and illustrating cosmic events that occur within our being and throughout the universe.  For instance, the Immaculate Conception between Osar and Oset (Aset, Auset and Isis in Greek) occurs every time water germinates a seed, a woman accepts a man into her sacred womb, when the sun and moon share the sky, etc. You see, it is metaphor about something that is beautiful, magical and magnificent between male and female energies. These energies are the same energies that exist within us all. There are positive and negative forces within and all around us.

You know when I stop taking things literally and began to look at life from a metaphorical/spiritual perspective. I stop hating one particular group and started if anything, despising the god-form or energy that inspires evil – Set (the devil).

Hru and Set – The Internal Struggle Within

It is Set that wants us to hate each other based upon our external differences, because the Kamitic/Kemetic, Christian, Jewish and Islamic texts all say the same thing, which is that he is the author of confusion, disillusion and delusions.  I favor the Kamitic teachings because it goes a little bit more in detail by revealing that Set is so evil that he cut up his brother’s body into numerous pieces; Thereby, clearly indicating that he is all about disunity.

Another reason I really favor the Kamitic/Kemetic teachings is because once you stop interpreting the concepts as being literal and began seeing the metaphorical truth, is when you realize that the Devil is REAL. He is inside you, because he is your ego. That’s right! We are our worst enemy! Not some red impish man running around on hooves and a pitchfork.  No, it is an aspect within our lower self that we constantly allow to defeat us. This is the original meaning behind the physical world and all things carnal belonging to Set-an, but they missed the point because they interpreted it literally.

TASETT – The Red Lands or the Land of Set

When we open up our metaphorical eye and see the TRUTH for what it is.  We see the odd beauty is that God created our adversary, to oppose us so that we can become stronger. If we never had anything to oppose us, we wouldn’t appreciate our accomplishments nor strive for the ultimate fulfillment in life.

This understanding has helped me to appreciate all people. I have since then, had people from all walks help me and those closest to me have caused me the greatest harm. Why? Because I was looking at their externals and not the spirit who was guiding them.  It is because of the Kamitic/Kemetic concepts and teachings, I can seriously say now, that I love everyone regardless of their race, ethnicity, nationality, affiliation and beliefs, but it is the Set (devil) within them that I don’t trust.

 So, now what?

What are we supposed to do now that we know this? How can we use this information to our benefit and our spiritual empowerment, instead of as ammunition for an intellectual argument, which will only boost our ego and make matters worse? How can we help our people that have been blinded by the religiosity of Set’s dogma – all dogma that claims that there is only one way to connect to the Divine? How can we help our brothers and sisters who have turned their back on God (their own divinity) because of hypocrisy and corruption, and decided instead to go their own way with no assistance from any guide, except their own egotistical head?

It’s simple. We must show that even though the early Christian writers got it wrong and merged two concepts into one to create the story of Jesus, that in truth Osar and Jesus are the same. And, we do this through our daily living. We have to do this because it is the only way we can save our loved ones (both living and dead) who have been misled.

The cool thing is that, it is not hard. Yes, it is going to take a lot of work, but it is not hard because the same teachings that Jesus gave to his disciples apply to us all.  It is still the TRUTH. Some of us often tell others to stop focusing on the man and pay attention to the message, but we are guilty of doing the same thing sometimes. But, if you read the red writing in the bible, there is nothing that Jesus says that is contrary to what Osar said to save his people. This is why, I imagine Osar telling his people the same thing thousands of years ago before Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and Abraham were even born or thought of.

When we get hung up on this physical and fail to see Osar. We allow Set to win, because we can’t share the message. You think I am lying. Start talking about how something came from Kamit/Kemet and see how many people stick around.  But you never mention anything about a, godhead and let it show by your actions. In other words, let your Osar reflect through you and watch how many people will be willing to listen to you. It works, because Osar didn’t have people come to his palace so that he could save them. He met them where they were at and on their level, so he could save them, because Osar loved his people. This is the same thing that Jesus taught and did.

This is why a true Hru according to Kamitic/Kemetic thinking is one that has lost everything but returned more vibrantly, vivaciously and victoriously than before. And, when Hru returns he brings with him his FATHER’S FUNK (POWER) from beyond the grave (in other words from the spiritual realm). That’s why he and she (I didn’t forget you ladies ) are considered heroes. Just think about…how many times Harriet Tubman risked her life to save others. How many times did other leaders put their life on the line for us. Think about how many times our own parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, great relatives, etc. did the same. Are you starting to see the connection between Osar and Jesus, and why we must be Hru?

So, we need to stop letting Set make a fool out of us. The MAA (TRUTH) has never changed, maybe the name but MAA has always been the same. I have found the MAA in the Bible, Talmud, heck I have found it in a science book, which means it has always been there. I just had some sunglasses on and couldn’t see it. So you see, it is we who must adapt and grow towards MAA. It is the only way to invoke the desired change that we want in life. If you follow your Ba/Spirit, it will not be difficult for you to decipher when the MAA is being presented to your awareness.

 So, don’t let Set fool you into trading in one ball and chain of religious beliefs for another.  And, stop letting him (your ego) control you. The time has come to take back what is ours.  We need to stop getting upset about others using our sacred sciences in a profane (literal) manner and start celebrating our rebirth.  If you overcame something that was a major and could have destroyed you. You need to celebrate and mark your victory over evil, your ego, Set.

We are at war and it has already been written. That the victors, the true heroes or Hru(s) of this war are the individuals that have a strong enough will to wear both crowns. The time has come for you to claim what’s yours.

Hetep (Peace)

Derric “Rau Khu” Moore

For a more detailed look at this subject, check out: So Early Christians Stole From Kamit/Kemet Pt. 2

For more information, visit: www.1solalliance.com

Honoring the Spirit of Resistance!

Hetepu (Peace) Family

The 20^th of November marks the official death of Zumbi dos Palmares (1655-1695), the ex-slave and last leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares, who fought the Portuguese on behalf of the Maroon society in Brazil. Many people I have talked to about Zumbi asked “Why should we celebrate this event? It happened in Brazil.”

Well, I use to think the same way. I changed my thinking because the 20^th of November is celebrated in Brazil as Black Awareness Day and is used as a time to reflect upon the contributions made by people of African descent, as well as erase the vicious stereotypes that have been created about blacks.  In the beginning, I found this to be a little odd because throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, there are a lot of stereotypical images that are held dear to people of African descent like the Mammy figure. I remember, the first time I met Mammy it was at my padrino’s (my spiritual godfather’s) house. She stood next to his Ellegua and he told me that she was his Ellegua’s wife according to his spiritual practice. Being an African American I was a little offended by the image until I began to really learn the cultural connection.

Mammy also called La Madama in Cuba

You see, when the Africans were brought to the Americas. Many of them finding themselves in a foreign land, living as prisoners under the yoke of a racist slave owner, tried to recreate the life they knew in their homeland.  But they were unable to do so because the same social system did not exist. So, the Africans had to create a new cultural model in order to survive slavery, racial discrimination and most importantly resist the propaganda directed at them that they were inferior to whites.  So, having no kings and queens to turn to, the Africans turned to the wisest amongst them, which was their elders.

Preto Velhos of Brazil

Contrary to popular belief, the elders in the slave community were the most beloved because they were not seen as a physical threat to the slave owners.  As a result, the slave owners were more inclined to trust them versus younger slaves. But, the elders were also the most knowledgeable about the old ways of Africa. As a result, the spirit of resistance (from my research) in the slave community began with the brave men and women that worked in the slave owner’s home. Afterwards, these same men and women would return to their community and teach what they had learned to help their people. The elders of slave community basically played a dual role and they taught everyone they knew how to do the same thing until conditions were more favorable for them to institute the desired change.  It was from the elders religious syncretism was born, along with the whole idea of masking ones true intentions.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Now, when some whites got wind of how the slaves were living.  They tried to sympathize with their plight as Harriet Beecher Stowe had done in her antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. What Stowe was trying to show in her book was how contradictory it was for them as Christians to enslave other Christians based upon the color of their skin.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin was made into a play, which was performed all over the country and even the world.

What ended up happening was that millions of her books were sold and a number of Uncle Tom’s Cabin plays were performed around the United States and the world. It was from this book that a lot of whites got the idea that slavery was not the Christian thing to do.  But, the book also laid the stereotypical foundation of what the African way of life was all about. This gave rise to numerous stereotypical images and icons, that blacks were either pleased being meek, happy-go-lucky, submissive, singing servants or were brute, unruly, sex-craved animals.  This stereotypical imagery of people of African descent dominated the Western world. Although, many of these images that were embraced by people who never even read Stowe’s book or saw the cinematic viewing of the story, simply perpetuated the racist belief that blacks were inferior and meant to live in servitude.

Mexican black cartoon character known as Memin Pinguin

Todays although many of these stereotypical images have been removed from the public’s eye. They continue to rear their ugly heads in the entertainment industry and other areas because of people refusing to embrace their ancestral heritage.

A Big Italian Newspaper Published A Shockingly Racist Cartoon Of Soccer Star Mario Balotelli As A Monkey

African Americans were the most damaged culturally by these stereotypical images I learned because we were outnumbered by the whites in the United States, but in places like Cuba and Brazil. Where the African descendants managed to preserve the truth about who these individuals were prior to the creation of this stereotypical attack. The images did not do much to destroy their cultural psyche because they knew that this was just a war on their cultural way of life. A war that they were determined to fight to win.

El Negro Jose

This is why an analysis of all of these ancestral archetypes will reveal the same thing, which is that these individuals were very knowledgeable slaves with high virtues and integrity. Many of which became or were the leaders of the slave community.  The darkness of their skin, as was in Kamit, symbolized that they were the original Africans of one’s lineage.  They all had white hair, indicating that they were wise.

Francisco, Francisca and La Madama on a Espirista shrine.

In Brazil the so-called Uncle Tom and Mammy figures of the United States were commemorated, honored and respectfully known as the Pretos Velhos (the old black slaves’).  In Cuba, they are sometimes known as Francisco and Francisca, or Jose Negro and La Madama.  In Puerto Rico they are known as El Congo (the Congo) and La Negra (the Black Lady). Their respectful names in Southern African American culture are Uncle Joe or Ole’ Black Joe and Auntie or Big Mamma.

A Black reader reading tea leaves for a young white patron, painted by American Artist Harry Roseland.

By the way, the real Big Mamma was usually a cook or house servant, but she was known throughout the slave community as a midwife, herbalist and a fortune teller, that was sometimes called a Black reader or Black Gypsy. Notice the similarity with the reader below.

Card reader reading cards for a client in Cuba

 As you can see, the stereotypical images was a ruse by the oppressors to ridicule our cultural way of life. In these contemporary times it is not the oppressor that ridicules our culture, but our own out of disgrace, ignorance and shame of who and where we come from. 

The new image of Big Momma

e now, but our selves out of disgrace and ignorance of our own culture.

The new image of Uncle Joe

So you see, this is why Zumbi should be important to people throughout the Americas (and others like him such as Gaspar Yanga), because he is the epitome of what our ancestors did in order for us to live today.

Zumbi dos Palmares the celebrated hero of Capoeira

By celebrating the life of Zumbi and others that resisted in their own way. We not only honor them but erase negative imagery created to ridicule our cultural way of life and show the true power of why our culture is so beautiful.

La Madama in all her beauty

Celebrate the Day of Resistance by watching the movie Quilombo and Sankofa.

Hope that helps,

Hetep

Derric “Rau Khu” Moore

 

* P.S. Please note that I am not against Martin Lawrence, Tyler Perry or any entertainer that makes films. It is just important for people to realize the impact that negative images such as these has upon the rest of the people in the diaspora.

Is Knowledge of Self Still Relevant Today?

Hetepu (Peace) Family

I was just sitting back and listening to Black Star’s K.O.S. (Knowledge of Self), which had me reflecting on some things. I remember back in the day, not to sound like an old fogey, when Quest, DeLa, Gangstarr, Paris, Heavy D, Brand Nubians, Black Sheep, PRT, PE, KRS-1 and all of them was around.  We talked about knowledge of self to raise the consciousness of folks.  It wasn’t all about power. It was about just surviving, living, enjoying life and making sure we don’t fall in the social traps. It was all about seeing the divine within you, but I noticed something.

Nowadays, people are always talking about knowledge of self but they never express the benefit or purpose of knowledge of self. To begin it must be understood that you are composed of several parts. There is a thinking part of you, a feeling part of you, a spiritual part of you and so on. In psychology these different aspects of you are commonly referred to as the conscious, subconscious and unconscious minds. Technically speaking, you only have one mind, but it is divided into different parts that control different aspects of your life. The subconscious mind governs your memories, emotions, autonomous body functions, etc. Your conscious part of your mind governs your rational thinking and your will, while your unconscious corresponds to those aspects of you that lie outside of conscious and subconscious control such as your intuition.

Now, let’s see how this applies. Ninety-nine percent the world population lives their life based upon what was learned or the memories of their subconscious because the subconscious is responsible for our habits, but as we all know, our habits are not always good. A lot of us have some pretty destructive habits in the sense that they cause harm to us and others like smoking, abusive behavior, critical language, etc. For instance, when we see someone doing something that we disagree with. It is out of habit that we may criticize their actions and behavior, but before we do it. There is something inside of us that gives us the impulse not to do it. That something speaking within us is our unconscious. A lot of times, we choose to do the exact opposite of what that unconscious voice is telling us not to do. The decision to choose is due to our conscious. As you can all of these three parts contribute and make you who you are.

When you don’t have knowledge of self, you tend to only rely upon the subconscious part of your being. This means that engage in actions and behaviors based solely upon you feel and have learned because remember, the subconscious governs our emotions and memories.  This means, if it doesn’t feel right, we don’t like it, etc. we will not do it. This sounds great but we have to remember as we saw earlier, our subconscious can mislead us because it lacks the ability to reason, which is a function of our conscious. This is why there are so many people addicted to cigarette smoking and a lot of other destructive habits. It is because somewhere along the line, the individual that picked up the habit of smoking thought it was “cool”, “hip” or whatever, so the subconscious liked it and became a “destructive” friend.

So what knowledge of self does is to remind you first and foremost that you are not your subconscious, your subconscious is just one aspect of you. Said another way, you are not what you have learned, memorized or done in the past. This is just something that you have done. This is very important to understand because a lot of people think that since they made some grave errs in their life.  That they are not welcomed and do not deserve the blessings of God, which is so not true. Your subconscious or your past does not define who you are. It is the conscious choices that you make that determine who and what you will be. As I stated in the example above, there is an unconscious part of our being that speaks to us, but we have to decide on if we choose to listen to it or not. This unconscious part is also what is referred to as the Divine Spark or the Spark of God within. Every living being on the planet has it, but only man and woman have the ability to listen to it or ignore it totally.

When you have knowledge of self it reminds you of all of this, but it also helps you to see that the same divine beauty that exists in you dwells in others as well. Everyone and everything is sacred because it is created by the Divine. Even man-made objects have place in the scheme of things because they are still a manifestation of God through human hands. But again, knowledge of self throws back in our face that it is what we choose to do with our life and the things in the world that brings about our demise and the demise of others. When you knowledge of self, you have no need for a secret philosophy because you see the benefit of expressing gratitude. You understand the nature of your being is the nature of the universe and vice versa. And, this is why it is important to get Knowledge of Self.

Hope that helps.

Proof that Reincarnation is Real

Hetepu Family,

I just happened to be watching a documentary on the science of the soul and they were talking about this kid named James Leininger.  For years I recall my parents, grandparents and others saying that a child was an old soul returned, but this was the best example I have seen proven that the soul reincarnates. While I could not find the documentary, I was able to find similar post of this kid. Enjoy.

Hope this helps.

How to Honor Your Ancestors the Kamitic/Kemetic Shaman Way

Hetepu Fam (Peace Family),

Hollywood here lately has been fascinated with making ghost stories and trying to claim that people worship the dead. Unfortunately, because there is not a lot of information available on the web and/or there is no community available.  Newcomers are usually led astray because of fiction writers desire to make a quick buck by preying upon individual’s ignorance about the spiritual realm.  So, to set the record straight, we don’t worship the dead.  We worship God and honor our ancestors.

Cultures all over the world honor the deceased but in Kamitic/Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) belief, every deceased relative was not considered an ancestor. The true meaning of an ancestor or an Aakhu is an individual that exercised self-discipline in life and therefore was expected to assist the living in life. Surely, you would not want to honor an individual that suffered from substance abuse in life.  This is because the same way you would not want to be around this individual in life, for obvious reasons. You would not want to be around them in death, because there is not much you would be able to learn from this individual.  You want to venerate those individuals whose self-discipline made them honorable individuals in life. Self – discipline was symbolized by the Kamitic/Kemetic people as the djed (the backbone of Osar Greek Osiris) column. The backbone was used because this is what makes us sit/stand upright, hence the djed raising image below.  In contemporary times instead of raising djed columns some people just plant trees, which has the same meaning when you understand it in its true context.

So,  one of the simplest ways to honor the ancestors in the Afro-Diaspora is to build an ancestral altar.

The basic guidelines are as follows:

1. Take photos of your ancestors (deceased biological relatives you respected and/or teachers).  Then place their photos on a clean table covered with a white tablecloth.
2. Arrange nine glasses into a semi-circle to represent the guardian angel(s) that governed your ancestor. Fill these glasses with cool water.
3. Say a prayer in your own language thanking God for all of your blessings.  It is common throughout the Afro-Latino communities to recite the Lords Prayer because it is a very familiar yet powerful prayer.
4. Then say a prayer asking that God bless, strengthen and enlighten your ancestors.  Next light a small white birthday candle and tell your ancestors how much you miss them. Ask them to assist you in your life.
5. Since you cannot get something for nothing, because of the Maa (also called Maat or Ma’at is the Kamitic/Kemetic concept of balance, equality, justice harmony, law, order and truth), it is common practice to make an offering in exchange for your ancestors’ assistance such as a cigar (for beginners do not light), incense (e.g. frankincense, frankincense and myrrh, or sandalwood), food (fruit, slice of pound cake, etc.), beverage (strong black coffee without sugar or cream, tea or a shot of rum.  Understand, offerings are given to the ancestors all around the world because although they do not need food and shelter as we (the living) do. They are however able to absorb the energy (life-force) from things that are offered to them, in order to continue their existence.
6. Afterwards thank your ancestors for their assistance and allow the candle to burn down.
7. On a day that is most convenient to you. Repeat steps 3 through 5.

The above set up is a simple modification of an Aakhu altar used in Kamta. The above basic guidelines are usually done to help individuals learn how to ignore their wayward thoughts and control their mind. Thus allowing their ancestors to communicate to them intuitively through their dreams, hunches and thoughts. It is advised that you pay attention to your dreams, thoughts and ideas.

Important Tips: 

• Make sure that whenever burning candles and incense that they are safely away from anything that is flammable.
• Never put salt in food that is offered to the ancestors. Salt has the tendency to repel spirits. Also, if cooked food is offered it should be removed the following day. Never allow food to decay on the altar.
• Never put photos of those who are living on an altar for the dead.
• Never allow your ancestors to become thirsty. Always refill the glasses with water when it evaporates out. Also, don’t give your ancestors too much alcohol, we don’t want them to become drunk.
• Never allow the altar to fall into disarray.

Besides being a great way to celebrate the life and contributions of your ancestors. Honoring the ancestors is a great way to verify that the deceased is truly resting in peace and ensure that your ancestral heritage will not be forgotten. We must always remember that this is what Hru (Greek Horus) had to do for Osar, because this is how he acquired the double crown.

 All Rights Reserved 2012

What About Jesus? Banned From the Bible

Hetepu (Peace) Fam.

Lately, the History channel has been outdoing itself by showing the books of the bible that were banned by the Council of Nicaea and subsequent Popes of the Roman Catholic Church. I will not reproduce all of their efforts here but will just give you a brief of what they have been talking about. These books are just a sample of the hundreds of books that were not included in the Christian canon, some of which appear in other Christian sects like the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Coptic Church, Eastern  Orthodox and so on…

•  The Life of Adam and Eve: A more detailed story of creation than what is found in Genesis, this book includes jealous angels, a more devious  serpent, and more information about Eve’s fall from grace from her        point of view.

•  The Book of Jubilees: This obscure Hebrew text offers an answer to a  question that has vexed Christians for centuries — if Adam and Eve  only had sons, and if no other humans existed, who gave birth to humanity? This text reveals that Adam and Eve had nine children and  that Cain’s younger sister Awan became his wife. The idea that humanity  was born of incest would have been radical — and heretical.

• The Book of Enoch: This scripture reads like a modern day action film, telling of fallen angels, bloodthirsty giants, an earth that had become   home to an increasingly flawed humanity and a divine judgment to be  rendered though denied a place in most Western Bibles; it has been used  for centuries by Ethiopian Christians. Large portions of this book were   found as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

• The Infancy Gospel of Thomas: The only book that deals with young  Jesus, it indicates that Jesus was a strong-willed child who one        historian describes as “Dennis the Menace as God.” The book reveals  that at age five, Jesus may have killed a boy by pushing push him off a roof and then resurrected him. Perhaps too disturbing for inclusion in        the Bible, this book seems to contain traditions, also known to the  Koran.

• The Protovangelion of James: This book offers details of the life of  the Virgin Mary, her parents, her birth and her youth, stories not found in the New Testament Gospels but was beloved by many early Christians.

• The Gospel of Mary: This Gnostic Text reveals that Mary Magdalene may  have been an apostle, perhaps even a leading apostle, not a prostitute.  While some texts in the Bible seem to deny women a voice in the  Christian community, this text helps spark the debate about the role  of women in the church.

• The Gospel of Nicodemus: This is the story of Jesus’s trial and  execution and his descent into hell.  According to this gospel the Savior asserts his power over Satan by freeing patriarchs such as Adam, Isaiah and Abraham from Hell.

• The Apocalypse of Peter: Peter’s apocalypse suggests that there is a  way out of punishment for evildoers and implies that the threat of the apocalypse is a way for God to scare people into living a moral life, and committing fewer sins.

The documentary spoke about several controversial aspects that we have all had about the bible and the life of Jesus such as the Gnostics who went around telling people “Wake up the god within you!” Could you imagine how different Christianity would have been? WOW.

The point of making this known is to show you how spirituality became big business, but when you see Jesus as an archetype, that is a man who had the same problems as you and I and not a Deity. It becomes far easier to identify with him. When they deified him, they warped the whole movement and instead of trying to raise the god within, they began to truly idolize a human being. This is why in the Kamitic tradition people didn’t worship Osar (Asar, Ausar, Osiris) but instead honored him like a living saint. It makes more sense.

Well, hope this helps.

If you can check out this documentary. Until next time.

Seeing God through Ebony Eyes (Seeing Kamitic-ly)

Hetepu (Peace) Family,

Greetings. Greetings. It’s good to be here.

The other day I was watching a program on National Geographic and they were talking about healing or what they called Strange Healings, which was non-Western approaches to healing. One of the healing practices they featured was the practices of a shaman from the Andes. This particular shaman had diagnosed his patient by using a guinea pig. A similar practice exist in Africa using a goat. In remote parts of Asia they use a sheep or chicken. Anyway, the shaman from the Andes whom they call Maestro (Master) after diagnosing the ailments correctly, offered the guinea to the earth and prepared another offering to remove the spirits that brought the illness from the patient. Then, he chased the spirits away with a series of ritual actions.It was an interesting segment but then they brought on Western trained anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists who talked about that the reason the shaman was successful, was because of a placebo effect.

“Really???” I asked. “How sad.”

How sad I said because it is really a shame that Westerners can’t see beyond their arrogance. Now, I am not totally against Western education and thinking, but you need to know its limitations, which is based totally upon the physical senses. It is the failure recognize that there is something beyond the physical that prevents Westerners from making any serious grounds spiritually.  It is because the people in the Andes can see beyond the physical and identify with the spiritual that allows them to see the sacredness of all things like the coca leaves, which they chew daily. That Westerners have abused, misused and are addicted to.

Now, I am not promoting drugs use but I am trying to get you to see that it is our Western thinking that prevents us from seeing the wholeness of God. It is our Western training that makes us arrogantly believe that because we don’t  understand a thing.  Means that it is not real or effective.  This also is what makes us search for God through someone else eyes rather it be through an Arab’s, Chinese or East Indian’s perspective. The problem with this of course, is that the spirituality of these peoples reflects their divinity through their own eyes and not of foreigners. This means that when you take this same Western or non-holistic perspective and try to learn about someone else spirituality that is foreign to you. It is not going to work either, because there is a safe guard preventing people from abusing and misusing it for mundane and profane purposes.

It is this same safe guard during the Cultural Movement of the 1960s and 70s, that prevented people like The Beatles, Jim Morrison and the Doors, and everyone else during that period from truly climbing higher spiritually, and. Instead led many of them to abusing substances, social disorder and the committing all sorts of heinous acts despite their original natural and peaceful intentions.

It is the same safe guard that made the Great I AM tell Moses to inform the Children of Israel not to gaze upon Him at Mt Sinai because they would perish. What is this safe guard?  It is culture. Culture and spirituality are uniquely tied or joined at the hip and if you don’t have one. It is hard to get the other. In fact, culture is what spirituality different from religion.

What’s the difference you ask between spirituality and religion? Real quick, religion is based solely upon beliefs whereas spirituality is based upon experience. A person can change their beliefs like changing their clothes but you can’t change or deny your experience. This is why spirituality in most non-Western cultures is closely tied to initiations, where you either received the initiation or not.Religion is something you practice. Spirituality is what you are.  Have you ever asked a person who they are and answer they are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc.? This is a religious individual, because their beliefs are dictating who they are and will be. A true spiritual minded individual tells you his or her name based with conviction based upon their experience.

It is this lack of holistic thinking that makes people jump around and try other faiths. I know because I did it as well. Fortunately, my padrino (godfather) and I met and helped me to see life from a different perspective. Of course, it didn’t come quickly. I had to go through a bit of ordeal as you all know, but this ordeal was my trial by fire or leading to my burning bush initiation.  It was because of my initiation I began to see the Kamitic tradition differently. Like many, I had read and read the Kamitic legends numerous times and just chalked them up as fanciful stories, which is evidence of my Western education (indoctrination),  non-holistic thinking and lack of maturity. When I was undergoing my informal initiation that’s when the truth of the Story of Ra and Oset appeared to me.

The Story of Ra & Oset

According to legend, Oset (Aset/Auset/Isis) wanted to be a goddess, so she conjured up some old foot magic and created a serpent, so that when Ra journeyed across the two lands.  The serpent would poison Ra with its bite and in order to save him. Ra would have to reveal his true name to her based upon the belief that whosoever knows his true name could control him. As planned, Ra journeyed across his kingdom and when he came upon the serpent that lie in his path, he was bitten and became very ill. In agony Ra called out to his children to save him but none knew of a cure except for Oset. When Oset came to Ra’s aid she called him to reveal his true name to her so that she could drive the poison out him. Ra after much hesitation tells Oset,

“I have made the heavens and the earth, I have ordered the mountains, I have created all that is above them, I have made the water, I have made to come into being the great and wide sea, I have made the ‘Bull of his mother,’ from whom spring the delights of love. I have made the heavens, I have stretched out the two horizons like a curtain, and I have placed the soul of the gods within them. I am he who, if he openeth his eyes, doth make the light, and, if he closeth them, darkness cometh into being.  At his command the Nile riseth, and the gods know not his name. I have made the hours, I have created the days, I bring forward the festivals of the year, I create the Nile-flood. I make the fire of life, and I provide food in the houses. I am KhepeRA in the morning, I am RA at noon, and I am Tmu at evening.”

After hearing all that Ra had said, Oset told him, “The poison continues to run through your body because you have not reveal your true name, my Lord.” Finally having no other choice Ra conceded and he led Oset into another room so that no one else could hear them.  When they were alone. Ra caused his name to pass from within him and into Oset, which she used to drive the poison out of Ra’s body.   The story ends with the impression that the name was not revealed, but the story was a riddle because the name was revealed to Oset in secret. To understand the story, the word for secret and hidden is “Amun or Amen,” which also means to conceal (this is the reason the word was borrowed and used to follow the end of Jewish, Christian and Islamic prayers).

Basic Kongo Cosmogram

It was from this Story it was revealed to me that Khepera (sunrise), Ra (midday), Ra Atum or Tmu (sunset) and Amun Ra (midnight) are not God. They are the divine attributes of the Almighty God, Nebertcher. Together these four attributes correspond to the four moments of the sun (sunrise, midday, sunset and midnight), the four directions (east, north, west and south), the four stages of Life (birth, life, death and rebirth) and the four moments of the Kongo cosmogram (Kala, Tu-Kula, Luvemba and Musoni).

Kongo Cross (Dikenga)

This is how I discovered the maa aankh, a Kamitic – Kongo inspired cosmogram based upon my ancestors’ cultural perspective, which reveals my divinity and uniqueness.  Instead of making me feel inferior or culturally subservient to others.

So you see, Egyptologists and other Western scholars got it wrong because they are not culturally in sync with the Kamitic thinking, which was holistic. It was because of my experience guided by the wisdom of my padrino, that allowed me to rediscover and resurrect my own divinity. Thereby connecting to God, which allowed me to see the sacredness of all things. In other words, I had to see God through my Ebony Eyes in order to get a holistic perspective to improve my life.  This is why I am eternally grateful for meeting my padrino because without him I would never have had the pleasure of meeting the orisha Ochossi (Oxossi) and later the netchar Maat.

That’s right, it was Maat that showed me the entire picture or Maa. It was Maat that showed me the Maa (the Way), which I hope you can see means more than just balance, reciprocity, law, justice, order, karma, etc. I hope you can see the difference from knowing and believing in God. When you believe.  You only see part of the picture – usually the one based upon your physical senses, hence the intellectual side everything (based upon your limited understanding).  You see the differences between yourself and others, which is why it is hard for people to come together peacefully.Not only that, when you just believe you tend to argue with others on who is right or wrong, which is a typical Npu (Anubis/Sebek) and Eshu (Ellegua) trick, all due to perspective.

It is important to note that people that believe in God need rules, laws and commandments to follow or they believe that God will punish them and so on. And, rightfully so, because without these rules they would cause great harm to themselves and others because they lack the maturity, understanding and responsibility.

Spiritual people on the other hand don’t just believe in God but know God, which allows them to see life holistically. They live their life based upon what is ideally correctly. A truly spiritual minded individual can or tries to harmonize (be at peace) with anyone regardless if they agree with their beliefs or not, because they understand everyone has a journey. They can come together peacefully with others because they focus on the individual’s spirit. This does not mean they condone negative, self-destructive and perverted behavior, no more than Moses did. It just means that see the sacredness of all things and do not need any commandments, laws and rules to tell them what they should and should not do. Because they see the dangers beforehand. It is part of the holistic or Maa perspective.

I say all this to inform you that if you find yourself flip flopping from faith to faith, not knowing which way to turn or what is right from wrong.  If you feel that you have lost your way or that you haven’t found your way.  It could be because you are looking at life from one perspective and not seeing the whole picture. It might be time for you put down the books and ask Maat to show you the other side of life.  So that you can develop your intuition and learn to see life holistically.

Peace. Hope this helps.