Spiritual Revolution: How to Fight Jesus

Hetepu (Peace) Family, 

How was your New Year? Hope all is well with you and wishing you many blessings on the success of your resolutions.

Ok, here recently I was talking to a good friend of mine and we were talking about this whole thing with Christianity and the negative effects it is having on many people in regards to self-hatred. This subject we both agreed was not new. As I wrote in Maa Aankh, I remember my grandfather and uncles saying the same thing, how they were not going to get into “the white man’s religion” when I was younger, and before long they finally conceded and joined the church.

Yeah, both of my grandfathers and many of my uncles joined the church after fighting against it. And, I am pretty sure many of your family members did as well. So, let’s look at it what the Church has to offer and why even the staunchest amongst us finally end up joining. Then, we will look at why it is so hard to break from it.

What the Church offers?

For starters, the Church has been (and will be for at least a few generations) the glue that binds our community together. It was the institution that our ancestors fled to for emotional, psychological and economical support. Many of our families (mine included) live by the 3 rule model: God first, family second and everything else is third. These three rules have kept many families together especially during the hard times.  Family members found not abiding by these three rules in this exact order have been met with a number of accidents and tragedies, which has convinced them (you got it), that they need to get back into the Church.

Now, besides the basic human needs such as fellowship, camaraderie and emotional support, some churches within our community also offer a number of services i.e. credit unions, small businesses, senior citizens complexes and services, drug rehab support, marriage counseling, family planning and some even offer hospice care and are partners with others to support hospitals. It doesn’t stop there. A number of churches have daycares and private schools or sponsor charter schools, not to mention their outreach programs in other countries, particularly in Africa.

So part of the reason you can’t get rid of the church is because every major movement that has swept through our community has come and gone, but the Church is the one institution that has continued to stand.

On to the psychological reasons you can seem to shake it.

It is a proven fact that whatever religion you are born into will always have its hooks on you subconsciously in the end. Just to give you an example, I knew this guy who went to church when he was a little kid but, his mother became conscious and they stopped going. This was way before he was a teenager. His mother had joined an ATR, so he had been in this ATR for at least 15 years.  When he was 19 years old, he had an accident and was in a fire. In excruciating pain he called upon anyone and everyone that would help him, even Jesus. The reason is because Christianity was his birth religion.  There are many people that have converted to other religions from Christianity that still have this in their blood and can’t shake it.

So, why is the Church in our community so strong?

There are a few reasons, which I have discovered based upon my own research. Besides the ones mentioned above:

1.       Again as I wrote in the Maa Aankh series. Contrary to popular belief, the Black Church did not begin during slavery. Many of the descendants from the Kongo-Angolan region willingly converted to Christianity prior to being enslaved and brought this religious syncretism to the Americas.

2.       Many of our ancestors contributed to the development of the Church mentally, physically, spiritually and even economically.  A number of our elders when they passed donate their monies to the Church. 

3.       Many of our ancestors were able to practice their tradition under the radar because of the Church as well. More about this later, because it is relevant on how to break from it.

What this means from a psycho – spiritual perspective is that not only are you hooked subconsciously to follow your birth religion, but from a cultural perspective, you are hooked because it ties you to your history. It can’t be divorced.  Every time someone tries to divorce it, they are brought back into the fold because of circumstances outside of their control.  Do you see the issue? 

Think of this way. Imagine a gigantic bank that provides mental, emotional, cultural and economic funds sitting smack dab in our community; and the only way to make a withdraw is to be approved by an officer within that attends one of the local churches.

Ok? As you can see, breaking from the Church is a lot more complex then it seems.  Most people aren’t going to find mental, emotional, cultural and economic support from any other institution in our community besides the Church. Note, I didn’t say none exist. I said most people are going to find it.

What’s wrong with the Church Anyway?

Alright, some of you may be asking, “What’s wrong with the Church anyway?”

Well, everyone has their own problem.  For some people, they find opposition with the Church because they portray Jesus as being a Caucasian. This is not my issue, because the church I attended when I was a child didn’t have any images of Jesus.  They taught that Jesus could be any color (yeah pre-multiculturalism). In fact, the only time I saw an image portraying Jesus as a white man was in my parent’s home. It did sort of play tricks on my developing mind, but it was countered by a picture one of my uncles gave my grandmother during the 70s Cultural Movement, that portrayed Jesus as a black man with a fro.  So, that wasn’t my hang up.

My beef with the Church is with the dogma.  I understand that the purpose of dogma is to prevent people from treating religion like Burger King. You know, you can have it made your way, so that you don’t have to do better. The problem with the dogma is that it creates division amongst people, as well as promotes docility and blind faith due to lack of proper spiritual training, resulting in one’s demise.

I remember the last time I went back home to Detroit. I went to visit my god-sister. Within a two-mile radius, I counted 20 churches. That’s right 20 churches and the area around her was so dilapidated it was ridiculous. You would think with all of those churches things would be different. The same goes for a number of major cities where there’s a lot of churches. There are at least two churches on one city block, yet teen pregnancy, crime, etc. are steadily on the rise.  I mean everyone was called to the pulpit? Come on? So one of the reasons I have an issue with the Church is because some people want to be preachers because they want to make money, plain and simple.

The other reason is because if you talk to a preacher about the current social issues, most will tell you that it is a sign of the times.  This was the same response that preachers gave when the crack cocaine epidemic hit back in the 1980’s.  I mean kids are just dying in the streets and their response is “It’s a sign that the end is near” or they tell you, “Just pray.” Whenever I hear a preacher say this, to me it is like saying, “You’re screwed. Deal with it” as if God is playing dice with your life to see if you live or not.

In all fairness, we have to remember that the people running the Church are human beings. I hate to use that excuse but the fact is that these people aren’t perfect, so there are a lot of gross errors on their part. My time however is too precious for me to be waiting to see when someone comes into knowing. That’s why I wanted to know how to break from this tradition without causing major rifts to your psyche.

So the question is how do you break?

Well, as I mentioned. You really can’t. You are who you are in part because of the Church. It is part of your makeup. Even the part that doesn’t like certain aspects of the Church, so you need to either deal with it or it will deal with you.  As I said in the beginning, your birth religion will always have its hooks on you. Fight it if you want, but your subconscious is too strong and in the end it will win.  It is a simple truth, that if you focus on what you don’t want, it only magnifies it.  Trust me I know.

What you can do.

What my friend and I were discussing that a lot of people forget is that most of the revolts were biblically inspired. Go back and read the history of Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vessey, Nat Turner, etc. In fact you will find that everywhere Africans were taken and the slave masters were Protestants, the revolts were biblically inspired. People can say whatever they want about Martin L. King but the Civil Rights Movement was a success because it was biblically inspired. It (the Civil Rights) just wasn’t properly planned to deal with the post-Civil Rights era.  Most of the revolts weren’t successful because of self-hatred issues, which we will deal with shortly.

The question that comes to mind is how were our ancestors able to use the bible (the same bible that other people used) as a weapon against racism, injustice and the fight for freedom, whereas we can’t today?

It should be noted that the current issues that are facing our community existed back in the day. The difference is that people knew how to deal with them, whereas today people aren’t equipped to do so. In fact, we can trace a lot of our problems back to the post-Civil Rights era and the Second Women’s Liberation movement. There’s your hint for those who really want to know where our contemporary problems began.

As to how did our ancestors use the same bible that other people used as a tool for their liberation?  It was by tapping into their ancestry and conjuring it. You see, our ancestors developed a double consciousness ever since they learned the hypocrisy of white America. Many of them accepted Christianity during the First and Second Awakening because they thought it was going to free them from slavery. When they learned that Christianity wasn’t going to free them, they continued to practice their traditions on the side.  This combined with segregation and poor healthcare made them rely upon their tradition more than anything else.

Like everything else that went downhill as soon as our people received civil liberties, our people abandoned the traditions or our bread and butter because they didn’t want to have anything to do with slavery.   If it had not been for Alex Haley’s Roots, many probably would have forgotten that they were the descendants of slaves because many African Americans wanted to forget that this occurred. So everything that was associated with it was abandoned as well. As a result, a sort of voluntary soul loss occurred and those who practiced our tradition were viewed as being uneducated, backwards and simply not hip to the changing times watch To Sleep with Anger starring Danny Glover. Instead of following our own traditions, people during the Cultural Movement encouraged and embraced traditional African religion based upon the belief that they were more “authentic”, not understanding that their own tradition had properly prepared them to deal with the social ills they were currently facing in America.

The issue you see is that back in the day, our folks didn’t buy into the American Dream, whereas today many do.  Back in the day, most black people were very suspicious of white Americans and knew that the American Dream meant compromising your ethics, morals and principles, through self-hate in order to prosper.  Whereas today, it seems that many simply don’t care.

This brings us to today. Most of the young adults from the Cultural Movement have gone in three directions spiritually: back to the Church, an ATR, Islam or nothing at all.  Self-hatred is on the rise, which many agree is the major cause of most of the social ills affecting our community.  This means mental slavery is in full effect.

So, how do we use the bible as a tool for our liberation the way our ancestors did?

We have to move beyond stating historical facts and began using them or conjuring them like our ancestors did, because history doesn’t save souls. History just provides a temporary cultural pride. To save souls, all I can tell you is what I have done and what has worked for me. Feel free to share your own, but what I have found to be successful is complete religious syncretism.

What do you mean Rau Khu?

I mean, knowing that most of the biblical concepts were adapted, adopted and borrowed from the Kamitic spiritual traditions is good. Yes, the concept of forgiveness is based upon the Maa principles and epitomized in Maat.  This is all great and it gives me a nice fuzzy feeling inside but, that is all that it does.  However, syncretizing Djahuti (Tahuti, Tehuti, Thoth in Greek) with Moses based upon the idea that both dealt with snakes (Djahuti’s or Hermes caduceus and Moses staff), both dealt with interpreting the law, both helped solved their peoples’ problems (Djahuti repaired Hru’s eye, Oset’s crown and mummified Osar, Moses provided for his peoples’ needs), both were wise and knowledgeable of esoteric teachings, and there are other similarities; provides a bridge in my mind for me to go to Djahuti to help me to solve any problem.

Understanding that early Christian writers in their haste set up the God in the Old Testament and Jesus to be identified with our Higher Self provides a bridge for me to identify my Higher Self with Osar. When it comes to Christian rituals like Communion, which are a direct rip off from Kamit, they can easily be recovered by seeing the unleavened bread as the 14 pieces of Osar and the wine as his blood. 

Therefore, Communion for Osar (Asar, Ausar, Osiris in Greek) is done so that one does not sin against his or her Osar (Higher Self). I am not saying you have to do it, I am just offering a suggestion.

The whole point of this post is to get you to see that through religious syncretism, we can recover a lot and recreate our own way without damaging our psyche.

Hope this helps.

If you have more suggestions please share. 🙂

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

Why Kamitic/Kemetic Shamanism?

Hetepu (Peace) Family.

In the past few days, I have had some people ask me why Kamitic/Kemetic shamanism? Well, before answering that question, it should be noted that…

Kamitic/Kemetic priest in leopard pelt

…in 1972, a 50, 000 year-old-Neanderthal burial site was unearthed in Southern France by two French archeologists. The burial site, which became known as the Hortus site, contained the remains of a man wearing a leopard skin with claws and tails still intact, but no leopard bones were found in the grave.  The only cultural comparisons the archeologists had on record, was that in other culture, tribal shamans were known to wear similar capes made from animal skins and be buried with ritual objects. The archeologists concluded that the man must have been a shaman.  My question is how come the same conclusion is not drawn about the Kamitic/Kemetic (ancient Egyptians) priests and priestesses who were known to wear similar garments and be buried with ritual objects as well?

Could it be, that if the Kamitic/Kemetic priesthood were actually shamans, it would mean that Kamitic spirituality is at least 50,000 years-old or older?

Could it be, that by calling the Kamitic/Kemetic priesthood and society itself a shamanic culture, it would cause some to sympathize with traditional African people, the same way people did after it was realized globally what colonizers had done in degrading the culture of the Native Americans and indigenous Australians? Maybe?

Well, I tend to think the conspiracy is a little deeper than the above reasons because shamanism is not a religion.  Shamanism is a time-tested, widespread, practical, healing, spiritual system that is not bound by any land, people, culture, language, etc. In other words, it is not bound by doctrine, dogma or a set of holy rules. It is a spiritual tradition that only those who have been called and have acknowledged the call can be shamans, but the tradition itself can be practiced by anyone.  This would mean, that the reason the same conclusion was not reached about the Kamitic/Kemetic society being a shamanic culture is because if it were the case. People would realize that if the Kamitic people achieved greatness by tapping into their divinity without any religious order, they could achieve similar results. Therefore, it serves the religious few for people to believe that there is a need for organized religion.

I believe also if it were stated that the Kamitic/Kemetic people were a shamanic culture it would unite them with the rest of traditional Africa, who not only followed but continue to practice the custom of burying their dead with the last objects the individual used, which archeologists referred to as treasures.  Here is a listing of the most common items buried with the dead. Many of these items you will find early African Americans of Kongo descent placed on their deceased loved one’s graves.  Many of these practices are still practiced in the United States.

• Personal Belongings – It was customary for the most personal belongings of the deceased, such as their eating utensils, walking sticks, blankets, etc., to be buried with them.  Favorite pieces of jewelry were bured with the dead, along with decorations from the home.

• Seashells – Seashells (especially white) are associated with the spirit world in many early African religions. They believed the world of the dead was connected to the living by the ocean or water.

• Broken Pottery – Pottery that belonged to the departed is often broken on top of their grave so their spirit would not come looking for them. Incorporate broken bottle pieces into your African funeral tribute. You could use some of your loved one’s items, or terracotta pots.

• Lamps/Fire – Oil lamps or bonfires were used in traditional African funerals because the light pointed the way to glory. Create a tribute around a central flame or flame bowl.

• Mirror Pieces – Mirror pieces and other shiny objects were often used in traditional African funerals. It was thought that their ancestral spirits could be seen in the reflection. Use mirror pieces, gold or other reflective pieces in your African funeral tribute.

  So, the question, why Kamitic/Kemetic shamanism?

Well, besides the reasons given above, because shamanism is not a religion. It doesn’t require that you practice it once or twice a week. There is no obligation. It is not based upon theory but upon physical, tangible results. If it works you use it. If it doesn’t you don’t use it. It’s that Simple.  There is no one forcing or goading you into doing something that you do not agree, believe or comprehend.  You don’t mimic what other cultures have done nor do you have wear elaborate costumes. None of that is necessary because it is not about mimicking forms. At the same time it challenges you to live correctly by rewarding you when you do live according to Maa (balance/truth) because it focuses on spiritual content.  When you do not live according to Maa, you don’t advance or achieve your goals. This isn’t a punishment from some Supreme Deity, it is simply the consequences of your actions and behaviors.

Protected by Hru (Horus)

The interesting thing about shamanism is that all of the books in the world can help you but none of them will prepare you for this mystical journey. This is the problem with a lot of traditions.  They have a set of recipes on how to do something based upon some old records or grimoires but they don’t have the discipline or the wisdom to carry it out. This is not the case in shamanistic practices because it is a spiritual healing practice based mainly upon trial and error. Where you acquire more divine power through your own self-discipline.  Some people might not like this approach and prefer to be told the rules and the how-to’s.  The advantage of not having any rules or “no regla” as it is called in Spanish, is that you work directly with your Spirits, which is easier in some ways because you are not following exact recipes.

So, this is some of the reasons why I follow the Kamitic/Kemetic shamanic path.

Hope that helps.

Derric “Rau Khu” Moore

The Origin of Black Jesus

Formerly (How to Separate the Deified Jesus from the Jesus Within? (The Birth of Black Jesus)

There are a few people wondering why I advocate using the Lord’s Prayer even though I consider myself to be a follower of the Kamitic philosophy.  It is because as a shaman, I am concerned with what works because most of our ancestors were Christians and we come from a Christian background. But, due to misinterpretation, misrepresentation, and misunderstanding about the ideas our ancestors had about Jesus Christ.  There is a lot of confusion circulating around.  This has led a number of us to turn our back on spirituality or worse become an atheist, which is totally out of sync with our nature and a true slap in our ancestors’ face.  So, let’s begin.

This discussion started when I was talking with my wife and at the time we were watching the film Red Tails, and noted that one of the pilots had a picture of Black Jesus.  I am not sure if people got it but the director was trying to show how there were two depictions of Jesus that existed.  To understand this, it has to be remembered that when the Africans were brought to North America, unlike the Africans in the Caribbean and South America. They were unable to practice their religious beliefs, which most of us already are aware of. Consequently, they had to adapt and modify their beliefs and practices in order to survive in the new hostile environment they found themselves in. Now, contrary to popular belief, the Africans brought to the North America were not forcefully converted to Christianity as some authors believe. There’s a substantial amount of historic evidence that reveals that many of the people from the Kongo-Angolan region had converted to Christianity prior to the advent of the slave trade.  This means that even though most of the Africans from this region weren’t Christian, many of them had knowledge of this European faith.

During slavery, for almost hundred or more years, Protestant Euro-Americans were very leery about converting the Africans to Christianity for fear that baptism would give them “crazy ideas” that they were free from bondage.    So they gave the early African Americans bits and pieces to make the people subservient, which allowed the early African Americans to fill in the voids with their own beliefs and practices. According to my research, most of these beliefs were influenced by the Kongo cosmogram.  This went on for years until evangelical Baptist and Methodist preachers began traveling through the south during the Great Awakening. It was during this time a large number of early African Americans converted to the Christian faith and one of the big drawing points was water baptism. According to classic Kongo belief, it was a barrier of water that separated the land of the living from the land of the ancestors or spiritual realm. When one crossed over to the spiritual realm and returned back to the land of the living with a change of consciousness, it was believed they were reborn, a similar belief existed in Kamit (see the maa aankh). Prior to the early African American involvement in Christianity, you will not find this belief nor practice, because it is straight from Africa particularly the Kongo-Angolan region.   In fact, there is no proof of people ever speaking in tongues, the sign of the Holy Ghost, until African Americans joined the church and people were struck by the Spirit at the Azuza Street Revival.

So, what this means is that for more than a hundred years, early African Americans even though they were not encouraged practiced their traditional beliefs did manage to blend their beliefs and practices with European religion, which became the foundation of what we call the Black Church Experience. It was from this spiritual legacy, that the Black Jesus was born.

Now, for those of us searching for spiritual answers and trying to find our way (our maa), we find this hard to accept.  I know I did because we wonder why our people would willingly convert to the religion of our enemy. Why would they willingly convert to a religion that taught that they were meant to be beast of burden and the wretched of the earth based upon the so-called Hamitic myth?  I know that if you are like me, you probably have ancestors that resisted this and you’re probably torn up inside about the whole Jesus issue.  Well, through a lot of souls searching and conversations with my ancestors I learned that early African Americans didn’t really convert to Christianity. They actually created their own version of the religion, which began in the Kongo, this is where Black Jesus was born and why in the Caribbean Black Jesus is associated with Kongo spirituality.

Now when I say Black Jesus, I am not just talking about a painting of Jesus painted as an African man.  I am speaking about the concept of a Black Jesus. That is an individual who suffered right alongside the slave in the field. An individual that was beaten and whipped by the oppressor, and then persecuted because of the color of his skin.  Just think for a moment. Have you heard or read anything about Jesus? If you’re like me, most likely you haven’t. There is not much written about him, but you can identify with him because he exists in your racial consciousness. This is the Jesus that Negro spirituals and the first gospel songs were all about. I don’t care what you claim to believe, even the staunchest black atheists today can’t resist the power of Mahalia Jackson singing, “How I got over,” because this is the Jesus that she is singing about.  Black Jesus was birthed out of struggle.

The difference between Black Jesus and the Jesus that was taught in Sunday school is that Black Jesus is a powerful archetype that took on the characteristics of the Kongo nganga’s (Kongo priests) and the Yoruba orishas. This is why if you read any books about the religion of the slaves, like the Slave Religion by Robert Robetau.  You will find that early African Americans loved Jesus because he was a healer and a miracle worker like Moses.  In fact, next to Moses he was considered to be the greatest healer or conjure man of the bible. Note that I said, next to Moses. Another difference was that Black Jesus wasn’t worshipped like Jesus is nowadays, but was talked to like a familiar friend or a common ancestor, because he was about community and was associated with the superconscious. The interesting thing about this is that Jesus was viewed the same way in the Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latin America, which means this could not be a coincidence.

The superconscious also called the higher consciousness, objective consciousness, divine consciousness, the Spirit also referred to as God.  It is what connects us all together as one. It is the divine spark that dwells within each and every one of us regardless if we believe it exists or not. It is what gives us the divine potential to accomplish anything we put our minds to. Many non-Western cultures created spiritual cultures to cultivate peoples’ higher spiritual abilities. For instance, we all have the ability to see into the future but in order to achieve such a goal requires us to learn how to listen to our higher consciousness or simply intuit. Spiritual cultures focused on developing these abilities in individuals so that they could greater contribution to the survival of the entire community; whereas non-spiritual cultures simply focused on the physical survival of the people by dominating and subjecting others to their physical rule.

Early African Americans (as well as others in the African diaspora) have known about the or superconscious for hundreds of years because they are descendants from African shamanic cultures.  In shamanic traditions, the way to access the superconscious is through dancing, drumming, fasting, sensory deprivation, exposure to extremes of temperature, or the use of psychoactive drugs.  Those familiar with the African American religious experience will note that besides the latter two, all of these practices can be found within the Black Church. These practices along with the latter two (exposure to extreme temperature and psychoactive drugs) are readily used within the Native American spiritual services, which should give you a general idea as to how the relationship between Native Americans and early African Americans evolved.

Anyway, the early African Americans danced, chanted, fasted and on occasion drummed (using handclaps, hand and body slaps – i.e. hambone since drums were officially outlawed) to go into trance and meet Black Jesus who gave them certain virtues like lucidity, patience, kindness, truthfulness, humility, and forgiveness towards one’s fellow man, which is called Gifts of the Spirit or the Holy Ghost in some churches. These are all qualities that according to traditional spiritual teachings, one cannot obtain without ascending to the higher consciousness or meeting Black Jesus. Unfortunately, because many African American pastors refuse to research their own spiritual lineage. They fail to understand that this is the reason they feel they have to go to church. It though has nothing to do with the church itself but it is all about connecting to the Divine consciousness. Some of the other fruits of the Spirit are chastity, faithfulness, gentleness, generosity, goodness, love, modesty, self-control, strength, wisdom, counsel, and peace. So, you see, the bible simply conveyed what early African Americans already knew about the super consciousness, which the Kamitic people called the ba – the divine spark.

But somewhere along the way, things went awry in regards to the Black Spiritual Experience. Many have traced this great change back to around the Civil Rights and Cultural Movement of the 1970s. It is not known exactly what happened but it seems as if the Black Jesus fulfilled his purpose and people had no more use of him as they got more rights and freedoms. The reason is that people started accepting the Euro-American Protestant idea of Jesus who was more about individualism instead of community. It should be noted that around this same time, there was a sharp decline as conditions in the community across the country got worst.  As people migrated out of the neighborhoods, more and more drugs became available. Isn’t it interesting that most of the social ills that exist in our communities were not present prior to that time? The other interesting thing is that it wasn’t that drugs, prostitution, etc. did not exist at all, but there was something preventing it from running rapidly as it exists today. The reason is that there was a change in consciousness.  In a matter of time, the religious experience of African Americans moved from communal based spirituality to individualism.

This is why in the minds of many; Black Jesus is simply an image.  He is not the Black Jesus of old, which is why no matter what color Jesus is. For many of us, it is hard to divorce ourselves from the myth versus the cruel reality associated with Christianity. When we hear the name Jesus what comes to mind are all of the atrocities that were done in Jesus’ name, under the banner of a long blonde hair man looking to the heavens. Understand, I have nothing against Europeans and their descendants but it has to be understood the psychological and spiritual damage that was committed due to the idea of some and their so-called “master race.” Although Hitler was the only individual to build a society that worked towards the annihilation of other ethnicities, he wasn’t the only one that believed in such theories. These theories of white superiority had been circulating around Western civilization for centuries. It was these theories that later inspired Colonialism, which is why in the minds of many (especially those who know history) they are associated with Jesus.

So that we are clear about the confused state people are in regarding Jesus. Just think about the four little girls that were killed in a church bombing in Alabama by Jesus loving Klansmen of the KKK. Clearly, these individuals that committed this crime didn’t know anything about the peaceful teaching of Jesus, but can you imagine still loving a God that would seem to condone such acts of violence? What about all of the lynchings of all the Black, Jewish, Native American and Hispanic men by so-called Christian men and women? Imagine if you were a Native American and you were told that Jesus didn’t love you and you would not go to heaven because your entire way of life is uncivilized, along with the number of treaties supposedly made under God that was broken? Could you still love Jesus? This is why Jesus leaves a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths because of the actions and behaviors of foolish and ignorant people. Jesus taught about love but many of his stewards all around the world have done otherwise.  And, they are doing the same thing today. This is why a lot of young people are not just turning away from him but turning away from spirituality altogether. And, it is not just minorities.  Many Westerners are turning away from Jesus and to atheism because of the same negative history. I can’t tell you how many atheists I have met that are so fond of talking about the various atrocities committed in the name of the savior.  And, why is there all of this confusion? It is simply because some zealous men made Jesus and the God one and the same.  It is hard to worship a God that oppresses you, but we can’t exist without God, because being spiritual beings in a physical body. We need God just as much as God needs us. Without God, we have no access to the spiritual fruits that were spoken of earlier, but without us. God cannot physically implement His/Her plan in the world of the living.

So, how do we get rid of this evil concept so that we can grow spiritually? How do we erase the hundreds of misinterpreted, misrepresented, and just totally incorrect ideas about God and Jesus that have been told to us throughout the ages?

We just simply need to return to the old ways and see that Jesus is an archetype of who we are supposed to be.  Jesus is not God, which is why he never talked to God by talking to himself. He talked to God like everyone else did by speaking with his superconscious or ba. Notice that when the disciples asked Jesus how they should speak to God, he said talk to the father by saying, “Our Father.” Jesus gave an ancient recipe on how to connect with the ba. It is a similar recipe that the psalmist gave in the Book of Psalms, which is why was the most popular book in early African American and Jewish folk traditions. If you look far enough you will find this is the same way the Kamitic people spoke about God when they mentioned Osar.

When you really read about Jesus it makes sense why he clearly told his disciples not to worship him, because he knew it would confuse people. Jesus understood that the superconscious was the ba and he identified it with God. This is why saying the Lord’s Prayer or Psalm 23 empowers you because it is poetic and it invokes the Spirit within our being. It is spiritual alchemy that the ancient Hebrews learned from guess who?  That’s right the Kamitic people, who people are beginning to recognize now were master shamans. So, to reprogram your lower consciousness and rid yourself of the old, dogmatic ideas of Jesus and your divinity, invoke your ba as Jesus did. Jesus referred to his ba as his Father. Early African Americans the following suit referred to their ba as God or Lord. This is why the Kamitic people understanding the nature of the ba called God Nebertcher (Ne-ba-tchar) – The Lord of All Things, which is why it is perfectly okay if you are trying to clean your spiritual slate to pray the Lord’s Prayer.

I hope that helps.

Kamitic and Sub-Saharan African Comparison Beliefs

Hetepu (Peace) Family

I just wanted to provide this little tidbit that helped me to see the connection between the Kamitic people and Sub-Sahara Africa. This is from Sir E. A. Wallis Budge’s book, Osiris: The Egyptian Religion of Resurrection. Today many people disregards Budge’s work because he was one of the first to acknowledge that the Kamitic people were of black and brown African descent. At the time when most of the Western world was swayed by their Eurocentric ideology of superiority. Here are a few of the comparisons he made:

* The Moon, rather than the sun, is associated with the Supreme God among the Kamitians and among todays people living along the Nile, Congo and Niger. Budge notes that new moon festivals is found all over Africa and is commonly associated, as it was in Kamit, with the remembrance, by kings and commoners, of their sins, and by prayers for protection from evil spirits. He cited examples such as the Mendi, Tshi (also known as the Oji tribe are a group of people living in Ghana), and Ilogo (Central Africa Republic) and various peoples in the Sudan and Tanganyika. Note the yowa and maa aankh cosmogram.

*The Kamitian concept of the ka, meaning “double” has its counterpart throughout wide regions of Africa. Among the Tshi it is known as the kra or kla meaning “soul” and as doshi among the Bantu (in South Africa) which means literally “double” (as in the Kamitian).  In both Kamit and the rest of Africa, the ka differs from the Western idea of “soul.”  The Kamitians and the modern African had the idea of at least three types of “souls” inhabiting each person.  The ka is an immaterial double of the physical body  that persists after death. The ka though is distinct from the person, is a type of guardian spirit.  The ka in both Africa and Kamit must be cared for after a person dies or the ka itself will perish.  Kamitians and Africans made images in which the ka dwelt and to these were offered meals and worship.

*The sahu or “spirit-body” arose in the “Other World” after one’s death.  Among the Tshi, the “shadowy person” that comes to live in the “Other World” after death is known as the Srahman.  Similar ideas were cited among the West African tribes of Yoruba, Uvengwa and Baluba.  Like the ba, the sahu could perish in certain circumstances.

*The Kamitians considered the shadow or khaibit as a type of “soul.”  Similar beliefs among the Nsism, Wanyamwesi, Nandi and busuko and in various parts of the Lower Niger, Congo, Southern Guinea and Mashonaland were mentioned by Budge.

*The khu was the imperishable spirit and had its counterpart in the “dual soul” concept of West Africa.  The belief in transmigration of the dual soul and shadow was common in Africa.  Reincarnation was widely found among the people of the Niger Delta who made a practice of identifying which people in a community were the souls of persons deceased in earlier times.   Among the Pygmies, Banza and West Mubangi the spirit was reincarnated in animal form and this type of belief was held by some segments of the Kamitian population.

* In Kamit, offerings were made to ancestors in the form of meals placed on a stone slabs in the ancestor’s tomb.  Budge’s notes that stone slabs were used for the same purpose among the Buvuma islanders (Ruvuma and Soga tribes of the coast of Uganda). The offering of meals to ancestors in spiritual temples or houses is widely found through much of Africa and Budge cites examples among the Bakongo people (aka. the Kongo) who dwell along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire, Congo (Brazzaville) to Luanda, Angola, the Sukuma people (aka. Basukuma, Wasukuma, Zukuma) live in small villages in the northern part of Tanzania, Makarakas (Southern Sudanese tribe), and in East and West African peoples.

*Deification of ancestor heroes is common practice in much of Africa. Budge noted that Osar (Asar, Osiris) in the form of Khenti-Amenti stands as an ancestor God of Kamit while Oset (Aset, Isis) is the ancestor Goddess. He noted the uncanny resemblance between the widespread African practice of giving birth in the “bush” to a bas relief found at Philae. Among Africans, birth in the bush is done in solitude with the father and the shaman waiting in the comfortable distance until after the delivery. The bas relief at Philae shows Oset (Aset, Isis) in a stylized papyrus swamp suckling Hru (Heru, Horus). The papyrus would thus stand for the “bush.” Standing on either side of Oset (Aset, Isis) is Amun Ra, representing the African father, and Djahuti (Tehuti, Thoth) representing the African shaman. Budge thought the symbol found under Oset (Aset, Isis) could represent the placenta and blood associated with child birth.  Interestingly, Budge cited a passage in which Oset (Aset, Isis) speaks of her loneliness during labor, which mirrors the African tradition of giving child birth in solitude.  Examples were given about tribes in Sudan (Nuba, Nuer, Dinka, Shilluk) and Uganda.

*The importance of the cow as the most sacred of animals is found in Kamit and in many parts of Africa especially among the tribes living along the Nile and in the Great Lakes region. Of particular importance was the sacrifice of bulls at the funerals of the deceased. The sacrifice of two bulls at funerals is detailed in “The Opening of the Mouth.”

 

*Amulets were seen as partial residences for ancestral spirits in Kamit and throughout Africa. Budge noted the “fetish” quality of amulets, often stressed by Western observers, is secondary to the importance of communion with the ancestors.

*The beetle and the frog are amulets of new life in both Kamit and modern Africa.

*The tall hats and horned crowns worn by African chiefs resemble the white crown and horned crowns worn by Osar (Asar, Osiris). Examples given among the Congo tribes of Bayanzi, Imbangela, Lomari, Lulongo-Maringo, Bangala, Ngombe (a.k.a. Poto), Alunda. Two ostrich feathers decorate the crown of Osar (Asar, Osiris).  Also, these feathers were worn by various peoples of Africa.

*The plaited beard, which was common in Kamitian art, were common among the Markakas, Mpungu (of Namibia), Fang, Alunda (of Congo) and Luba (of Central Africa), as well as other parts of Africa.

*The scalework on the body of Osar (Asar, Osiris) is thought to be related to the body painting or tattooing found various African peoples particularly those in Sudan.

*Budge noted that both the modern Africans and Kamitians practiced preservation of the dead body: “The Kamitians removed the intestines and brain, and embalmed it the body with great skill, and then swathed it in linen, and laid it in a coffin or sarcophagus.  The modern African removes the more perishable part of the body by ways described in detail by the book, and dries or smokes the corpse very effectively.  He also anoints with unguents, and wraps it up in much cloth, and then places it in a coffin or a bier.” (p. 90)

*The mention of the jawbones of the deceased Unas, Re-stau amd enemies of Hru (Heru, Horus) in Kamitian texts are explained by the African practice of removing and preserving the jawbones of kings, or using the jawbones of enemies as trophies.  Specifically mentioned are the Sudani, Dahomey, Baganda, Ashante, and various peoples of Uganda.

*Both modern Africans and Kamitians took care to protect the buried body from contact with the earth, was seen as contaminating.  The African burial usually consists of a deep pit, which a niche is carved so that the body does not come into contact with the earth.  The Kamitian tomb was also built in a pit with a sarcophagus taking the role of the niche.  In some African burials the niche was sealed off with stones as with the Kamitian sarcophagus.

*The Kamitians, like modern Africans, saw the journey to the “Other World” after death as difficult.  In both cases, rituals were performed to “open the way” for the deceased.

*The Kamitian concept of Duat found its counterpart in the African “God’s Town” or “Njambi’s Town.”

*The concept of divine kingship linked ancient and modern cultures.

*Budge noted that spitting had a religious meaning among Kamitians.  He found similar beliefs among the Kordofan, Dyur, Barotze (Zambezi), Nandi, Suk, Kytch and Masa.

*The use of multiple “mighty names” among Kamitians was similar to the use of “strong names” among African peoples.

*Budge mentions that the Kamitians commonly made figures of steatopygous women.  He mentions mentions specifically the dolls and representations at the 4th Kamitian room in the British museum.  He compares these with the figures of the steatopygous queen and the princess of Punt.

It was these observations that led me to discover the cosmological system I was told to call the Maa Aankh.

Maa Aankh with Utchat

Hope this helps.

Hetepu

 

What Really is the Kamitic Way?

Hetepu (Peace) Fam.

I know we have talked about this in a previous post but someone asked me this question that demanded another post, so here we go?

What really is the Kamitic Way?

Does it mean you are supposed to do things (mimic) the way the Kamitic (ancient Egyptians) use to do things? Does it mean you are supposed to build pyramids, temples and sphinxes? Does the Kamitic Way mean that you are supposed to perform all sorts of ceremonies like paying homage to the Nile or Hapi, having elaborate rituals to Bast, Bes and all other outdated rituals? Does it mean that you believe in embalming and mummifying your deceased loved ones? What is so important about following the Kamitic Way?  Why it is important to follow the Kamitic Way? Can you go to church, mosque or temple and still follow the Kamitic Way?

To some these questions may sound silly but for many soul seekers these are real questions that real, serious minded individuals interested in the Kamitic Way want to know. I know because I once upon a time had to entertain these same questions.

This is why I stress that Kamit was a civilization that existed thousands of years ago. The builders of this ancient Egyptian culture were black and brown skinned Africans. The purpose of emphasizing the racial ethnicity is because Eurocentric, Christians and Islamist have tried to claim otherwise in order to promote their own agenda, etc. A clear of example of this can be seen in how contemporary Egypt in considered to be a part of the Middle East.  When in fact it is a country in Africa. Another example of this blatant bigotry can be seen in how Nubians the neighbors to the south of Kamit are always portrayed as being slaves. When in fact, the Nubians were the closest ethnically and culturally related to the Kamitic people. Proof of this can be seen in the ancient Nubian culture, which was almost identical to the Kamitic culture.    In fact, many of the contemporary Nubians still continue to follow traditions that were practiced thousands of years ago by their ancestors who dwell along the Nile in Kamit.

But, the Kamitic people traded with other Africans (the Kamitic people were Africans) as well throughout their long reign. Consequently, their cultural influences has been found throughout the Sub-Sahara Africa (i.e. Akan, Yoruba, Dogon, Bantu, etc.)  Are these Africans and the Kamitic people the same people? I don’t think so, but are they related?  No one knows for sure but they are definitely culturally related.

Born or Born Again?

So, what really is the Kamitic Way? Well, as stated before the Kamitic Way means a lot of different things. To me knowing that culturally my ancestors were related to the Kamitic people means that the Kamitic Way is a cultural practice. That being said, the same way you cannot read a book on Japanese and expect to know Japanese culture. You cannot learn the Kamitic Way just by reading a book. You have to be either born or immersed into it.

Since the Kamitic civilization is long gone. There are no more pyramid builders. There are no Kamitic kings and queens governing millions of people and controlling a vast infantry and advanced navy.  There is no lower class working in the fields to provide sustenance for an entire nation, nor is there an advance craftsman class building temples and other grand edifices.  Not to mention, the builders of the Kamitic society have been exiled or have perished thousands of years ago. It is impossible to be born into the Kamitic society of old.

The Kamitic science however continued to exist because it has been carried to four corners of the planet, as a result of migration, invasion, colonization, domestication, etc., etc. etc. the Kamitic science continued to be shared.  Some of this science preserved in the West and was later called Christianity, but as E. A. Wallis Budge puts it in his book The Gods of the Egyptians.

“The new religion (Christianity) which was preached there by St. Mark and his immediate followers, in all essentials so closely resembled that which was the outcome of the worship of Osiris, Isis and Horus.”

The difference Budge noted between the Kamitic religion of old and the New Testament version was that early Christian writers interpreted the allegorical story of Osar (Asar), Oset (Aset) and Hru (Heru) as a historical event.  And, when you compare this with the symbolism you get a much richer understanding about the Kamitic Way. (Notice if you will the colors of the above statue and how it corresponds with the maa aankh cosmogram below e.g. yellow/gold – rebirth or Amun Ra, black – innocence/birth/child – Khepera, etc.)

In Jesus: A Life, A.N. Wilson writes that:

The Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith are two separate beings, with very different stories…

Wilson, continues by saying,

“Jesus, or Joshua, which is the same name, means ‘saviour’. It is the Christian belief that one of the many men in history who born this name was literally the Savior of the World. And, is for this reason that the Western World divides history itself into the time before and after the birth of Jesus.”

In other words, early Christians in their fanatic zeal misinterpreted and mistranslated the Kamitic allegorical texts. It should now become clear why there are so many God-fearing people creating havoc throughout the world. It is because they are worshiping something outside of their being. Fortunately, many Sub-Saharan Africans who were familiar with the power allegory and myth were not easily swayed by this misunderstanding. This is why when the Africans were enslaved those from regions with a vast pantheon like the Yoruba and Dahomeans syncretized their religious beliefs with Christianity.

While those from the Kongo-Angolan region who did not have a vast pantheon but a strong belief in ancestors (hence spiritual resurrection as with El Cristo Negro) identified Christ as being a type of African archetype or role model (see the maa aankh)*.

So, why is the Kamitic Way so important? It is because before all of this confusion was created.  The true intention of the allegorical Kamitic Osar, Oset and Hru legend is that Christ is within you.  And, the Kamitic Way reintroduces the path that was lost.  It was never about worshiping some inanimate object, person, place or thing. It was all about the rebirth of consciousness/soul signified by Amun Ra. Hope this helps.

* Ancient African spirituality focuses on becoming an honorable ancestor called aakhu by living like Osar or Christ-like in life so that you will be reborn (resurrected) after death, either through your descendants or as an angelic being (netcharu).

Copyright 2012

Why other people’s faiths don’t work for us?

It is my belief that because we have been so accustomed to believing that we were left in North America with no culture and no roots. Many of us when we go out looking to fulfill our spiritual quest, we replace the cultural religious perspective of our enslavers with some other foreign cultural perspective.  We replace the Eurocentric version of Christianity with the Arab-centric version of Islam, the Asian-centric version of Taoism or Buddhism, or the Indian-centric version of Hinduism, and so on. Then no matter how much time, energy and effort we put into these various faiths, it always seems like something is missing. It never dawns on us that maybe the reason why we feel so out of place is because our ancestors don’t approve of what we are doing.

It needs to be understood that one of the main objectives of religion is to affirm in its followers their ability to accomplish anything because they are made in the image of the Divine, but when you are in another’s religion, which does not reflect your divinity. That religion simply establishes and perpetuates your cultural and racial inferiority to others.

Our ancestors are waiting with open arms for us to return home. All we have to do is answer their call. (I felt that this video was appropriate especially since it features one of my favorite groups Olodum.) Enjoy.

What is Kamitic/Kemetic Shamanism?

A couple of people I have spoken with online have looked at my book, website and asked what is Kamitic/Kemetic Shamanism and how did I come up with it? I couldn’t clearly actually sum it up in a few words or sentences because it was something that I just sat down one day and decided to make. It was something that was given to me and at the same time, something that I was initiated into. Let me explain.

Like so many, I had read and studied all sorts of books regarding the Kamitic/Kemetic way of life. The only difference from most is that I am the son of a preacher who was prophesied upon by numerous people that I too was going to be a preacher.  This of course is something I staunchly and stubbornly rejected, as if I was the biblical Jonah before being swallowed up by the whale.  I refused to follow in my father’s footsteps for a number of reasons; one of the main ones was because I was disgusted with Christianity and God in particular. After undergoing a few episodes of depression because I felt that God didn’t give a hoot about me, a voice spoke and inspired me to study the Ancient Egyptians in order to learn how they used the power of God to build their society. And, every since then, I read and studied about the Kamitic/Kemetic tradition with no true purpose or reason in sight.

It was after years of reading, studying and overcoming a few experiences that I met a priestess of Oshun who did a reading for me.  It was through the reading that this priestess told me that I was supposed to be a shaman.  Now, I didn’t know what a shaman was supposed to be. My idea of a shaman was a Native American medicine man or woman brewing some bubbly, smelly concoction with peyote mushrooms inside in order to induce a state of trance, like the one Wade Davis claimed to have experienced in the movie Serpent and the Rainbow when he visited the indigenous people of South America.

Naturally I didn’t want to believe what the reading had told me either but it wasn’t until the priestess convinced me to stop running from my calling and accept it; that I decided to read about shamanism.  Upon doing so, I learned that the basic understanding of shamanism is that it is a generic term that has been used throughout the world by anthropologists to describe practitioners that communicate with the spirit world in order to resolve problems that exist in the physical realm.  Michael Harner author of The Way of the Shaman gives a better understanding of what a shaman is and defines a shaman as “a man or woman who enters an altered state of consciousness, at will, to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help other persons.”

When I first read this definition it took me a little while for me to truly understand what it meant. Then when I became deathly ill and had my near death experience (twice because I didn’t listen the first time) I began to get a better understanding what shamanism was all about and why the practice was needed.

As I submitted to my calling and allowed the Spirit to lead me, I was reminded of how I watched a number of preachers prepare to give their sermon.  It was randomly picked as some may think.  Many of them especially from the Pentecostal background that I had observed said a prayer to God and allowed the Spirit to guide their hands and eyes to turn to a page in the bible that the people needed to hear from. This practice is what is known as bibliomancy a form of divination.

As I submitted to my calling another thing that I was shown was that I was quite fond of certain ministers in my childhood church especially the ones that had the ability to lay hands upon individuals.

Another important aspect I saw but didn’t understand at that time was that my experience in the church gave me a unique understanding about Christianity, but my research and study gave me new type of theology. This allowed me to receive messages in my dreams, see omens and be able to explain them.

It was this experience and understanding that convinced me that the reason it was prophesized that I was supposed to be a preacher.  Is because the African American preacher is the contemporary shaman of the African American community. The reason I was inspired and instructed to read and study the Kamitic/Kemetic tradition was because the theology of our ancestral ways had been lost or temporarily misplaced due to slavery. As a result, the spirituality of many of our people lies in jeopardy, evidence of the social issues plaguing our families, community and society, as various churches compete to become the next super church for souls. It was through the intervention of my ancestors and guardian spirits that I was able to learn and establish a relationship with God that could not have been established through books.  The only purpose the books served in this whole experience was that they helped me to understand the ancient ancestral philosophy behind the experience.

It is for this reason out of respect for the traditions of old that a new general term had to be created to give some idea as to what I had experienced. That term is what I refer to as Kamitic/Kemetic shamanism.

Kamitic/Kemetic shamanism is not a reconstruction or resurrection of the old Kamitic/Kemetic kingdom and the cultural practices of ancient Egypt. It is not dedicated to reviving the old Kamitic/Kemetic religion or religious ways, nor is it a New Age appropriation with pagan and European deities. Kamitic/Kemetic shamanism simply put is an ancestral practice based upon the Afro-American cultural experience that focuses upon attaining and maintaining balance according to the Kamitic/Kemetic philosophy. It is the spiritual practice that helped me to greatly improve my life because our ancestors preserved this knowledge that they acquired as part of our legacy.

Dancing with the Dead

This was posted originally on the Land of Kam website at 2-12-2010

This video feed is a New Orleans Jazz Funeral for tuba player Kerwin James.  This is custom of dancing with the dead is believed to be influenced from the Kongo people of Central Africa.  Note the rocking movement of the casket and the ceremoniously wearing of the colors white and black.  According to ancient African mysticism the color black is the color of mysteries, the unknown, the hidden, which is why some equated it with death. It is also equated with renewal, resurrection and rebirth.  The color white however is the color of purity, wisdom and ancestors.

If one looks long enough, when you compare this to the ancient Kamitic burial practices, we see that the dancer that comes out of the door first is none other than the Opener of the Way (Npu/Apuat), making a way for the newly deceased. We can go on and on, but this is just an example of how our ancestors continued to practice their culture under a different guise.  It is in our blood, we just have to tap into it.