Kemetic Spiritual Science: Wakanda and African beliefs before colonization
The Black Panther Movie was fantastic! I love how the characters and storylines were developed. I loved the depth and beautifully complex narrative presented in the movie. The Hero and the villain were Black which blurred the lines between good and evil within complex layers of humanity.
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I had to cheer for the villain when his dying wish was:
Nah, bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships because they knew death was better than bondage.”
I was like, DAAAYYYUUUM! That line sent chills through me because I could identify with how he was thinking.
I loved the Scenery of Wakanda and the costumes. Going into the movie I wondered how it would mimic pre-Colonial Africa and its belief systems; its cosmology. I wasn’t disappointed.
Wakanda is a fictitious country. But many of the concepts about Africa were based on “real” African philosophy, history, and cosmology. What were some of those ideas depicted?
WHO DID ANCIENT AFRICAN PRAY TO BEFORE SLAVERY?
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What did Africans believe before slavery?
Pre-colonial Africa was a matriarchal society. That means that they recognized and operated from the “divine feminine” aspect. They were as introspective a society as many Asian societies are today. That introspective perspective is connecting to the divine feminine.
The women in pre-colonial Africa did not have to fight for their rights. They were seen as the “seat” of the house and the male was its occupant. If you notice the symbolism of Auset (means she of the throne) she has a throne on her head. Through her, the masculine must operate. In all pre-dynastic myth and symbolism, the masculine and feminine were represented.
This brings us to the deeper subject of this post, The Black Panther was said to have the power of Bast. Bast was the Neter Represented by the cat. “She” was the protector as was T’Challa was the protector of his people. Bast was the defender of the Pharoah or king.
Egyptian Goddess Bast
Many people still think that ancient Africans worshiped animals and nature. This was not true. The bird head or lion head on the carving of a neter was not a form of worship but a symbolic representation of a function that animal had that was keener and/or stronger than a human naturally possed. The way ancient African symbolism worked, the more you know about the animal the more you can understand about the characteristics the Africans were communicating through the animal symbol on the most subtle of levels.
Today we think in terms of interpretations, ancient Africans had a different paradigm (click to purchase)
It was the ingeniously sophisticated way of using “natural symbols” for how the Africans expressed these ideas. These natural symbols become keys to deciphering the myths after the knowledge has been buried or forgotten. The ancient Africans did not have our modern concept of worship.
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Only after the teachings were lost or forgotten did we begin to incorporate the idea of “worshiping” an entity. The mythology and symbolism of ancient Africa was assimilated into the Christian religion throughout the bible. The spiritual aspects of Christianity originated in ancient Kemet. As Christians, we were taught to worship concepts because there was no understanding of the spiritually scientific knowledge the concepts were attempting to convey.
I loved the subtlety of ideas represented in the Characters of Black Panther. It was the use of Symbolism and metaphor at its finest.
If there was no worship what did Africans do?
Today we have been taught to get a relationship to God. As Christians we are taught that God is different from us and to even consider ourselves as a god is blasphemous and sinful! The Ancient Africans did not think this way.
They KNEW there was only ONE. And that EVERYTHING is the ONE in its own beautiful and unique form. Not different than the ONE. Simply an aspect of the one in its own form.
In Africa, you ARE a god/goddess in human form. God Is; I AM; The alpha and the Omega (click cover to purchase book)
Christianity erroneously changed that distinctly empowering African philosophy to an idea that has trapped us in a cage of self-hate and its effects of mediocrity.
The ceremony of T’Challa incorporating the powers of the Black Panther cat was closer to how ancient Africans saw what we call “worship” in modern times. Not the ceremony, but what the Africans believed about developing their own natural divinity.
In reality, our concept of worship would be foreign to ancient Africans. They didn’t worship. Why would you need to worship what you are? The idea for the ancient Africans was establishing a metaphysical connection to the object (in this case a Black Panther) and incorporating the desired function of that object within themselves.
Today we might think of this concept analogous to the saying, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” because our ancestors thought in terms of all things being the source in another form they believed they could incorporate any function of that source into their being. They BECAME all the powerful aspects of the panther.
Because of our biases we just don’t give ancient civilizations much credit for their knowledge. It is becoming more evident that they knew a lot more in many areas than we do today. The ancient civilizations had a different paradigm of thought. If you understand the science of manifesting by being a vibrational match to the object or experience of your desire then you already know this ancient African concept. They simply had taken it to another level.
In a sense, they would become the Panther and have the powers that animal possed. For the animal it was natural. In the movie, T’Challa gained superhuman strength and agility after ingesting an herb. This established a relationship metaphysically to the subject (T’Challa) and the object (the Panther). By identifying with (paying homage in a way) the object T’Challa would then take on the quality or function of that object (the Strength, power, and speed of the Panther). The animals natural abilities became the humans’ superpowers when incorporated.
The other thing to recognize is that these “powers” were not reserved for one special person. ANYONE that acquired the knowledge and wisdom had/has access to the transformational “powers.” Back in ancient times, it was mainly the initiates that had the access to the knowledge.
I am really simplifying the idea here. It goes much deeper and is connected to other concepts within this ancient African cosmology. However, it does give you an idea of the ancient African paradigm and belief system. It was completely different than our western thought processes.
Ancient Africans extended the concept and functionality of the “natural world”
In the movie, the herb was the cause. This is our modern way of thinking. We consider something outside ourselves that gives us the power. But in ancient Africa, it was a recognition of claiming that power from within them. Being source in human form the ancient Africans recognized that they were already connected to the rest of nature.
Because the abilities of the animals exceeded the abilities of a human, the symbolic object (The Black Panther) became representative of “superpowers.” One example is, the cats’ ability to see in the dark became representative of a power the Ancient Africans wanted to incorporate within themselves. It would be the ability to see at night or in the dark.
However, it wasn’t just physical sight to be enhanced. It was metaphysical and “spiritual” sight being enhanced as well. The symbols ALWAYS have multidimensional levels of functionality. Because of our western training, we view the natural world as only things that can be experienced through the five human senses.
The Ancient Africans paradigm of “natural” extended beyond the five senses of a human. It also included the metaphysical. It makes sense when you understand that they did not view the physical world as the “real world.” For ancient Africans, the metaphysical world of the soul was the real world and the physical body only a transitory experience. In other words, according to the ancient Africans, the metaphysical world caused the physical world to materialize into existence.
To understand this idea of extending beyond the senses from your own experience think in terms of a dog whistle. The range of the whistle is beyond human ability to hear it. But it is in the dogs “natural” range to hear the high pitch sound.
Africans recognized this range and beyond as natural. Within their spiritual science the “natural world” is an extension of a metaphysical world that we are connected to from within. For ancient Africans, the body is a spiritual as the soul and the soul as natural as the body. There was no separation as we have done through religion and science in modern times.
By turning inward you would then be able to tap into your own well of spiritual wisdom that we call the divine feminine in modern times. However, most only consider the divine feminine as female. For ancient Africans divine feminine describe a function of nature, not a woman. It would be the ability to also turn within one’s self and connect to your inner self; your intuitive expressions. Men have this ability as well. The function of the black panther’s sight becomes our superpower of inner sight just as the cat can see in the dark, we can see through our own darkness and become enlightened.
How would you represent the ability to gain “higher” knowledge? A bird that flies’s high?
The Black Panther is Stronger and Faster than a human. It is fierce fighter and protector. Again, all these characteristics or functions is why the ancient Africans would put an animal head on a NTR (NeTeR = NaTuRe). It became a symbolic expression of much deeper ideas and “superpowers” not naturally possed by humans. Not worshiping the animals, but incorporating the powers of the object (the animal).
In other words, they used the known (natural symbols) to give you a clue about the unknown (metaphysical)
Because it is a natural symbol, you have been left a key to decipher the coded messages within the ancient symbolism.
In contrast to ancient Africans, Christianity has always taught a brand of worship that becomes debilitating because you believe you are dependent on the power of God and his whims.
Based on Greek error and misunderstanding of their Egyptian teachers they humanized God. The Egyptian anthropomorphized nature. In other words, they used what is natural as an analogy to give you an idea of a world beyond our physical expression. It was not human in any way. But a human characteristic may be used to express an abstract metaphysical concept.
The Greek way of thinking causes you to think in terms of a relationship you form to a superior being outside of you. Because you have no idea of the science behind the physical world you have to hope the superior being will be sympathetic to you at the time of your requests (prayers).
He may be sympathetic unless he is punishing you (because just like humans, God can be mad at you according to the infantile Greek way of thinking). You can never really be sure if you are in a punishment phase or not. I mean God would punish you for masturbating but turn a blind eye to starving children in Africa.
Colonialism and changing African spiritual science and traditions
Colonialism was motivated by greed and justified with religion. For the African diaspora, the Christian religion is a repackaged fringe aspect of African spirituality given to black people AND the world to enslave us mentally, physically, and spiritually.
For thousands of years, Africans had a cosmology that helped them build one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known (Egypt). After colonization, we were given a bible that we weren’t allowed to read and images to ensure that our mind was in bondage.
Slave masters NEVER gave our ancestors anything they thought would empower them. Yet the slave masters gave them the bible and as Christians, we didn’t question the motives behind the “gift.”
I don’t intend to disparage Christianity with the above statements. But they can’t be disputed based on empirical evidence.
Because of many of the doctrines of religion and racism, many of us of the African diaspora have high self-esteem, but low group esteem. Low group esteem has been the prescription for lack of cohesion among the African diaspora. It was a nice touch to see Africans begin the Wakanda outreach center. Implying that Africans and African Americans need to connect.
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The mythology that was so much a part of African spirituality was not “real” characters. However, they were representations of deeper meaningful ideas and concepts.
The movie represented a fictional country in Africa and were not “real” characters, but on another level, it subtly expressed the ancient African cosmology. It also touched a deeper chord within a people that were starving for powerful representations of Africa.
Make no mistake that Africa had rich traditions. As Christians, we were given a glimpse of those traditions through the bible. But the knowledge was malformed and misunderstood due to Greek then Roman ignorance and misunderstanding the culture and traditions.
Worship is what the ignorant (not knowing, not meant as an insult) do. Invoking your inner strength is what the powerful and confident do. Black Panther gave you a glimpse of Precolonial African civilization.
Now, call on the power and wisdom of the ancestors. You can incorporate it into your inner wisdom and be proud. You are the universe experiencing itself as human for a short time. THAT is the ancient African paradigm!
Members of the African Diaspora have been made to feel ashamed of Africa. NO MORE! You have been given a glimpse of the power and Majesty of Africa through the fictional country of Wakanda. There is so much more to our African ancestors, their way of thinking, and their cosmology.
It’s time you learn the science rather than perpetuating superstitions of the fringe science repackaged as Christianity. Rise, my beautiful brothers and sisters! The knowledge has been left for you with keys to decode it. Ancient Egypt was the mouthpiece for the continent of precolonial Africa and their belief system. It is all there for you to gain the wisdom of the ages.
Colonialism in Africa
A map, published in Portugal in 1623, showing a representation of Africa as understood by colonizers.
Colonialism is the act by which a country or state exerts control and domination over another country or state. During a period lasting from 1881 to 1914 in what was known as the Scramble for Africa, several European nations took control over areas of the African continent.
European colonizers were able to attain control over much of Africa through diplomatic pressure, aggressive enticement, and military invasions. In fact, European countries competed with one another to see who could attain the most power and growth. At the height of colonization, only three sections of the continent had been untouched by European settlers:
Why Did European Countries Want to Colonize Africa?
In the years 1884 and 1885, the Berlin Conference formalized European colonization of Africa. Prior to this time, world superpowers such as Portugal, France, and Britain had already set up colonies in Africa. To a smaller extent, Germany and Italy had, too. By 1900, when the force of the quick colonization was over, the majority of the land in Africa was divided up amongst seven different European colonizing nations: Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Portugal. There were several different reasons why European colonizers set their sights on the African continent Some of the most prominent ones are outlined below:
Search for Riches
The 19th century was home to the industrial revolution, a time when many European nations were flourishing in the technology sector of the time. However, in order to accomplish these advancements, they needed a source of constant raw material supply. European powers noticed that many of these raw materials happened to be abundant in Africa.
Desire For Exploration
Prior to the wave of European colonization, the geography of Africa was generally misunderstood. Much like the adventurers who had traveled to Asia and North America, many European explorers set out to determine the physical makeup of the African continent.
Competition Between Colonizers
At the time of the Scramble for Africa, major world powers like Great Britain, France, and Spain were competing for power on the European stage. The amount of land that each country owned was considered to be a great indicator of power, with every state wanting to do better than their neighbor.
Religion
A large motivator behind African colonization was the desire to spread Christianity throughout the world. Much like what occurred in North and South America, European colonizers brought the Christian faith to Africa through missionaries.
Imperialism
A key ideology behind imperialism, which in turn informs colonialism, is the idea of racial superiority or cultural superiority. Again, much like the ideals behind the colonialism of the Americas, many European colonizers thought that they were doing a favor to those living on the African continent by introducing to them the European way of life, even if it came at the cost of destroying established societies.
Life In Africa Under Colonialism and Beyond
Life for the African people during colonization was difficult. Many of the ideologies behind imperialism were discriminatory in nature, using racist beliefs to justify harsh authoritarian leadership styles.
Throughout the colonial period, the societies that had been established in Africa fought hard to fend off their European colonizers. However, due to the fact that European powers were disproportionately aided by the products of the industrial revolution, many former empires and kingdoms that had been present in Africa were at a disadvantage and lost to the colonizers. Throughout this time, Africa was forever changed.
It has been argued that the poverty that is still experienced today in many African countries is a lasting effect of colonialism. The fact that many countries in Africa still experience high levels of poverty today, often despite the country’s natural riches, is used as proof by many that the colonialization of Africa did more harm than good.
African Before The Slave Trade And Colonization
Africa during antiquity before the Slave Trade and Colonization was characterised by Iron Age Kingdoms forming centralised States as well as groups of Nomads that had not formed Centralised bureaucracies.
The Iron Age coupled with the development of Agriculture ushered in a different system of Social, Political and Economic relations from that which had dominated Stone Age Africa.
These developments created a variety of settled Kingdoms and Nomadic peoples across the expanse of the entire African Continent before the arrival of Slavery and Colonization in Africa.
Desertification Of The Sahara
Significant populations of Homo Sapiens arose in the East African Rift Valley Region, and for about 3000 years, and green Sahara region was the home of Nomadic Stone Age Hunter Gatherer Black peoples who lived off the land in the once fertile region.
Rock Art found in this region bears testament to a once fertile Sahara roamed by Nomadic Stone Age Africans before the Slave Trade and Colonization.
The desertification of the Sahara forced the African nomads settled in the Region to migrate to other Regions in the Continent, resulting in a variety of Kingdoms and Nomadic peoples that subsequently spread throughout North, West, East and Southern Africa in the period before the Slave Trade and Colonization in Africa.
The African Kingdoms and Nomads Of North, West, East and Southern Africa
Following the Desertification of the Sahara, migration into North Africa would reach its apex with the development of the Nile Valley Ethiopian Civilizations before the Slave Trade and Colonisation were introduced to Africa.
The Egyptian-Nubian and Ethiopian Civilizations are amongst the oldest known to us, and Egypt’s influence on modern Civilization, particularly on the Greeks is well documented and accepted by the Greeks themselves.
West Africa was the home of some of Africa’s greatest Empires: The Kingdoms and States Of Asante, Mali, Songhai, Benin, Hausa and Borno were founded in this region.
The wealth and power of these Empires rose to great heights as Trade and commerce in commodities like Gold in the region flourished in the era before Slavery and Colonization/
To date, Mali’s Mansa Musa is still regarded as the richest man to have ever lived, and the Sculptures of Benin are also considered amongst the world’s greatest artistic treasures.
The prominence of this region in Trade is also evident in the fact that it would become one of the main areas of European interest with the rise of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Colonization of Africa that followed.
In East Africa, the coastal region’s City of Kilwa in modern day Tanzania thrived on international Sea Trade along the Indian Ocean by linking the African interior with Arabia and the East.
The economy was so advanced that Kilwa even minted its own Coins but the arrival of Arab Slave Traders and the Portuguese would in time spell the end of this jewel of East Africa.
Southern Africa also contributed to the splendour of Africa in this period with notable Kingdoms such as Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe’s Monomotapa and Shaka’s Zulu Empire bearing witness to Africa’s rise and significance in international trade and military strength before the arrival of Slavery and Colonialism.
The Nomads Of Africa
Nomadic Tribes such as the Dinka and San continued to exist alongside the more settled Iron Age Kingdoms of Africa.
In addition, peoples such as the Masai who adopted animal Husbandry in favour of crop farming continued to live a semi-nomadic existence.
These communities were somewhat isolated from the turbulence of the Iron Age Post-Agriculture African Kingdoms, and their way of life has remained largely intact since the late Stone Age being largely unaffected by Slavery and Colonialism in Africa.
Conclusion
Climatic changes in the Sahara desert resulted in the spread of Black peoples across the entire African Continent before Slavery and Colonialism came to Africa
Settlements in North, West, East and Southern Africa led to the rise of strong African Political entities that established trading links with the rest of the world.
Simultaneously, pockets of African communities remained isolated from these positive Iron Age developments which in the end would lead first Slavery and then the Colonization of Africa.
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Source https://www.kemeticcenteredliving.com/blog/kemetic-spiritual-science-wakanda-and-african-beliefs-before-colonization
Source https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/colonialism-in-africa.html
Source https://www.afrikaiswoke.com/africa-before-colonization/