The enslavement of African people in the Americas by the nations and peoples of Western Europe, created the economic engine that funded modern capitalism. Therefore it comes as no surprise that most of the major corporations that were founded by Western European and American merchants prior to roughly 100 years ago, benefited directly from slavery.
Lehman Brothers, whose business empire started in the slave trade, recently admitted their part in the business of slavery.
According to the Sun Times, the financial services firm acknowledged recently that its founding partners owned not one, but several slaves during the Civil War era and that, “in all likelihood,” it “profited significantly” from slavery.
“This is a sad part of our heritage …We’re deeply apologetic … It was a terrible thing … There’s no one sitting in the United States in the year 2005, hopefully, who would ever, in a million years, defend the practice,” said Joe Polizzotto, general counsel of Lehman Brothers.
Aetna, Inc., the United States’ largest health insurer, apologized for selling policies in the 1850s that reimbursed slave owners for financial losses when their slaves died.
“Aetna has long acknowledged that for several years shortly after its founding in 1853 that the company may have insured the lives of slaves,” said Aetna spokesman Fred Laberge in 2002. “We express our deep regret over any participation at all in this deplorable practice.”
JPMorgan Chase recently admitted their company’s links to slavery.
“Today, we are reporting that this research found that, between 1831 and 1865, two of our predecessor banks—Citizens Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana—accepted approximately 13,000 enslaved individuals as collateral on loans and took ownership of approximately 1,250 of them when the plantation owners defaulted on the loans,” the company wrote in a statement.
New York Life Insurance Company is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States. They also took part in slavery by selling insurance policies on slaves.
According to USA Today, evidence of 10 more New York Life slave policies comes from an 1847 account book kept by the company’s Natchez, Miss. agent, W.A. Britton. The book, part of a collection at Louisiana State University, contains Britton’s notes on slave policies he wrote for amounts ranging from $375 to $600. A 1906 history of New York Life says 339 of the company’s first 1,000 policies were written on the lives of slaves.
USA Today reported that Wachovia Corporation (now owned by Wells Fargo) has apologized for its ties to slavery after disclosing that two of its historical predecessors owned slaves and accepted them as payment.
“On behalf of Wachovia Corporation, I apologize to all Americans, and especially to African-Americans and people of African descent,” said Ken Thompson, Wachovia chairman and chief executive officer, in the statement released late Wednesday. “We are deeply saddened by these findings.”
N M Rothschild & Sons Bank in London was linked to slavery. The company that was one of the biggest names in the City of London had previously undisclosed links to slavery in the British colonies. Documents seen by the Financial Times have revealed that Nathan Mayer Rothschild, the banking family’s 19th-century patriarch, made his first personal gains by using slaves as collateral in dealings with a slave owner.
Norfolk Southern also has a history in the slave trade. The Mobile & Girard company, which is now part of Norfolk Southern, offered slaveholders $180 ($3,379 today) apiece for slaves they would rent to the railroad for one year, according to the records. The Central of Georgia, another company aligned with Norfolk Southern Line today, valued its slaves at $31,303 ($663,033 today) on record.
USA Today has found that their own parent company, E.W. Scripps and Gannett, has had links to the slave trade.
According to reports, FleetBoston evolved from an earlier financial institution, Providence Bank, founded by John Brown who was a slave trader and owned ships used to transport slaves.
The bank financed Brown’s slave voyages and profited from them. Brown even reportedly helped charter what became Brown University.
CSX used slave labor to construct portions of some U.S. rail lines under the political and legal system that was in place more than a century ago.
Two slaves who the company rented were identified as John Henry and Reuben. The record states, “they were to be returned clothed when they arrived to work for the company.”
Individual slaves cost up to $200 – the equivalent of $3,800 today - to rent for a season and CSX took full advantage.
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec that serves Canada and the midwestern and southern United States. The company also has a history in which it benefited from slavery. The Mobile & Ohio, now part of Canadian National, valued their slaves lost to the war and emancipation at $199,691 on record. That amount is currently worth $2.2 million.
Brown Brothers Harriman is the oldest and largest private investment bank and securities firm in the United States, founded in 1818. USA Today found that the New York merchant bank of James and William Brown, currently known as Brown Bros. Harriman owned hundreds of slaves and financed the cotton economy by lending millions to southern planters, merchants and cotton brokers.
Brooks Brothers, the high end suit retailer got their start selling slave clothing to various slave traders back in the 1800s. What a way to get rich in the immoral slave industry!
Barclays, the British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom has now conceded that companies it bought over the years may have been involved in the slave trade.
USA Today reported that New York-based AIG completed the purchase of American General Financial Group, a Houston-based insurer that owns U.S. Life Insurance Company. A U.S. Life policy on a Kentucky slave was reprinted in a 1935 article about slave insurance in The American Conservationist magazine.
AIG says it has “found documentation indicating” U.S. Life insured slaves.
1- the law of divine oneness-this law help us to understand that we live in world,where everything is connected to everything else,everything we say,do,think and believe affects others and the universe around us
2-law of vibration- this law states that everything in the universe.moves,vibrates and travels in circular patterns.the same principle of vibration in the physical world apply to our thoughts,,feelings,desires, and wills,in the etheric world.Each sound,thing, and even thouhgt has its own vibrational frequency unique unto itself.
3-the law of action-the law of action must be applied in order for us to manifest things on earth,therefore,we must engage in actions that support our thoughts,dreams,emotions and words
4-the law of correspondence-this universal law states,that the principle of laws ofphysics that explain the physical world-energy,light,vibration have their own corresponding principle in the etheric or the universe" so above,so below"
5-the law of cause and effect-this universal law states that nothing happens by chance or outside the universal laws,every action hasa reaction or conquence and we reap what we sow.
6-the law of compensation-this universal law is the law of cause and effect applied to blesings and abundance that are provided for us,the visible effects of our deeds are given to us in gifts,money,inheritances,friendships and blessings.
7-the law of attraction-this universal law demonstrates how we create the things,events and people that come into our lives,our thoughts,actions,words, feelings produce energies.which in turn attracts like energies,positive energy attract postive energy,negative energy attracts negative energy.
8- the law of perpetual transmutation of energy-this universal law states that all persons have the power with themselves,to change the conditions in their lives.higher vibrations consume and and transform lower ones: thus, each of us, can change the energy in our lives by understanding the the universal laws and applying the principles in such way as to effect change.
9-the law of relativity-this universal law state that each person will receive a series of problems( test of initiation.) for strenghtening the light within. we must consider each of these tests to be challenge and remain connected to our hearts when proceeding to solve problems,this law also teaches us to compare our problems to other's problems and put everything into proper perspective.no matter how bad we perceive our situation to be,there is always someone who is in a worse position,it is all relative.
10- the law of polarity this universal law states that everything is on a continuum and has an opposite.we can supress and transform undesirable thoughts by concentrating on the opposite pole,it is the law of mental vibrations.
11-the law of rythm-this universal law states that everything vibrates and moves to certain rythms,these rythms establish seasons,cycles,stages of development,each cycle reflects the regularity of G.O.D'S universe.Masters know how to rise above negative parts of cycle by never getting too excited or allowing negative things to penetrate their consciouness
12- the law of gender - this universal law states that everything has its masculine( yang) and feminine( yin) principles and that these are the bases of all creation. the spiritual iniate must balance the masculine and feminine energies within herself or himself to become a master and true co creator with G.O.D( GIFT OF DIVINITY)
Most people who study Ancient Egypt or those involved in the Kemetic Faith or Spirituality, actually do not know the cosmologies. The cosmologies are probably the most important aspect of understanding Ancient Egypt/Kemet.
Kemetic Cosmology comes from an older and more ancient place. We have recently found that Nabta Playa in Nubia is much older than Egypt (6,000 bc) and the Megaliths there are a precursor to the Giza Plateau. Recently, we have seen that the Megaliths in Southern Africa are up to 100,000 years old and important to these Megaliths that act as a calender are ancient Horus carvings. See Micheal Tellinger’s Book – Temples of the African Gods.
Often overlooked in Egypt/Khemet is the God Khnemu. Khnemu is actually the earliest God of Kemet – Pharoah Khufu named himself after him – he was actually Khufu Khemenu. After him – his Sons replaced their names with Ra.
Here is a section from The Legend of the Destruction of Mankind
Then the Aged One himself (i.e., Ra) embraced (?) the god Nu, and spake unto the gods who came forth in the east of the sky, “Ascribe ye praise to the god, the Aged One, from whom I have come into being. I am he who made the heavens, and I (set in order [the earth, and created the gods, and] I was with them for an exceedingly long period; ‘then was born the year and ………. but my soul is older than it (i.e., time). It is the Soul of Shu, it is the Soul of Khnemu (?), it is the Soul of Heh, it is the Soul of Kek and Kerh (i.e., Night and Darkness), it is the Soul of Nu and of Ra, it is the Soul of Osiris, the lord of Tettu, it is the Soul of the Sebak Crocodile-gods and of the Crocodiles, it is the Soul of every god [who dwelleth] in the divine Snakes, it is the Soul of Apep in Mount Bakhau (i.e., the Mount of Sunrise), and it is the Soul of Ra which pervadeth the whole world.”
Khnemu appears earlier in the Famine Text in the Third Dynasty – when Kemet is Plagued by Famine and Imhotep guides Djoser to pay attention to Khnemu. See Famine Text.
At some point Khnemu is replaced with Ra – However, the cosmology is basically the same.
I wanted to include the following blurb from a blog because it interesting and requires further research:
Of the Egyptian triad of primal creative deities (PtahTanen, Khnum and Herchef) the god Khnum comes closest to the Hebrew picture of the primal deity as creative artist. Khnum is a ram-headed god whose cult originated in Elephantine. He was like YHWH, a potter in creation who shaped men like a potter shapes with clay upon a wheel (the Hebrew picture of YHWH ‘loyim as primal potter is shown in Jeremiah 18:2-4). In Memphite theology Ptah, in his association with Khnum, is a dwarf spirit chief of the nine creative cosmic spirits collectively referred to as Khnum (“the potters”). The nine Khnum spirits are represented in statuettes with muscular bodies, bowed legs, long arms and big heads.
According to Memphite theology Ptah, assisted by the Khnum spirits, shaped the world and men like a potter shapes clay on wheel, thus, the dwarfs are often represented as earthenware elves. In the association of Khnum spirit with clay or earth, as medium of their creative expression, they are; often represented as dwelling underground, like artisans in subterranean workshops bring things to life from earthenware material; in the “womb of the earth.” The idea of subterranean workshop of creative dwarf spirits taken to be “primal potters” is widespread. The Chinese worshiped Pan Ku, Phoenician sailors revered dwarf statuettes. Creative dwarf spirits were associated with Tvashtar the “Modeller,” in the Rig-Veda hymns. “Black dwarfs” are identified as creative spirits in Teutonic mythology.
The highest conception of Ptah the Primal Modeller in Egyptian theology was rather abstract. He was (as already mentioned) the embodiment of the Cosmic Ego and omnipresent demiurgic spirit, creator of all things. All things took shape or emerged from his creative mind.
The writer JohnThomas Didymus is the author of “Confessions of God: The Gospel According to St. JohnThomas Didymus.”( http://www.resurrectionconspiracy.com/ ). If you have found this article interesting please read the article:CREATOR GOD AS SMITH-ARTIFICER: PROMETHEUS AS MESSIAH-SAVIOR FIGURE on his blog: http://johnthomasdidymus.blogspot.com/2010/11/creator-god-as-smith-artificer.html
Not surprising you find here – Khnum modelling men with the assistance of his wife Anquet holding an Ankh.
It is apparent that Khnum and his eight never leave Egyptian Cosmology and Khnum never leaves Nubia. Key to this is creation and what assist in creation. Khnum has eight helpers called the Khnumu. Latter in the Shabaka Stone – Ptah will have eight helpers again. Here is Kemetic Cosmology references in short:
The cosmology of Khmun or Hermopolis is one of the oldest cosmologies. At this point though Khnum and Khmun look closely similiar – one reflects the creative nubian deity and the other reflects a place – The City of Eight. However – The Hieroglyphic for the Khnum is a Jar to hold water or Nun and the City of Eight also contains this Jar.
There are several cosmology themes but existing with variations of weather one, several or different combinations of the the following primordial dieties Amen/Amenet, Nun/Nunet, Kuk/Kukhet, Heh/Hehet. Tuhuti was called their father is some text and Maat their mother in another text. In this cosmology some event explosion took place that caused the combining of the eight
References are the “lake of two knives”, “island of flames”.
The cosmology of Khmun then combines with the cosmology of Yonew, Helipolis or On. In this cosmology precreation is not explicityl stated but Atum is created in some event with Nun and steps on the primieval hill and begins creation.
The next cosmology is that of Menefer/memphite/Hikuptah Cosmology. Here Ptah takes the role of Atun and embodies in his mouth the Eight and creates the Ennead. From the Shabaka Stone – which is a later rewriting of the Memphite Coslomogy – Ptah (c. 700 BC) he is altogether identified as eightprimitive forms of God; the first is ‘Ptah who is upon the great (i.e. primeval) place’, meaning the original spirit. Then Ptah-Niu – the waters ‘who was the father of Atum’, next is Ptah-Naunet – ‘the Primeval Mother who gave birth to Atum. Then ‘Ptah the very great one who is the heart and tongue of the Divine Compay’. Unfortunately several of the names have been lost to us, except Nefertum, the lotus. source:http://www.philae.nu/akhet/NetjeruP.html
From the Middle Kingdom Amen Hotep III begins the worship of Amun Re His Son Amen Hotep IV begins the worship of Aten Re combining older dieties into Aten. He takes this one step further by defacing the names of the other dieties.
Amen Tut Ankh (Tut Ankh Amun) restores the old religion Horemhab begins the persecution of the Aten priesthood
Amun Ra becomes the popular Dietity of the working people in Waset/Thebes. Amun is “that beloved God who hearkens to humble entreaties, who stretches forth his hand to the humble, who saves the weak”, “who hears prayer, conies at the voice of the distressed humble one, who gives breath to him that is wretched”, and Re-Harakhte is called “august, beloved, merciful God who hears him that prays, who hears the humble entreaties of him that calls upon him, who comes at the voice of him that utters his name.”
Amun Ra has 777 ears and milions of Eyes. He becomes the hidden one that we pray and hears our prayers and appears when we need him.
The Shabaka stone contains aspects of all of the Cosmologies. I asked Kemetic Professor Mfundishi Jhutyms about the problems of the different strains of cosmology and he has an excellent metaphor that described helps. Basically, if a car runs in back of a bus – and there are three witnesses. Each witness will tell his story from his vantage point. But the fact is that the car hit the bus. So there is at least one agreement. Here life comes out of Nun/Nunet. I have earlier talked about Ptah and the Eight.
From other sources on cosmology
J. Hill’s website- http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ogdoad.html
There are four central creation myths. The first held that the world was born from a cosmic egg created by the gods of the Ogdoad. It was invisible as the sun had not yet been born. When it opened, it revealed the “bird of light”, an aspect of the sun god Re (occasionally the egg was said to contain air, associated with Amun and Amaunet). Alternatively, the egg was laid by a celestial goose called the Gengen Wer (the primeval goose who was associated with Amun who took this form as a creator god). When Re hatched from the egg, he created the world and everything in it. The second version says that the egg was laid by an ibis, (a bird sacred to Thoth). However, the cult of Thothdeveloped after the original myth of the Ogdoad, so it is probable that this story was an attempt to incorporate Thoth into the pre-existing Ogdoad (who were sometimes known as “the souls of Thoth”).
The third myth states that a lotus flower emerged from the waters of “the Sea of the Two Knives” (a lake near to the temple in Hermopolis). The petals opened to reveal Re who then created the world. The fourth myth is similar, except it held that a scarab beetle (Khepri – the symbol of the rising sun) was revealed when the petals opened. The scarab transformed into a young boy whose tears formed the first human beings. The boy is generally considered to be Nefertum (“young Atum“) but once Re and Horus had been merged as Re-Horakhty the boy was sometimes considered to be the infant Horus.
The Hermopolitans claimed that their theory of creation was older than any other in Egypt and that it was the Ogdoad who gave birth to both the sun and Atum . It is also interesting to note the similarity between the Ogdoad and the description of the creation of the world found in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament).
The Egyptian Gods and the Natural Elements
According to the Hermopolitan view the eight primordial deities existed in four pairs of male and female, each associated with a specific aspect or element of the pre-creation: Nun (or Nu) and Naunet (water); Heh and Hauhet, Infinity; Kek and Kauket; Darkness; Amun and Amaunet, Hiddenness. These original ‘elements’ were believed to be inert yet to contain the potential for creation. James Hoffmeier has shown that interesting similarities exist between these elements and the conditions list immediately prior to the creation account in the biblical book of Genesis. In Egypt, however, the members of the Ogdoad were regarded as distinct divine entities and their names were grammatically masculine and feminine to reflect the equatin creation with sexual union and birth. They were called the “fathers” and “mothers” of the sun god, since this deity was the focal point of ongoing creation in the Hermopolitan world view – as he was elsewhere.
Just as the beginning of the annual season of growth has marked in Egypt by the Nile’s receding imundation and emergence of high points of land from the falling river, so the Egyptians viewed the original creation event as occurring when the primordial mound of earth (see Tatenen) rose from the waters of the First Time. It was said that a lotus blossom (see Nefertem) then rose from the waters or from the same primeval mound; and it was from this flower that the young sun god emerged bringing light into the cosmos, and with it the beginning time and all further creation.
The Power of the Sun God; The Heliopolitan View of the Egyptian Gods Heliopolis, the chief center of solar worship, produced a somewhat different mythic system built around the so-called ennead or “group of nine” deities which consisted of the sun god and eight of his descendants. The Heliopolitan theologians naturally stressed the role of the sun god in their creation stories which focus, as a result, not so much on the intert aspects of preexistence but on the dynamic aspects of the resultant creation itself. The form of the sun god usually associated with this creation was Atum, who was sometimes said to have existed within the primeval waters “in his egg” as a way of explaining the origin of the god. At the moment of creation Atum was said to have been born out of the primordial flood as “he who came into being himself”, thus becoming the source of all further creation. The god next produced two children, Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture), from himself. Several versions of the story exist, but in all of them Atum’s children are produced through the exhalation of the god’s body fluids or mucus – either through the metaphor of masturbation, spitting or sneezing.
In return, this first pair produced their own children, Geb (earth) and Nut (Sky), who took their respective places below and above their parents, giving the creation its full spatial extent. Geb and Nut then produced the deities Osiris and Isis, Seth and Nephthys who viewed from one perspective represented the fertile land of Egypt and the surrounding desert, so that the key elements of the Egyptian universe were completed at this time. Frequently the god Horus, son and heir of Osiris and the deity most closely associated with kingship, was added to this group, thus supplying the link between the physical creation and societal structures. All these aspects, however, were viewed as simply extensions of the original coming into being of the sun god who lay at the heart of this world view and who was thus ‘the father of all’ and ‘ruler of the gods’.
While the scholars of Heliopolis focused mainly on the emergence and development of the sun god, Atum, the priests of nearby Memphis looked at creation from the perspective of their own god Ptah. As the god of metalworkers, craftsmen and architects it was natural that Ptah was viewed as the great craftsman who made all things. But there was also another, much deeper, link between Ptah the creation of the world which set the Memphite view of creation apart. The so-called Memphite Theology which is preserved on the Shabaka Stonein the Egyptian collection of the British Musem reveals this important aspect of the Memphite theological system. While the inscription dates to the 25th dynasty it was copied from a much earlier source, apparently of the early 19th dynasty, though its principles may have dated to even earlier times. The text alludes to the Heliopolitan creation account centred on the god Atum, but goes on to claim that the Memphite god Ptah preceded the sun god and that it was Ptah who created Atum and ultimately the other Egyptian gods and all else ‘through his heart and through his tongue’. The expression alludes to the conscious planning of creation and its execution through rational thought and speech, and this story of creation ex nihilo as attributed to Ptah by the priests of Memphis is the earliest known example of the so-called ‘logos’ doctrine in which the world is formed through a god’s creative speech. As such it was one of the most intellectual creation myth to arise in Egypt and in the ancient world as a whole.
Like Atum, however, Ptah was also viewed as combining male and female elements within himself. This is seen in early texts, and in the latest period of Egyptian history the name of the god was written acrophonically as pet-ta-heh or p(et)+t(a)+h(eh) as though he were supporting the sky (pet) above the earth (ta) in the manner of the Heh deities, but also bridging and combining the female element of the sky and the male element of the earth in the anarogynous manner of the primordial male-female duality Ptah-Naunet.
Egyptian Gods in Mythic Variants
As much as these three systems of comsogony and theogony differ in their details and in the stress placed upon differing deities by their own cults, it is clear that they all share a similar approach to creation. Although the differing approaches were apparently never combined into one unified myth, stories existed for many of the individual myths which fitted into the same overall ramework. In the stories stressing the solar origin of creation, for example, we find variants which proclaimed that the sun god came into being as a hawk or falcon, or as a sphoenix, in the form of a child, a scarab bettle, or some other creatures, but these all originated from the primeval waters or from the mound which rose from them. There are also variants of the manner in which the monad (the prime, indivisible entity) is said to have produced the rest of creation – a Middle Kingdom text found on coffins at el-Bersheh states of the ‘All-lord’: ‘I brought into being the gods from my sweat, and men are the tears of my eye’; but these do not differ radically from those of Heliopolis considered above. To some extent all these stories appear as kaleidoscopic variations of core mythic elements, and may indicate an effort on the part of the Egyptian theologians to incorporate deities which had arisen in different parts of Egypt, or at different times, into existing mythic frameworks. It is often the nature of the creator deities and the basis of their power which is at issue in the varying stories of the origin and rule of the Egyptian gods.
The oldest Pharaonic astronomical texts date back to the ninth Egyptian dynasty (c.2150BC). They gave the names of thirty-six stars which rise within ten days of each other at the same time as the sun. Regarding comets, astronomers seem to have recorded under Thutmosis 111 (1504-1450) the apparition of Halley's comet. This is very possible for if comets visible to the naked eye are rare, comets which describe elliptic orbits are periodically observable: this is the case of Halley's and Encke's comets.The course of stars and planets was also a preocupation of the Egyptians. According to Chabas(1) "Four thousand years ago, the Egyptians know that the earth moved in space and they did not hesitate to attribute the knowledge of this astronomical fact to the generations who had preceded them centuries ago."In antiquity the Egyptian civil calendar was the only calendar to be based on astronomy; this Egyptian calendar is the very foundation of our present calendar. Thales, the Greek sage, received his scientific education in Egypt, where the annual calendar of 365 days had been known as early as 4200BC and where the Great Bear, a constellation of the boreal hemisphere, was well and truly identified by the Egyptians, who called it "Meskhetyou."
* This is an extract from Theophile Obenga, Ancient Egypt & Black Africa, Karnak House, London, 1992 ISBN 0-907015070-0This text is available from the US distributors of Karnak books Africa World Press Theophile Obenga is a Distinguished Scholar w
ho studied Egyptology, Linguistics and Anthropology in universities in France, USA and Switzerland. He worked with the famous Cheikh Anta Diop on various projects and has authored several texts in both English and French. For several years he served as the Director General of CICIBA, a major Center for Bantu Studies located in Gabon, Central Africa.
African spirituality is often pitted against 'mainstream' religions as a culture that promotes mythical and backward teachings. In his latest column, Ceasefire's JJ Bola debunks some of the myths and lies surrounding Western perceptions of many African traditions.
From the Bantu-Kongo, the Akan, Zulu, to the Twa, the traditions of African spiritual systems have existed for thousands of years dating back to the dawn of the earliest civilisations known to (wo)man. However, since the emergence of the Abrahamic faiths, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from 100AD onwards, and the imperial conquests that followed, African spiritual systems have suffered a constant barrage of negative press, stigmatisation, and demonization to a significantly greater degree than their mainstream counterparts.
Too often have we heard negative associations made with “voodoo” or “juju” to witchcraft, or even all African spiritual practises being viewed as generally “evil” with practises being considered, for want of a better word, backward. Film director and educator Dalian Adofo, director of documentary Ancestral Voices: Esoteric African Knowledge, argues that African spirituality is often subjected to condemnation without investigation. That people are all too quick to dismiss African spirituality, without actually finding out what its fundamental precepts and principles are for themselves.
Of course, to speak of African spiritual systems as a homogenous entity is misleading and severely limiting. However there are fundamental principles found in each, such as collectivism, humanism and the reciprocal relationship between human beings and nature which connects them all.
The Bantu-Kongo are people of the Kongo kingdom. This was a prominent central African state during the medieval era with more than 60, 000 inhabitants of the capital city Mbanza Kongo alone. They believed that “God” is a balance of both feminine and masculine energy. As a reminder of this concept in the human form, the left side of the human body was named female, and the right side male. This concept of duality, of male/female, darkness/light, positive/negative, was believed to be the order upon which the universe was established and manifested through every living organism.
Dogon cave art, Mali, West Africa
Geographically, if we travel across to the Dogon people of West Africa – whose civilisation dates as far back as 3,000BC – we see the conceptualisation of this dual principle of balance or “twinness” in a different form. The Dogon believe that it was Amma, the divine creator of the universe, who ordained that all living things be manifestations of this universal principle.
The dual principle of balance dates as far back as the early civilisation of ancient Egypt. The epithet of Ma’at, a goddess that symbolised this, as well as harmony, truth, and order, is an example of how the world and the order of the universe was conceived in African spirituality, across both space and time.
One of the most widespread lies about African spirituality is the notion that they are polytheistic. That, in effect, those who observed African spiritual systems were worshipping multiple gods, and not the one true “God”, which – regardless of whether or not there is anything wrong with worshipping multiple gods – was not the case. In fact, thousands of years before the emergence of the Abrahamic faiths it was the Kemetic spiritual tradition of ancient Egypt that was the first to introduce the concept of monotheism, conceptualising the monotheistic principle of the one true “God” as “Aten” during the rule of Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) in the 18th dynasty.
Another misconception, popular among cynics, is that statues are used as a form of idol worship.
Each religion or spiritual practise has their rituals for connecting to a higher divine source. For example, in Christianity, you have the crucifix, which is often worn around the necks of believers. In Islam prayer beads may be used to facilitate prayer. These symbolic tools are used to connect to a higher source. When they are revealed in mainstream society there is a general acceptance. However, if the same person pulled out the Orisha statue of Oshun, the Orisha of love, maternity and marriage, as practised by the Yoruba spiritual tradition, a negative reaction is all that can be expected because of prevalent stigmatisation and negative associations.
Ivory Coast, West African fertility statue
In many of the African spiritual traditions it is believed that there is one “God”. They are referred to as Nzambi’a Mpungu Tulendo in Kikongo, the central language of the Bantu-Kongo people, which is translates as the “everything in everything”. As “Amma”, among the Dogon people, or “Oludamare” among the Yoruba. There are also manifestations of “God”, the divine creator entity, in different elements of living organisms. These are seen as reflections of god, much like the ocean and a rain drop; the same substance with only a quantitative difference.
In Burkina Faso they have a saying that “50% of the people are Christian, the other 50% are Muslim, but 100% are African spiritualists (animists)”. This means that regardless of your religious beliefs, as an African, it is imperative to understand and pay homage to the beliefs and traditions that were held by those who came before you, the same traditions and beliefs that are being kept alive today.
RITES OF PASSAGE OF THE NGAS PEOPLE OF PLATEAU, NIGERIA
INTRODUCTION
African Traditional Religion has become part of the African lifestyle in such a way that separating one from the other is as good as annihilating the African continent and its inhabitants. This, we shall see in the way the Ngas people gave themselves to be molded, nurtured and cultured by their religion and traditions. Against this backdrop, emphasis will be made on the historical, religious and social life of the Ngas man, since we cannot separate his religious life from his social life.
For the purpose of this work, the writer will be limiting his research on one part of the Ngas people. We have the Hill Ngas and the Plain Ngas. The writer will write about the traditional religion of the Plain Ngas, inhabiting Amper, Kabwir, and other areas of Ampang East, Dawaki and Gyangyang in Kanke Local Government of Plateau State.
The beliefs and practices of the Ngas religion looks similar from one town to another, but also have some differences because the way things are done in one village varies from the other.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Ngas people are currently inhibiting the land of Pankshin and Kanke Local Government Areas in the Central Zone of Plateau State, Nigeria, some 120 kilometers and 150 kilometers respectively from Jos, the Plateau State capital. Pankshin occupies a land area of about 1523.6271 Sq. km, while kanke occupies a land area of about 926.0634 Sq. km respectively.
These people are said to have migrated from Egypt, Sudan or Chad to the Borno region. They set out of Borno, sometime between 1100 and 1350 A.D in search of a place to farm and care for their animals until they reach their current land which is called by the Ngas people Yil Ngas (Ngas land). The Plain Ngas settled in the areas of Amper, Kabwir, Dawaki, Ampang East and Gyangyang, about 600 to 800 metres above the sea level while the Hill Ngas occupies the mountains of Pankshin, Wokkos, Garam and many other places ranging from 800 to 1400 metres above the sea level.
THE CONCEPT OF A SUPREME BEING
The Ngas people believe in a Supreme Being called “Nen”. They do not have any other name that is revered as that of Nen because of his attributes. The omniscience of God is revealed in this statement, “Nen do gombi man!” meaning that God is all knowing. He is the Almighty, “Nen warang dung”, and the ever present God, “Nen gi”. He is also the God of justice and the God of the children, poor people, widows and orphans, and the sustainer of all things. However, he cannot be called upon directly, except during a serious need or when justice is denied.
THE CONCEPT OF THE SPIRIT WORLD
Spirits play a very important role in the beliefs of the Ngas religion. They are believed to have come from God to help mankind. These spirits are called “Zigol mwa” or “Kwi mwa”. The good spirits are called “Zigol rit mwa” or “Kwi rit mwa,” they bring blessings and stand between man and God. They are not and cannot be associated with evil. According to The Angas Creation Myth in a Christian Perspective, Kangdim says that “the process of multiplication started when the last spirit “Tingwut” gave birth to a son called “Kolji”. It was Kolji who was responsible for the generation of bad spirits” (T.C.N.N Reserch Buletin, number 11, November, 1981:3). These evil spirits bring about curses and all sorts of misfortune to the entire community. The evil spirits are called “Zigol bis mwa” or “Kwi bis mwa”. It was believed therefore that Nen is not the originator of evil, which is why he placed the good spirits to help mankind.
THE CONCEPT OF SALVATION
The Ngas people believe that there is life after death, where one’s spirit goes, stays for some time as the ancestor or living dead (wong) and comes back to be reincarnated or reborn.
They also believe in a concept of a ‘heaven’ called Zwal Sara (The Sara Hills). It was believed that when a person dies, what determines his life is how he gets to Sara. Rev. Dr. Gotom, in an oral interview said that, “Zwal Sara was said to be a blissful place, where they spend time enjoying and playing music”. They often say that “ngo sa bis mwa run Sara da ka!” meaning that the wicked and evil people will never get to Sara. Therefore, since the evil people cannot get to Sara, they come back as “Kapwan” (ghost) and torment people. The elders of the land are responsible for chasing the kapwan away, and his end is that he will continue to reduce in size and shape until he is finally picked up be a hawk (nkalin).
Another belief is that when a young person dies in battle or is attacked in the bush, provided women are not aware of it, the person will be called home by the elders. However, only particular sets of people are usually called home, they are called “jep rit mwa” or “gyemrit” meaning the blessed children or blessed child. But when the news of that fellow gets home before he arrives, the elders will talk to him and after which he lives to a distant land and lives his life as a normal human being. This belief is still held today, especially for those in the armed forces, which serves as a sign of security and protection in case of death in the battle field or accidents.
WORSHIP OF THE HIGH GOD
Worship is not directly to Nen because he is very remote from man. In an effort to reach him, they “wap kum” and “won mwa,” meaning the worship of idols, ancestor and divinities. Worship is usually done in the shrine “Lit”. It is in the shrine that the sacrifices and prayers that involve the whole community are carried out. This is done through the sprinkling of blood, water, mos (beer) and certain crops depending on the kind of sacrifice. Yilji captures this in the Ngas Concept of God and Spiritual Beings, a T.C.N.N Buletin as:
The Ngas traditionalists offer sacrifices to their ancestors but with the understanding that Nen who knows and sees everything will bring blessings as a result of their worship and prayers. Thus it appears as if the ancestors are not worshiped as such, but are mediators and fellow worshippers on a higher level, who also posses divine powers.(Number 16, February 1986:30-31).
However, failure to sacrifice to these ancestors and spirits will result to serious misfortune and calamity upon the whole community.
Fellowship meal (gwim) is usually prepared and the whole community partakes in it. This is to purify the community against tormenting people with evil spirits called “ne zi” or any act that is considered a taboo like stealing or adultery.
MAJOR DIVINITIES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS
Kangdim in his work, The High God in African Tradition Religion mentions the following as the most important divinities in Ngas land: Tau, Yer, Kumpel, Poting, Tar, Gashi, and Fwan (T.C.N.N Research Bulletin, number 9, April, 1981:21). Worship to these divinities is marked by festivals either in the dry or rainy season.
TAU - this is a male divinity that is responsible for blessing the whole community in terms of fertility of humans, animals and farm crops. However, when sacrifices are not offered to him, or something goes wrong, he brings misfortune on the whole community.
YER-This is a female divinity responsible for the defense of the territory of the inhabitants. She also maintained peace and order in the community.
Moral purity of the people is maintained by her and she could kill a person involve who is involved in fornication, adultery and theft except the person confess and sacrifices are offered to appease her.
KUMPEL-Is responsible for the fertility of women as well as the potency of men.
POTING- This is a highly respected divinity because he brings about the riches and wealth of the community in every dimension. Individuals seeking personal fortune goes into agreement with this divinity; he promises them wealth in exchange of human’s life every year. Even though the individual becomes rich, it is usually short-lived because when he sacrifices all the members of his family, poting will also kill him in the end.
TAR- This is the moon divinity, and is responsible for the harvest and bringing in the new year (dry season). He is usually celebrated at the end of the rainy season, around October before the people harvest their farm produce.
GASHI- This is the war divinity and must be consulted before going for any battle. He also defenses the kingship against wickedness and evil intentions.
FWAN-It means rain. This rain divinity is directly responsible for the rains. Sacrifices are made before the rain, during and after the rain to avoid drought or limited rainfall.
THE RITES OF PASSAGE OF THE NGAS PEOPLE
PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH
In the Ngas culture, when a woman takes in, serious attention is given to her because she may be carrying one of the ancestors. The pregnant woman is usually taken care of by the elderly women in the family. Just some few months or weeks to her delivery, certain herbs like “sin njamma” and “yom mwal” are giving to the woman to ease delivery. Mr. Goyin Gotus says that “once these herbs are giving to her, she will deliver without having difficulty” (interviewed in Jos). The circumstances surrounding the birth of a child determine the name that will be given to him or her. If the child is born in the night, his or her name will be “Gopar” or “Napar”, and this form the basis for naming. In some instances, Nen is used in the names giving go people, for example, Nenrot or Nenfot means God loves or God hears respectively.
Twins have special names; if they are both males, their names are Jan and Dakom; if they are both females, Ngas call them Janna and Nakom. If they are mixed, that is male and female or female and male, the first person retains the first name above while the second person retains the last name whether male or female.
CIRCUMCISION
In Ngas traditional religion, only males are circumcised. Circumcision (Vwang) is usually carried out on young adults who are getting to a new phase in their lives. This stage marks the beginning of education into the Ngas religion. The young adults are camped in a far place away from home, this rite of separation usually last for about 30 to 60 days, and many mysteries of worship, the ancestors and the spirits will be revealed to them. This is the period to test and know who is who among the young men. The brave are referred to as real men (gomis), while the weak might never get to the end. If a person dies during this period, the slogan is that “won se kora”, meaning that the ancestors have eaten him up.
No woman is allowed to see “wong” or the participants. Therefore, when wong is coming, the slogan used to inform people about his presence is “mat lammo!” meaning that all women should hide or disappear. This also holds for male children who are not circumcised because they are considered as women.
The first and most important thing for any male to be a man is circumcision. Part of the training is that you will be severely beaten to an extent that if you are not brave you will die. Another form of training is that they will introduce you to “wong mwa” (ancestors). From there, you will also be taken by night to go and see the graves of your ancestors. Before the end of the camp, you will be taken to “Lit” (shrine), and there, you will be taught how to worship the ancestors and some basics or rudiments of the traditional religious system will be revealed. Gonet says that ““Manok” or “wong gum” is concerned with the circumcision and initiation of boys” (1994:60). This “wong” instills discipline and removes fear from the young men, he also removes the women nature out of them so that they hold sacred everything that is done and this cannot be revealed to any woman, not even your mother or wife later in the future.
At the end of this initiation, the rite of incorporation into the community is marked by a festival, welcoming the warriors back home, not as the boys who left some months back but as men, tested and trusted. During this celebration, the Ngolong (chief) will come to the village square to welcome them. The families of the initiated men will also come with gifts for them. Family in Ngas land includes the father, mother, grand and great grandparents as well as uncles and everybody that is related to them. The gifts for these young warriors include: Pas (spear), banne (traditional attire), skin of wild animals and different things will be presented to them.
It is imperative to say that initiation into the traditional religion does not end after the circumcision, but that as one grows in obedience and dedication to the worship of “wong wma,” the more the person is initiated into more forms and ways of worship. The key to this is being truthful and living a morally pure life.
From this stage, you are not to engage in fornication or adultery, because you will become “ngo sa bis” an evil person and as such cut off from the shrine worship. In fact, the greatest evil that one can do is to go into sexual relationship with somebody’s wife. You will be an outcast and it will never end well with you. This is illustrated in the statement that “ngo sa bis khi rap kin” meaning that associating with this kind of person is putting yourself at risk or under attack by the ancestors.
MARRIAGE
The first criteria for marriage in Ngas land is that the man must be circumcised, while the woman must have experienced menstruation (but le nyi). There is a kind of dance called “Nahiet” and if a man knows how to sing, dance or play the drum (kung) very well, ladies will usually rally round him. If he likes any of them, he will have to inform his parents to investigate her family and thereafter start the process. Another way of getting to know who you want to marry may be an interest of the parents; in a way of continuing with friendship, parents can organize that their children marry each other. A young man may also have interest in a lady and approach her (kwem). If she agrees, he will relate it to his parents.
After this stage, the parents of the young man will go and introduce themselves to the family of the lady, and inform them about the interest of their son. They usually go with “taba” (tobacco). Before the parents agree, the lady must be consulted first before any one smokes the tobacco. If the says yes, she is pledging and agreeing that the process of marriage should continue, but if she says no then nothing will go on again.
The next thing after the tobacco is “kin” (salt). The salt will be share to all the extended members of the family, informing them that their daughter is about to marry. After this period, the friends of the young man will snatch the girl to his home. Since they are not yet married, the girl will stay with his mother. The following day, she will be taken back to her parents with four to five goats as dowry. The man will then organize his friends to go and farm for his in-laws.
The man will build houses, usually round shape, and harvest grasses that will be used to roof the houses. The lady will in turn invite her friends to assist her in weaving the grasses for the roofing, as well as building the places for cooking and house work. She will still return home to her parents before she comes back fully as a wife.
The women in her family will then organize a send-forth for her. What they do is to educate her on how to run her family. They also tell her that this is how we do things in our clan, so if you go, do this and that.
DEATH AND BURIAL
When a person dies, the Ngas people usually mourn (mep) for three days. This is a period of wailing, where the relatives of the deceased and the whole community come together to sympathize with each other because they are fully integrated. After three days, the mourning is concluded (mwa fat pi), but the impact of the lost remains with the community for a while.
When an elderly person dies, it is said that he has joined the ancestors, and a lot of shrine worship and sacrifices will be done before burial. Conversely, when a young person dies, the wailing is usually more because they believe that somebody must be responsible for his death. Mr. Gompil Y Bonkul said that “he will grieve his son very well because he knows that somebody or a witch is responsible for his death” (interviewed in Amper). This concept is reflected even today in the sense that when a person dies, the first consideration is who killed him.
Burial is done by digging a grave (tun), usually in the form of a well, and the deceased is placed sitting down of a stone, facing the East, and a big stone is rolled to seal the tomb. The deceased is usually dressed in the traditional attire to meet the ancestors. Very few people are allowed to see or touch the dead body, it is sacred and a taboo for children or women to touch it. Very elderly men as well as the men perform the burial rites. Sacrifices are done to send the deceased ancestor to the spirit realm where he can watch over them as the living dead.
The chief’s (Ngolong) tomb is just one, and when he dies, the tomb of the former Ngolong will be reopen, the bones of the former chief will be put aside so that the deceased chief will be buried. Burial of the chief also include rites and sacrifices to the ancestors.
CONCLUSION
Having gone through this tribe and carefully study it’s concept of God, spirits and the world in general, the writer will say that no matter how great these traditions seem, our final stand as Christians is the biblical concept of God, spirits, and how man can worship God in truth and in spirit. Any attempt to go out of this is going back to the traditional religion of our past ancestor.
It is mind bogging to see that the traditionalists gave themselves completely to the unknown God who is far away from them, yet committed to him in upholding purity and rites in their worship.
The way these people were able to put themselves in worship is really commendable; the scriptures made it clear that in the conscience of man, he knows that somebody somewhere who is bigger and better than him is responsible for all that is around him.
The shocking thing is that many so called ‘Christians’ today are neither Christians nor traditionalists. While thinking that they are out of traditional worship, they have not fully giving themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. Until we come to reality in Christ, we will be a lost generation who just exist without real essence or purpose in life.
The quest for God and how to worship him was the soul of Africa by African traditionalists. They tried to reach to God but could not reach him because they worked base on what their ancestors passed to them. For us Christians today, Christ has set a pattern for us to follow and unless we go after him, we may as well be chasing shadows like the people of the old.
It is my prayer that you will not just read this document and feel proud about the Rites of Passage of the Ngas People but that you will value your relationship with God even better than any other relationship.
God bless you, amen.
Raphaels Shiknet Manasseh
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gonet, Ishaya. Angas Traditional Religious Sacrifices and its Influence on Christians in Amper district of Pankshin LGC, of Plateau State. Jos: JETS Thesis, 1994.
Kangdim, Jotham. The High God in African Traditional Religion. Bukuru: TCNN Research Bulletin, Number 9, 1981.
_____________ The Angas Creation Myth in Christian Perspective. Bukuru: TCNN Research Bulletin, Number 11, 1981.
Yilji, Deshi. The Ngas Concept of God and Spirit Beings. Bukuru: TCNN Research Bulletin, Number 16, 1986.
