Teaching: The Dead, The Living, and Agriculture

Teaching: The Dead, The Living, and Agriculture

(From Koki Medicine Clan Teaching: Nov. 16-18, 2007)

This teaching focuses on three things which are extremely important to understand in spiritual development, otherwise the result can be a warped, misleading understanding.

THE DEAD

THE LIVING

AGRICULTURE

The Dead: By the Dead we are speaking of Ancestors and their relationship to the continuation of Life.

The Living: By the Living we are speaking of the cycles of life and the birth processes and of course those having a human experience.

Agriculture: By Agriculture we are speaking of that which sustains us.

Without understanding these three points, we would still be dealing with an elusive spirituality which would not be grounded in reality. All three points have an important role and we need to take an active and energetic approach in exploring the understanding of these points. One of the necessary processes is to explore the definition of these points further than our habitual definitions. For example we consider that food sustains us, but we need to consider the whole cycles from birth to death of how we take in this sustenance and how we are distracted from understanding this cycle and our relationship to it and participation within it. Our sustenance comes from the Earth from the moment we are born through our Mother’s milk which she produces from the sustenance that she took in from the Earth. We may habitually take for granted that oil to cook with comes from a bottle, but in fact it does not come from the bottle. A tremendous amount of energy, effort and sacrifice goes into our food production and it is also tremendously exploited and is controlled outside of our immediate communities. In many cases, especially in this country we, the People, are separated physically, mentally and spiritually from the production of what we consume not only to sustain our bodies, but also to cloth ourselves, shelter ourselves and protect ourselves. The majority of these things is in the hands of others who do not incorporate our voice inside their decisions. Our traditional past maintained a vital relationship to everything that was consumed by the community and it is a mistake to dwell in an energy of hopelessness by saying this was only in the past, because it is still true that many Traditional Communities continue to maintain these vital and spiritual relationships. It is important to also note that much of our Traditional Ceremonies are connected to the healthy relationships involved in Sustaining ourselves through Agriculture.

In considering the sustenance that we take in, we must also consider that the majority of it is “dead” whether it be the plant or animal that we are taking in. This physical phenomenon reveals a spiritual phenomenon that what sustains us is “the Dead” both physically and Spiritually. The Dead (Ancestors) lead us in our lives, open the doors to our progress, administer advice and understanding and protect our experience. Agriculture itself is a process of the Dead giving rise to Life and Life passing into Death. Without the Dead growth is impossible.

Realizing the importance and essentialness of the Dead we have to consider how our control over the burial process and cemetery has been given over to others. No longer can most of us place our Dead in a Sacred Burial Ground where we can go at any time to communicate directly with the Ancestral Bone, do the appropriate Ceremonies and so on. We must consider that a spiritual “prison camp” has been created where Ancestors are entrapped rather than journeying to the rightful place of the Ancestors. The primary reason why a spiritual prison camp would be created would be because of the lack of the appropriate Ceremony of the Passing of Life and no appropriate Burial Ground. We have to realize that at this time the Earth is filled with spiritually unhygienic societies where the Dead are not in their rightful places due to the circumstances of Death (premature or nonsensical violent death), due to the lack of Ceremony or due to mental/ spiritual confusion where the Spirit is disoriented and lost. This has created a Spiritual Chaos which has greatly complicated the process of communication with the Dead.

The Dead are just as important as the Living and as Agriculture (Sustenance). People rely on the Ancestors returning to the Bones so that the Ancestors could communicate with the Living. In the chaotic state we reside in, often an Ancestor might return to their Bones only to find that there is no one to greet them. This cycle of burial and the appropriate process of a Soul passing from the Living to the Dead is frozen also by “grief” and a failure to understand the process of continuing the relationship when the Living pass to the Dead.

Ni Bon: “Yesterday I was trying to remember a memory of which I had no experience- of a time long past and gone. But my memory cannot serve me in search of this memory because my whole memory had been handed down through books. I tried to reach my memory to see how the Ancestors walked on the Earth 500-1000 years ago, to see how they were able to quench their thirst at the rivers, how they looked at the trees, plants and animals, but my memory fails me because I have no conscious memory of being inside of that experience. No matter how I want to recapture it, I can’t because it is not inside of my experience. I started to think the memory of this experience has to serve me, just as their memory served them even through a brutal past.”

We can only extract how it was for the Ancestors from our limited stories, tales, and limited dreams, but we have to see the essence of the experience in the here and now in order to keep the Ancestors alive in this time. Even though we do not have the eyesight to see that far into the Past, the Ancestors do have the eyesight to see us in our Present. The Ancestors adapt much better to the future than we do to the Past. It is the Dead who approach us in our Memory and not the other way around, they speak to us in the symbols and terms that we are familiar and comfortable with. In manifesting a vision we allow the Ancestors to bring their memory to us, not that we go back to see their reality. The Dead can influence that memory in us today so that we can bring it into the Present. Today we are speaking about two things, one is Ancient and Civilized, the other is backwards and barbaric. The Ancient Ones knew that you do not take uranium out of the Earth and you do not do anything without Ceremony. The Life experience is about Ceremony. We must be very mentally active and attentive to know how the Dead are interrelating with us today. The Ancestors have their eyes open in our bloodstream, they know our destiny and they orient us. Without the Dead any society becomes disoriented.

There are several booby traps, including being misguided, the torments of the mind becoming the master, and becoming hoarders of possessions.

In speaking about all three points, the Dead, the Living and Agriculture, we must recognize that the natural flow of the Seasons has been tampered with. The concept of daylight savings time is a manipulation as is the corruption of holidays revolving around consumption, waste, fantasy, and the glorification of atrocities. The disruption of the Fall cycle of “death” is accomplished by Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. This particular cycle (that we are currently in) is one in which we here witness the dying away of the plant people, the trees losing leaves, and our daylight hours become minimized. It is a natural time to focus even more intensely on the Dead and the Spirit! This cycle has been usurped by these “holidays” which embody the essence of wastefulness, distortion, glorification and justification of genocide, and accumulation of debt. Meanwhile the cycle of learning for the Children is just as disrupted and corrupted.

The manipulation and breakdown in the cycles of the Dead, the Living and Agriculture is certainly due to the conscious manipulation that we have spoken about at length and it is important to realize that this conscious manipulation is powered by the Indigenous Medicine that was stolen and continues to be stolen from the People. One of the primary purposes of the new age movement is to infiltrate Indigenous Spiritual Circles and water down Indigenous Traditions. However we must also realize that many of the Indigenous Spirits have rebelled against those who stole their traditions which is why we see the battle between Ancient Principles of Civilization and backwards European barbarism raging. 

When we consider our defense of our Self, Family and Community inside of the present situations which bombard us and surround us, we cannot allow ourselves to make the mistake of thinking in terms of hopelessness. We have to be aware of how we can defend ourselves physically, mentally, vibrationally and Spiritually. We have to be aware that our ‘Immune System” itself is a Spirit which protects us and that we need to fortify that Spirit. Our mental body is another Spirit that we need to clarify. Mental torments eat away at our mental acuity and mental power. Mental torments (obsessions) become unwanted squatters in our Minds and undermine the Mental Body. There is also many things that we can do to amplify the health of the Vibrational Body, such as martial arts which are also about physical protection. 

Going back to our discussion of the Dead, we have to realize that many of our direct Ancestral bones may be scattered possibly around the World and we may not be able to access or even know where our Ancestors bones are. As soon as we see a society stop caring for its Dead we see a disintegration of that society and a dismantling of the Soul to make it Will-less. When we see the Dead being incarcerated in concrete boxes we have to realize that this is a symbol of imprisonment. We also have to realize that the oppressors of the world who are ruling through Indigenous Medicine never fully understood that medicine and the Medicine itself has rebelled against them. Many of their current movements are due to desperation as they realize that their time is up. You see the desperation obvious in the obsession with finding a way to live on Mars and the obsession to clone human beings. They not only are trying to play “God” but also are trying to find a way not to meet or to bypass the “divine judge” who stands in the Pathway to and from Coabey or the world of the Ancestors. They are aware that the Earth and the Spirit of Life is rebelling against the mentality of desecration against the Mothers of Life. They are realizing that they cannot protect themselves from the Spirits of the Elements or from the Dead.

The Dead teach the Living which is why we spend so much energy in developing relationships and means to communicate with the Dead. The Dead are instrumental in the development of Cultures and Traditions. Many of the ancient and modern scientific discoveries came and come from the Dead, enabling the Living to manifest things in Life! The Pyramids, Ancient Temples etc. are good examples of this. When one is disconnected from the Dead the natural element gets dumbed down. Others have found ways to take control of our Dead, depriving us from this communication and Teaching. The Ancestors are the Catalyst between You and the Wisdom and Story residing inside of your DNA!

The modern ways of talking about the Earth are very superficial, also the modern means of communicating (phone, TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, etc) have nothing to do with the root of Ancestral Practices. They are a substitution for those Ancestral practices and a distraction, pre-occupation and obsession which takes you away from spending time with your Dead! And those modern means of communication and those who control and propagate them do not have you and your community, nor your communal or spiritual development at heart. 

We can ask the question: “What is a Tradition? What does it entail? Why is it important?” If we were to define american tradition or culture, we would have to define it as “me, myself and I” (selfishness), consumerism, disregard for Elderly, lack of community caring, competing with the Jones… True Cultures are rooted in agricultural cycles, rooted in Ceremony (Tradition), attached to the Natural Cycles of Life, the Sun, Moon, Rains, Birth, Naming Ceremony, Rite of Passage, Ancestors, Healing and Conflict Resolution. Tradition/ Ceremony also about placating the Spirit, because the Spirit is respected. Tradition is about real life situations, it is an “adult” approach to finding solutions through the Spirit. If we are walking as people of Culture this is very different than walking as people dependent on the american “anti-culture”. Compare the behavior of those people of Culture who when confronted with a real life situation (a drought) go about seeking solutions and direction from the Spirit, versus the behavior of those, for example, in this country who simply wait for government intervention which is simply used to further disempower the people. Traditionally one would seek the intervention of the Spirit of the Rain (for example). These contrasting responses to a critical situation (drought) indicate an extreme childishness in those who willingly depend of the government (or other authority) as if that government (or authority) was 1. Concerned with them and 2. Intelligent enough to have real solutions, and 3. More powerful than the Ancestral Spirits. In any anti-culture the Dead are ignored during any crisis and are not considered essential to the Living. This is devastating to the sustainability of Life and the welfare of all Life on our Mother Earth. Ceremony is about complying with the Dead! Without meeting the needs of the Dead, the Living cannot flourish!

You can also compare and contrast children (typically) raised in this society (usa) versus those raised traditionally. Those who are raised traditionally have a place inside the sustainability of the village, they have their function, whether it be small children in the jungle picking up termites and throwing them in the fire to chase away mosquitoes or children elsewhere being responsible for building the shelters for the people! In this country children are not required to be part of any sustainable life, if they have chores the chores are unrelated to the community’s health and welfare and the children are not raised with any kind of understanding of what tradition, culture and community is. In this country we have a population of adults who think and act like children who have never been raised to be adults and who childishly give up their power to “authorities” who are considered more capable than them but who are also composed of the same childish adults. In the European society that we live in, the people do not talk to the Ancestors, seek advice from the Ancestors and continue the work of the Ancestors. We have to understand that when talking about European Ancestors (those of us who have some or all European Ancestors and those of us who simply have to deal with a society filled with those who have European Ancestors) that these European Ancestors are also not necessarily stabilized due to the total lack of any Ancestral Practice in modern European society.

Contrast this picture of the helpless dependence of adults here to Cultured societies where all the people had a voice in finding solutions to whatever the situation was. In Kongo the chief would have to rule with impartiality even over his own family member. If the people perceived a bias in his rule they would tell him to go to the mountain and sit with the Sun. This meant that he had to face once again the Spirit of Truth and Impartiality and Clear Thinking so that he could return once more to the people and the situation and fulfill his function correctly. When people are claiming to be embarking upon a course of spiritual development, the first thing that needs to be appreciated is the Dead. Many of the new age ceremonies out there are “feel good” ceremonies tapping into themes like “universal love”, misappropriating terms and teachings and catering to adults who think like children and want to be validated in their dependencies and obsessions. These new age traditions very often revolve around channeling from some “guide or spirit” who is not connected to the person’s ancestors at all. The new age movement has stolen tradition away from the Dead. 

When we are looking at a Ceremony such as a Palo Initiation, we need to understand that this initiation is about complying with the Dead, placating that person’s Mysteries, dealing with certain past and Ancestral trails. If this initiation did not have to do with the Dead and the needs of the Dead there would be no shell divination, no divination of dreams and so on as all these things are means of understanding what it is the Dead are saying to the Living! In an Ebo it is for the Spirit to say what it needs. Many times people may be in a fantasy about the ebo, thinking just in selfishness or with their foolish heart about needs but ebo is for the need of the Spirit and the Ancestors. Often people are so much more concerned with their own comfort or entertainment that they will not follow through on what the Spirit clearly states that they need to follow through on. This is a clear illustration of the selfishness with which the living in this society view the Ancestral Spirits (the Dead). The wants of the Living is given a higher value than the Needs of the Dead which in turn creates a Spiritual Chaos and broken relationships between the Living and the Dead! The Elders of a Traditional society were the protectors of their Children’s Spirit and would intervene when they saw the Child/ Young Person moving in a direction contrary to that of their Spirit. This society is built upon the phrase “I’ll support you in that”… Which is a band aid. Even mediation in this society is a band-aid because if you are not explaining to people about the effects of colonialism then there can be no stable or productive long term outcome to the mediation. The mediation is happening in a box and is not allowing the people to understand the root reasons for their conflicts. 95% of today’s ills are spirit related, especially in america because here there is a total disconnection from the Spirit. 

There is another aspect of this whole spiritual chaos that we are speaking of here which must be noted. There are cases where the person’s own Ancestral Spirits turn their back on the person because the person is not attending to their Trato (agreement). In the case of a Palo Initiation the Trato is with the Kongo Medicine, therefore it is the Kongo Ancestors who are leading the way for the progression of the person’s personal Egun. This means that if you are not a Kongo descendent that you must consciously honor and respect that root as the root which is leading your evolution. At times, specifically with Europeans, we see a refusal by the European Ancestral tree to be the followers of the Kongo lead, or we see a refusal by the European living descendent to be the follower of the Kongo lead. In the latter case the person’s own Ancestors may become angry with the person for being rebellious towards the Root of Adoption. It is important that whether it is a Taino Initiation or a Palo Initiation that the person and their Ancestral Tree is willing to follow in the footsteps of the Taino and Kongo Spirits! This is a frequently overlooked point.

There are (specifically) European Ancestors who do not want to face OpielGuabiron! Those people and ancestors are those who do not want to face the consequences of their past (and present) actions and who do not want to take responsibility for those consequences. Opiel Guabiron is one of the Spirits who is going to keep a person to their commitments. Opiel is the Guardian within the passage between the Ancestral Realm and the realm of the Living. The traditional story of Opiel is that he will not let anyone pass through who is not Taino. We can understand this definition of being Taino as having a consciousness rooted in Taino principles, as being committed to Spiritual Agreements and as honoring the Ancestors who are offering knowledge and education to the Living. Opiel is about Truth and Justice and we can also understand that Siete Rayos (Nsasi) is also about Truth and Justice. The phenomenon of the obsession concerning cloning today is linked with an attempt have another cycle of a living experience without going through the passage that brings one face to face with Opiel (or his Traditional counterparts).

Fundamento Taino

Nkisi is Kongo, Fundamento (cauldron) arose from the Kongo within the Caribbean, the principles of both are in harmony with eachother. Within the Fundamento are many components of the Earth, soils, minerals, trees (palos), dusts, elements, waters, plants, oils, bones, stones, metals, clays, smoke, fermented elements and so on. The Fundamento is essentially a microcosm of the Earth herself. So we can and must come to recognize the Earth herself as an Nkisi or Fundamento! Each Fundamento has an Mpungo (Spirit of that Fundamento), as does the Earth herself have an Mpungo. Deep within the Earth is her essential Spirit. None of us know the depth of that Spirit or have been able to visit the central "seat" of that Spirit deep within the Earth. We interact with all the Spirits on her surface, the plants, trees (palos), stones, waters, winds, animals, and so on. Just as is the case with the Fundamento, the Mpungo is deep inside and not visible to the outside observer, but the outside expression is an expression of that Mpungo. We have to recognize that the Fundamento of the Earth herself has been desecrated by the activities of exploitation, greed and ugliness upon her surface. Deep holes have been dug into her and deeper holes are planed. The blood of her veins (oil) and essential elements of her body (metals, elements) have been depleted and distorted into agents of genocide, disease and poisoning. The Mpungo within the Earth herself is enraged as would be any Mpungo whose world (fundamento) was being destroyed and just as any Ancestor gets enraged when their tomb or burial ground is desecrated and their remains carried out to a museum, private collection or the like. We are dealing with anger of an Mpungo upon whom we all depend on for life itself. Inside of the space that is "ours" that we are responsible for caretaking, how are we caring for the Fundamento that this there? Not the Fundamentos we may have in our Monasu or home, but the Fundamento that is the Earth upon which we live? Is that Fundamento within the greater Fundamento of the Earth being cared for and being healed through our actions or are we treating that fundamento as a piece of "real estate"? It may be a 4'x4' space in a back yard, or it may be acres in the country, but nonetheless the Spirit of that space is looking at us and our behavior. The Nkisi, Fundamento is "alive" and the Mpungo connected to it is able to see, think, assess and communicate. Upon the Land we have recognized the fact that she is an Nkisi, Fundamento of a much larger magnitude than the Fundamentos that are in Cauldrons, Pots, or in the form of Nkisis. So we approach the Land ceremonially in all aspects. We bring in components that are needed, stones, specific trees, plants, herbs, bano plants, medicine plants, flowers and the various animals that are needed both dead and alive. In this understanding all the animals that are upon the land are inside that Fundamento that is called "The Land of the Sacred Heart of Life". The horses are there for a purpose, the donkeys, ram, bull, pigeons, chickens, and dogs. An essential component of the Nkisi or Fundamento is the human bone. Upon the Earth there are billions of bones! What a Fundamento! She is the Fundamento of all fundamentos! Her power is enormous. Not only does she have all the bones of the Ancestors but she also has the living upon her. At thsi time the living are waging a war upon her between those who seek to dominate her (something that they could never do successfully but these people are suffering a severe mental illness of cosmic proportions) and those who seek to live on her in compliance with natural and divine laws of abundance, cooperation, balance, harmony and thriving.

The fundamento within the Monasu or the home also has a living being associated with it, its caretaker (you!). The nature of the fundamento and its actions are very much dependent on both the brujo who created it and the person who is caretaking it. The fundamento may have been created from a point of healthy, abundant thriving and solution finding, but if the living component (you) is in alliance with the spirits of degression this creates a situation of disharmony and conflict in the relationship and the good things that the Fundamento can bring about is blocked by the "caretaker". However if the caretaker is in harmony internally and with the Fundamento the energies are aligned and great progress is possible. So when we walk upon Mother Earth, we must realize that we are walking upon the most powerful of Fundamentos in our experience and we must realize the conflict that is taking place and allow ourselves to make a strong and steadfast decision to align with the essence of the greatest of all Fundamentos in our experience and align our own "space" upon this Fundamento with her and align ourselves with the other Fundamentos (medicines) that we are caretakers of, so that all these powers in all these dimensions can be in alignment and can develop the progress that is needed.

Note:  the two photos of a "Taino Cemi" are dated around the time that (kidnapped) African "slaves" were arriving in Taino World.  The Cemi has a clearly and distinctivly African face on one side and a distinctively Taino Cemi face on the other, showing (in my view) the synthesizing that was occurring between the two world views and traditions at that time.... the merging of two "bilongos".

The Four Positions, the Four Moments of the Sun (Taino- Kongo)

Beginning with an exploration of the Taino concepts of the movements of the Sun, the Earth, the World of the Dead, and the function of Bohitu (Medicine Man/ Shaman/ Brujo) and then moving to an exploration of the Kongo concepts of the movements of the Sun, the Earth, the World of the Dead and the function of the Nganga (Medicine Man/ Brujo), we can see that the concepts although different in some ways, resonate in many more ways. Finally we can look at a simple firma used today and see the “progeny” (if you will) of these two Spiritual Roots.  


We need to begin with a solid understanding that the cross/ roads/ 4 directions symbol is a universal symbol upon this Earth, utilized by countless Traditions as a Sacred representation of Earth and Spirit. The elaborateness of the symbol varies from Tradition to tradition but the central principles are very similar if not the same.

A depiction of the Taino understanding of the 4 Positions of the Sun: 

In this image, the four positions of the sun are shown in the four cardinal directions*, although we have to acknowledge that “north” and “south” could perhaps more accurately be seen as “above” and “below”. The basic form is a cross (not christian at all), with a vertical axis and horizontal axis. The vertical axis is embedded within a depiction of a cosmic tree (Ceibe being its physical counterpart in the Caribbean). This tree denotes at the same time the structure of the “worlds” and is also representative of the Ancestral Tree of Humanity and the Ancestral Tree of Life! The tree has its roots in “COABEY” (World of the Dead), its trunk extends through the CEMETERY (Campo Santo) and its branches extend up to the Sky.  

Beginning in the East, the Sun is in its position of Rising. The East is also the direction of Rains, specifically Hurricanes. Two different constellations are related to this point, the Pleiades (related to Frogs and Children) and the Big Dipper (known as the “Big Dog”). Both, at separate times relate to rainfall, the Pleiades to the rains of May (which are important for the seedlings) and the Big Dog to the more violent Hurricanes of September/ October. The bird associated with these Rains is the Hummingbird.  

The Sun then rises to its Zenith (or the north direction*). At this point it is associated with the position and world of the Cacike. The Cacike is associated with the Sun, the Daytime, Gold, anything bright, the Wind and Fire, the Male principles, the Sky (Turey) and with the Eagle (the high flying bird of the sky). The Cacike’s energies and abilities derive strongly from the influence of Yokahu (the Male Energy of Creation) who is dominant in the World of the Day.  

In the West the Sun sets. The turkey is associated with this point. Turkeys can fly, roost on trees, prefer the forest but they are also very adapted to running on the ground. This signifies a transition from Day (Sky) to the world of the night which is more “Earthy”. Once the Sun is no longer visible the World that was previously illuminated is now mostly dark (depending on the Moon) but it is definitely always Shadowy. This is the realm of Guabancex (the Female Principle of Creation).  

When the Sun is in “the South*” (or perhaps more accurately “below the Earth”) the human experience now comes into the realm of Guabancex. This is the domain of the Bohitu. The Bohitu is connected to the Night, the Female principles, the Moon, the Caves, the Dead, Funeral Rites, The Spider, the Bat and especially Snakes. It is said that the Cemis will come to the aid of a Bohitu in the form of Snakes. Prior to healing a sick person the Bohitu would put black ash on his face (significant for the fact of its color and the fact of it being the remains of what was once life (is now death)). The bird in this position is the Owl (Mucaro), who of course prefers the Night. The Owl relies more on its Hearing rather than its sight, whereas its opposite, the Eagle relies on its superb sight.  

*In the context of Taino Spirituality the designations of the Sun’s positions in North and South (above and below) is a use of the cardinal points that does not seem to be entirely valid. We prefer the visualization of “above” and “below” as being a clearer designation, the Sun is above during the Day and below during the Night. there is a point that can be made that from the perspective of the Caribbean the Sun appears to have its focal point in the South, therefore to be coming from it’s location in the South and then traveling towards the north during the day to return the South during the Night. This is a point that requires that we contemplate more deeply the actual natural phenomenon of the Sun’s travel throughout the night-day cycle. The Bohitu has the ability to stand within the world of the Living and access the wisdom, knowledge and influences of the Dead. He can speak to the Dead and he can Hear the Dead! He stands within the Earthly “cemetery” speaking to the Dead and advising and healing the Living. In this depiction we see him standing at the crossroads of Sky and Earth, Life and Death, Fire and Water, Wind and Earth.  

A depiction of the Kongo 4 Moments of the Sun:   

In this image we see the path of the Sun (reflected in the Path of a human being) traveling from birth to death and continuing to birth once again. There is the mountain signifying the Earth (Ntoto) and the mirror image in the world of the Dead signifying the Earth of the Dead (Mpembe) seen as white clay. The Waters of Kalunga separate the worlds.  

Beginning again in the East, the place of birth the Sun rises, the human being is born and begins her process of maturing and education. At the Sun’s Zenith we see the Essence of Creation Nzambi Mpungo. This signifies the prime of life, the full blossoming of creative abilities and accomplishments. This is the North, Noon, Male Energies, and the Sky. Proceeding to the West, this signifies the process of dying (death) Here the sun sets and the human dies and moves into the world of the Waters, the world of the Dead. Finally in the South we see the Sun below the horizon, this is the position of the Female Energies, Midnight, and the Ancestors. Here the Soul rejuvenates and returns to have another experience within the body of a descendent or becomes a physical feature, a stone, mountain, waterfall, river and so on. The spiral within the center of the cosmogram signifies this cyclical journey of the Soul.  

Again with the Kongo the Nganga (brujo) accesses the world of Kalunga, the world of the Dead, and is able to speak to and hear from the Ancestors. The Nganga stands at this cross roads, just as the Bohitu does. Both work within the realm of the Female Energies of the Night, Darkness, Creative Potential which is unlimited, and can bring these out to the light of Day where the Creative Potential becomes Creative Expression and Accomplishment.  

Here is an image of a simple Palo Firma (signature):   

This evolved within the Caribbean, it did not come across the Waters but developed in this continent, with (we maintain) the influence of the Indigenous People of the Caribbean (Taino and so on)! Here again we see a correspondence in the lower part of the firma with the Waters, representing the world of the Dead. We see the Sun and Moon in the upper quadrants, as well as the Winds. The “lengua” extends down because the brujo is speaking to the Dead. We trust that the influence of both the Kongo and Taino can easily be seen in this firma. The nganga or bohitu stands upon the firma written in white chalk (relates to white clay of mpembe) and makes Trato (agreements) in this sacred space, where both the “Heavens” Sky and “Ancestors” Earth are witness. He stands between the realms of Life and Death relating to them both, and the consequences of the moment extend into both realms. The perspective of Taino and Kongo can never be approached as identical, but the similarity of understanding, especially with regards to the abilities and functions of the nganga and bohitu are striking!
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Response to Question:
It is not so much 4 suns, it is the sun in the four positions which not only reflect the daily cycle of the movements of the Earth in relation to the Sun but also reflect the cycle of the soul from birth through death into the world of the Ancestors. There is also the changing positions of the sun throughout the year from the winter solstice to the spring equinox, to the summer solstice to the fall equinox which also represent changing positions of the sun in reference to the horizon.

In terms of the cycle of the soul, death is not the end of the experience, death begins a travel into another realm (realm of the Ancestors) where the soul cleanses of negativity and impurities leading to another re-birth. The four moments of the Sun indicate continual cycling, continual renewal and continuous evolution. Death is equated to the setting sun, birth to the rising. The Sun's position below the horizon symbolizes the soul within the world of the dead and the Sun's position above the horizon symbolizes the soul at the height of its expression within the world of the living (physical world/ dimension). The key concept being that death is a "transitory" state just as living is, both being states or processes within the whole cycle of Living-Dying-Living.

The four positions of the Sun also reflects the four principles/ points/ directions/ polar opposites through which Nsambia resonates in manifesting the form and processes of creation, life and death, time, space, movement, evolution. They represent the unfolding of creation, the manifestation of the intertwining of life and death and rebirth, the four evolutionary positions which ensure that the whole spiritual entity stays intact. Included in the representation is gravity, magnetism, bonds within atoms etc which weave life together into the complex tapestry it is as well as the process of the creative forces of reproduction which allow life to continue to express within the physical world.

It is also the line where we stand to make the decision to elevate ourselves in consciousness awareness right from within the Mpungo that holds us all up. This is the point where we can exercise our intelligence, our consciousness, our wisdom to further develop our understanding and our ability to take action, manifest, express the essence and power of our soul, because all the possibilities and energies to raise our consciousness from the slumber of mediocrity to the wisdom of the Ancestors is present. When we stand in front of our Fundamentos. Nkisis, Cemis, we are standing upon this line with all the potentials that are present. It is for us to extend our thinking, our exploration and our initiative to truly interrelate with these potencias for the purpose of evolution, progression, and awakening. Here is where we hold up that which holds us up.

STOLEN ANCESTORS”

"STOLEN ANCESTORS”

A couple weeks ago there was a discussion that took place during our Koki Warrior Circle Teaching Weekend which triggered a thought and insight within my Mind and Spirit and inspired this article.

There are several points I want to cover:

Christianity’s theft of our Ancestors.

The imposter Eguns (Ancestors) they put in the place of Our Ancestors.

The incarceration of the burial process, “taking the bones out of the Bohio”.

The so called “founding fathers” of this country including those whose mugs are found on paper money.

As Muerteros, and as Paleros and Paleras, the subject of Ancestors is all important, as is the subject of their bones via which their Spirit is continued to be present with us. The health and vitality of the Ancestral Tree and of the immediate Ancestors is of vital importance to the Living. And that concern and love for the Ancestors extends in a stream through to the Living descendants, Our Children. In our interrelation with our children we can understand the connection, Love and utter devotion that is the very essence of our Ancestral Tree.

For a moment we can seek to envision the health of the Ancestral tree before colonization, or we can look deeper and envision it before ‘chrisitianity’ because not only was christianity an alien doctrine but it was also a direct action of division of the Ancestral Trees, it created division between the Living and the Dead. In the division it created (often forcibly) between the Living and the Dead, all manner of sickness, self-alienation, false identification, mental and emotional sicknesses, spiritual sickness, weaknesses, disturbances, and degeneration was able to take root. Within the process of de-indoctrination, (freeing ourselves from mental slavery) it is essential to recognize the true magnitude of the division and theft that christianity brought to the People of the Earth.

In envisioning a Healthy Ancestral Tree, we can recognize that the strength, clarity, and vitality of the Living is a living expression of the strength, clarity and vitality of the Tree. Relationships with Family and Community did not end at death but continued with even greater depth and love. Ancestors were not forgotten, tossed to the side, counted out of the equation but were instrumental in council and actions by the Living. An individual who is strong inside of his or her healthy Ancestral tree cannot be dismantled, and cannot be fooled into various alien identities.

Christianity’s theft of our Ancestors

We all know of christianity’s legacy of bloodshed and murder, and this violence was an integral part of its penetration into Indigenous Cultures world wide. A certain atmosphere of fear and ugliness were the forerunners to the later spread of the fantastical stories of christianity bearing beautific smiles of so called “peace and love” with promises of “heaven” upon their lips, and murmurs of “hell” at the slightest sign of resistance or independent thought. We all know this ugly story and the devastation it has and continues to create around the World. We know that Christianity is intricately involved in colonialism and we have a situation now that many people simultaneously identify as “Indigenous” or of practicing an “Indigenous Spirituality or Way of Life” yet simultaneously are actively christian (even catholic) or while not identifying as “christian” continue to see the world through the lenses and prejudices of christianity.

Halloween was originally a pagan “European” festival which involved a basic belief that the Spirits and ghosts (ancestors) came back to the world of the Living for a “visit” on November 1, and they needed to be addressed and placated at this time. (A basic conception of Ancestor “worship”). THEN, Pope Gregory III and Pope Gregory IV tried to christianize the day by turning it into All Saints Day around about the 9th century.

This is very interesting and a seemingly small “so called evolution” of the festival... what may seem like a small shift (Spirits/ Ghosts to Saints) is in fact a MAJOR SHIFT taking the consciousness and attention of the People away from Ancestors and focusing it onto “ancestors” (some real individuals and some fictitious) who are within the DOMAIN of the church. THEFT OF THE ANCESTRAL TREE AND REPLACEMENT WITH ANCESTORS AND DEMONS OF THE CHURCH.

The imposter Eguns (Ancestors) they put in the place of Our Ancestors.

Who are these Egun (Ancestors) that christianity forcibly and by mental, emotional and spiritual trickery, use to divide the Living from their Dead? The most famous would be Jesus, Mary and the “Holy Ghost”, three “fictitious” characters implemented in the most extensive destruction of family trees and the orphaning of the Living that has ever occurred. We have to look carefully at the “erasing” of the identity of FATHER, meaning that this ancestor “jesus” did not have a human male ancestor himself. He did indeed allegedly have a mother, Mary, but she was a virgin mother who had never engaged the ceremony (tratado) of unification with the male principle within a man, and the subsequent ceremony of conception (to look at it in spiritual terms). This automatically takes these “characters” out of the realm of real ANCESTORS and into the realm of “something else” or indeed a “phenomenon” because remember that jesus and mary are described as being “human”. Among the Living this represents DIVISION of FAMILY, Mother and Son are separated from Father, father is in fact negated. Among the Ancestors this is a direct theft of an Individual’s true sacred Mother and Father (parents, grandparents) and imposition of imposter “foster” parents (church and its saints/ demons). Who exactly is this ‘holy ghost’ ? What entity, what spiritual entity, and what is “his” objective/ agenda and how is the church using him? Food for thought.

In addition to these three “ancestors” there are a plethora of various ‘saints’ some were real individuals associated with the church, some are totally fictitious, many of these saints were martyrs and died horrible deaths, suffered abuse (ie. died in pain, confusion and torture) or were perpetrators of said abuse or of self-abuse, masochism (ie. Loyola). These “ancestors” are the imposters forced upon Indigenous People and used to push the rightful Ancestors out of the consciousness and culture of the People.

Reflecting back to the obsession of Las Casas of getting “Souls” for the church, we can see that he was in the business of CAPTURING Souls (preferably through their “consent”) for the church to be under the domain of ‘jesus’. Las Casas writes in a legalese type style showing a full awareness of the “contract” he is writing and “case” he is arguing. Las Casas also wrote about killing the Cemi in the heart, in other words eliminating the Ancestors from the Heart.

The incarceration of the burial process, “taking the bones out of the Bohio”

Not only was there a process world wide of attempting to kill the Cemi (Spirit/ Ancestor/ Mpungo/ Misterio/ etc) in the Heart of the Living, but also there was and continues to be the systematic repression and attempted demonization and slandering of Indigenous Ceremony in general and in particular any Ceremony associated with funerary rites, Ancestors, Ancestor possession, Divination and so on. Bones of Ancestors are today literally incarcerated in walled, gated graveyards and within concrete boxes, bodies are taken to morgues and families function only to pay the bill and show up at the funeral. Bodies are poisoned with various noxious chemicals which interfere spiritually in the process of decay and recognition which takes place during the natural process of Death. Or, bodies are burnt and the ‘ashes’ are very often scattered leaving no ‘remains’ to be found or focused upon. Bodies are depersonalized and often humiliated during this process. And of course as we know older Cemeteries or burial grounds are often built upon or looted. Bodies are also incarcerated and “displayed” in museums. Very often Ancestors are oceans away from their Living, and the Living are unable to even visit the graves, ancestral bones are sometimes scattered world wide. Sometimes Ancestors are buried nearby but are forgotten days after their passing, ignored by the Living. Even if the Living still retain the consciousness of interrelation with Ancestors access to the Ancestors are severely restricted and traditional ceremony with those Ancestors is literally prohibited. The assault upon the Bones of the Ancestors continues to the present and the attack upon the Cemi of the Heart simultaneously continues. By taking the Bones out of the Bohio and the Burial Grounds out of the Heart of the Family and Community the church has disempowered the Ancestral Trees of the Living and taken that power for themselves with each “soul” they “commit” to jesus.

The so called “founding fathers” of this country including those whose mugs are found on paper money.

The so called founding fathers of this ‘nation’ are by all accounts 100% christian, and to this day political statements made by american politicians often contain references to christianity and “god”. This is obviously significant to this discussion in terms of understanding this whole theft of the Ancestors. Additionally these ‘founding fathers’ and their subsequent ‘descendants’ are featured on the paper money that we use everyday. Their faces are given more importance and more power within families than the Family’s rightful Ancestors. By far more time and energy is put towards getting hold of these paper faces than towards interrelating with the rightful Ancestors of the home. Relationships form and break up due to them, murders are committed due to them, lives are destroyed and fantasies are built upon them. Every time they move from hand to hand they empower and enrich those who are actually working with these Egun (Ancestors). More than even this, people are indoctrinated to actually say “our” founding fathers. But these founding fathers and their ‘descendants’ were slave owners, colonizers, alcoholics, many were (and are) mentally ill, they were and continue to be perpetrators and financiers of war and genocide, exploitation and destruction of natural resources, and involved directly in the impoverishment of the People. None of this is “coincidental”. When the Ancestors are stolen, the whole tree begins to disintegrate, and inevitably the Living become disempowered at all levels, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, perfect candidates for control, bullying and manipulation. Standing in a fragmented identity due to this loyalty to imposter Egun allows the individual to be given any carrot, any propaganda, easily “herded” in whatever direction desired.

It is vital on all levels to claim once again our Rightful Ancestors, no matter who they may be, and begin to bring health, vitality and harmony back to our Ancestral Trees, for the benefits of our Families, most especially our Children, so that we may no longer “lose” our loved ones when they “pass”, so that all the love and teaching that is expressed among families and communities is not disconnected and discontinued upon “death”. The recovery of one’s true identity is totally contingent upon the recovery of one’s Ancestors. Communication with the Dead must be cultivated, and most definitely appreciated by those who do have methods to communicate with the Dead in clear and precise ways. It is contingent upon the Living to bring the Bones back to the Bohio, cultivate once again the Cemi within the Heart and embrace once again the Ancestral Tree.

(By Kao)