The Earth Center, located on the South Side of Chicago, with locations in New York, San Diego, Ouagadougou and Los Angeles, is an organization dedicated to the preservation of not only Kemetic (African) culture and spirituality, but the unity of the entire human family tree. Under the guidance of, Dogon Priest/Kemetic spiritual master, Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig, The Earth Center promotes cultural and spiritual awareness, natural healing and education on the highest level. In addition, The Earth Center also publishes The Rising Firefly Magazine of culture, philosophy and spirituality as well as the Sunnyside Magazine.
Being an organization with a focus on spiritual growth and transformation, seekers are given the tools to enhance their own personal human qualities as well as to ensure the preservation of the Earth. Such a task is a lot easier said than done, but since The Earth Center’s inception (born from the initiation camps of Tamert (Africa)), the number of people nationwide that have expressed desire to learn the authentic knowledge of Kemetic spirituality has increased and continues to do so. It is truly a beautiful thing to see how spiritual evolution manifests itself.
My name is Bikbaye Inejnema and I am Master Naba’s eldest student in this country. Being that I was always interested in learning the values and culture of the most advanced civilization the Earth has known (the Kemetic or Ancient African Civilization), I knew just seconds after meeting Master Naba ten years ago that I wanted to engulf myself in learning the things that society makes sure to keep far away from our awareness. Such knowledge is rare and is not taught in the educational system, churches, temples or mosques. Like many others worldwide, I always knew there was much more to the world than what is being presented.
Since January of 2004, telephone inquiries from seekers around the world have increased tremendously. There are many reasons for such interest, but the one that is most voiced is the notion of authenticity. People are becoming more aware of the fallacies that are being force-fed to them by those that are motivated and driven by ambition and their own ego. Fortunately, anything built on a foundation of these factors will, sooner or later, be exposed for what it really is. The fact that Master Naba was the only authentic Kemetic/Dogon Priest allowed to teach the ancient/traditional knowledge of the world, outside of the mystery school initiation camps of Tamert, weighs heavy on the minds of many that are looking for the original source of knowledge. On the other hand, there are many who simply don’t care one way or another. The latter used to frustrate me because I knew how vital it is to be exposed to the highest level of knowledge for the survival of the whole humanity. Little did I know that these frustrations would also become a part of my education and understanding of how powerful the mind can be.
After learning more and more about the mental conditioning of people, those same frustrations evolved into compassion, tolerance and patience. Sensing my frustrations, Master Naba once told me, “Don’t worry, sooner or later, they will all come. Just be patient.” He spoke in a soft tone with a smile on his face. “We just have to stay vigilant and keep producing the highest quality of work,” he continued. “They will all come.”
Every day since then, his words have become evident. The influx of emails and calls by those interested in natural healing and spirituality is very assuring of a better world to come.
The Earth Center encourages and promotes embracing the most ancient human spiritual values known to man, the Kemetic spiritual system. The values within this culture are inclusive; interestingly, this inclusiveness has been questioned and shunned by many individuals that are active members of other African-centered organizations. Although such behavior is based on the emotions of these individuals, the fact remains that the most challenging task facing Kemetic (black) people is to cause or create a cohesiveness amongst the masses. To return to the same values of all of our ancestors, to have everyone on the same accord – where we once were before the destruction and colonization of the world – this is the goal. It is not impossible, and this makes it even more frustrating. But what I have been taught by Master Naba allows for a greater understanding of the major role that emotions play when it comes to the self destruction of the individual and how he affects his environment based on his reactions because of them. “Time and patience do more than strength and rage,” Master Naba has said on more than one occasion.
The truth is, our perception of things, people or places is merely based on what we know about them. It is the things that we don’t know about the world that divides us, and yet it is this same notion that allows us to be led by our emotions rather than our intelligence. These two components do not mix well together. They cannot coexist within the same moment in time and produce anything of a positive nature. There is a whole universe of things we do not know, but that doesn’t mean that the knowledge is not there for us to learn – it is here and it is in the form of The Earth Center.
The time is now to take advantage of this rare opportunity of being educated on the original Kemetic spiritual system, culture and values. Call The Earth Center at 773-285-0677 for more information about our products, services and classes. You can also check our website at www.theearthcenter.com
This prescoot melon is the ancestor of the cantaloupe. It was grown in the Samples' garden. After it is eaten, the seeds can be saved to plant more next year.
“Through study of the history of man, we realized that most of the knowledge that we enjoy today was acquired through man’s interaction with nature…” said Julian Sample as we sat outside on a sunny fall afternoon. I was there to interview him and his wife, Kenya, about the garden that they raised in a vacant lot next to their house and their organization, Soilutions.
Julian and Kenya have always been close to nature and their families have a history of farming and gardening. Kenya recollects, “One of my earliest memories is fishing on a very calm lake with my father and my grandfather about 5:00 in the morning and I was complaining to them that my mom was gonna be mad that I’m missing church out here fishing and quickly, my grandfather told me that if I really wanted to be connected to creation, the universe, and really be in God’s church, then the first place I should be is outside.”
They were inspired to start Soilutions after, “We began to do research on the food that’s most available to us. After we realized the truth in regards to how the food has been corrupted, we decided to act upon that knowledge and to make sure the that food that our children, as well as my wife and I eat was the best possible food that we could grow,” Julian explained. Kenya added, “We have 5 children. In order to really feed the children, we need to be conscious about what’s going into their bodies.”
The Garden
This year, their garden fed their family and many members of their community. They grew a wide variety of vegetables in their garden: Black Aztec Corn, Goyokumba Eggplant (West Africa), Cherokee Trail of Tears Black Beans, Paul Robeson (Russia) tomatoes, arugula, kale greens, celery, potatoes and more. They only use organic, heirloom seeds. Heirloom seeds are seeds that have traditionally been saved by families, generation after generation, as opposed to hybrid seeds, which have been selectively bred for certain desirable traits, often sacrificing taste and nutritional value for shelf life and other traits that make the crops more profitable.
Julian and Kenya’s farming practices are inspired from organic and bio-dynamic practices that are more harmonious with nature. They gained a lot of their knowledge about farming during a summer of volunteering at a farm in Pembroke, Illinois in Kankakee county. Continued independent study and work with their connections in Pembroke and Chicago has deepened their understanding. Kenya says, “It has turned into a lifestyle change for myself, my husband and our children.”
Their practice involves a more natural approach to growing food. Unlike many local farmers, they plant their crops directly in the ground, as opposed to using raised beds. Many claim that the soil in the city is contaminated. They explained that the lot that they use has historically been used as a garden. The abundance of plant and insect life in the soil was evidence to them that the soil supports life. According to the USDA, the soil of Illinois is unmatched for fertility in the U.S. and equaled by only three other places in the world.
“It’s really about being in tune and relying upon as much of a natural process as you can,” said Kenya. The Samples said that they had high crop yield this year, even while allowing nature to do most of their watering. Additionally, Julian and Kenya made a promise to the land, that they would do no harm. They use no forms of pest control and they say that the worst incident they had was when a Rabbit ate one leaf from a plant.
Food is Power
“People are controlling our community with the food,” said Kenya. It’s becoming more and more well known that most of the health issues that are plaguing people of the colonized world are directly linked to a poor quality diet. Many communities in Chicago have become what are called “Food Deserts,” meaning that the fast food and junk food are much more available than fresh fruits and vegetables. This is one of the most important reasons for us to grow our own food. “The highest form of control that we can take back for ourselves is our food intake,” Kenya proclaimed.
For Julian and Kenya, the vision extends far beyond their own back yard. They are committed to making a positive change in the world, especially for black and indigenous communities. Julian explains, “We realized that you have to have a platform to use if you’re engaging the community and attempting to affect change. What better way to engage our youth and adults to make transformational positive steps than utilizing agriculture?”
One of the key platforms of Soilutions is education. “We’ve created a hands-on curriculum (for ages 5 through high school) that places prospective students and participants directly with nature, growing plants and vegetables,” said Julian. The curriculum includes English, math, science, social science, and physical development. The Samples plan to provide students with incentives by offering community service hours that students are required to complete for graduation. “There is an entrepreneurial portion that’s added as well that will allow students to realize that they can control the entire chain of production, from planting seeds to maintaining a crop until maturity, reaping the harvest, having children manage farmers markets, pooling funds for projects for next season and creating the environment where there is community interdependency,” Julian explained.
Ultimately, they want people to visualize a career for themselves in agriculture. We would like to see that people take this project and say, “’You know what? I think I want to go into beekeeping or I think want to make my own soap, or I can get into food distribution,’” Kenya explains; “We’d like to see our community doing soil testing, distribution, manufacturing, processing. We could create a job environment for ourselves, with our own health care.”
The Grand Scheme
“The grand scheme is to create an extensive network of interdependent individuals. That network would include independent urban farmers who may just have a private garden in their back yard, someone doing vacant lot conversion, or also apartment communities,” Julian explains, “Once you have all of these individuals growing, we want to coordinate for the produce to be gathered, centralized and distributed to participating communities. We will have farmers’ markets in those communities where the children and adults will be involved in managing.”
Besides their own garden, The Samples have made other con
nections to start gardens in other parts of the city. “We have one in specific, London Townhomes, that has a large tract of land available. We have elementary schools interested in participating in the program, they have land available also,” said Julian.
“Green lifestyle should be further defined as our natural way of life. Indigenous populations lived this way for untold number of years before adopting a western lifestyle.” Julian added.
Kenya illustrates the urgency of the situation, stating, “It’s an emergency, we need to be planting.” With the cost of food steadily rising and concerns growing about a possible global food shortage, the need for a backup plan to the grocery store is very real, especially in the city, where it’s estimated that, on average, there is about two days worth of food in stock in the grocery stores.
Get Involved
The opportunity to grow food in the city is much greater than what one might expect. “I saw the possibility, a working definition from Pembroke. I think we can take that working definition and apply it to our lives in an urban setting. We have tons of resources of vacant lots, all of the aldermen are really with it, there are tons of people who are ready for something like this,” Kenya explains.
For those who are inspired to create a garden in a city-owned vacant lot, Julian says, “We’re trying to create a template amongst all the people who become inspired and want to duplicate this process. In short, you have to get some political support, so local aldermen, tell them what you’re trying to do. Once the alderman gives you the approval, that’s pretty much it.” They also recommend getting support from local block clubs.
But the vision of Soilutions doesn’t stop at gardening. Through Soilutions, participants can take trips to Pembroke to take classes in processing and canning food, identifying wild, edible plants, making their own soaps and oils and much more. They will be exposed to organic farmers who are raising their own free-range animals, house building with straw bales and solar energy.
Julian says ultimately, “We’re trying to create both the self sustaining community of food growers in the urban setting to create a successful network for distribution, teach agriculture skills, create products, take control of our communities and take control of our futures.”
The road to where they are has not been easy. At some point, Julian gave up a job at one of the biggest computer companies in the world and, with Kenya at home to watch the children, he was supporting his family by delivering pizzas. If you ask if it was worth the sacrifice, their determination to follow through on their goals and their strength as a family will serve as evidence. For Kenya, “This is a preparation of our future, just to have some sort of future that we control.”
Julian offered these words of encouragement: “Let’s be leaders of ourselves and our own communities. Once you take on that philosophy, it will give you the inspiration to do things that may have never been done before. You can put your energy behind an original idea, or an idea that is not common. Take yourself out of the matrix and act upon your inspiration. I’ve come to realize that the future that we’re experiencing is based upon the actions individuals who came generations before us. So if we want the future to be different than the one we are experiencing, then we should take the initiative to begin to craft what we want the future to be.”
For those interested in finding out more about Soilutions, Kenya says, “I always invite people to call me freely on my cell.” 708-704-9213 708-704-9213
Pembroke Farmers
Black Oaks Center for Sustainable and Renewable Living - (773) 410-3446 (773) 410-3446
Iyabo Farms – 944-5891
Basu Natural Farms - (815)295-7357 (815)295-7357
B & S Youth Center & Academy (815) 944-8000 (815) 944-8000
Recommended Readings
Soul of the Soil by Grace Gershuny
Unbound by Wangari Maathai
Prescriptions for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis and James Balch
Recommended Videos
Songhai Sustainability Project
One Man, One Cow, One Planet
The Secret Life of Plants
Myrck Sample poses next to ears of dried Black Aztec Corn to be used as seed for planting next year
1) We complain about US schools but can we really expect a foreign system to teach us, about us? This system will only provide us with leaders that embody their values.
2) In the U.S. we have built an identity of athleticism, entertainment and servitude based on what we’ve been taught by this system.
3) Nature gives us an identity defined by where we come from. Our heritage has an education system which teaches us the values that are important to us.
4) That education system brought to the world astronomy, geology, mathematics, agriculture, government, architecture, language, etc. leading us towards human genius and perfection, isn’t it time we returned to what works?
During the holiday season, we celebrate these symbols of colonial culture. What is the meaning and history of these symbols and what are they doing for the advancement of humanity.
Since the beginning of human civilization, holidays or days of observance have been cherished as special occasions amongst families and larger communities. The original holidays of humanity are extremely important, and they started as holy days observing very specific spiritual and/or astronomic events. Presently, the “holiday season” still brings joy and comfort to all in colonial territories.
For years the origins of the colonial holidays have been exposed by honest researchers. Those origins have showed a very terrifying history of colonial barbarism, genocide and deceit. It is this deceit that seems to trap even those families who are aware of the origins of the holidays to continue – “with the spirit of the holidays.” It is this deceit that also keeps the origins of these celebrations hidden. Perhaps a look into humanity’s original holidays will supply us with holidays which we can substitute for these testaments to our own enslavement and hypnosis. Maybe if we return to our ancestral holidays, we can break out of the cycle of perpetuating evil which we are inappropriately passing on to our children as holidays.
It is ironic that the “Holiday Season” falls at the end of the Gregorian Year in the months of November and December. The names of these months will serve as our starting point for unearthing the dishonesty that is infecting our lives. The word November originates from the Indo-European words: novem meaning nine and mensis meaning month. The word December originates from decem meaning ten and mensis meaning month. Why would human cultures all around the world which call themselves developed allow themselves to refer to the eleventh month of the year as the ninth month and the twelfth month as the tenth month? This craziness is not hidden from our eyes. It is found in any reference book showing the origins of these words. The names of these months follow the names that were given to the months in the Roman Calendar. In the Roman Calendar, the name November was used for the ninth month, but today we confuse ourselves and our children by using the word for the eleventh month. This starting place is important because Roman culture in its political pursuits may have had a more reasonable reason for calling this month by the name November. History tells us this decision was made for no more reason than their pursuit to enslave the world under the Roman authority. Today, as we claim to be evolving into new heights of human genius, we must honestly admit that we are continuing this without any other logical reason than perhaps to show reverence and solidarity with our Roman predecessors. Is this why you use the names November and December?
The world around us is full of deceptions. Politicians and those seeking power can tell us anything with the intention of misleading or taking advantage of us. The one tool that we always have at our disposal is our method of investigation. No matter what intentions one claims to have, or who one claims to be, we can always investigate the path which they have taken to cross our own. Their history will tell us much more than their mouth ever could. The problem is that this tool has been silenced in the average citizen of the colonial territories. The backwards traditions that we have adopted during the colonization process seem to hook us so well with the vices of fun, comfort and convenience that our motivation to expose their true face atrophies and dies.
The Eleventh Gregorian Month brings in one of the colonial holidays that seems most dear to the average colonial family — Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving serves as a time for families to break away from their stressful, isolated, independent lives to come together in order to commune with their loved ones and teach their children the importance of gratitude and sharing. The origins of Thanksgiving amongst the English colonists on Maanu (the Americas) go back to the early 1600s. The events at the origin of this holiday raise the question whether we should really celebrate gratitude on such a day. According to James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, “More than any other holiday, more even than such overtly patriotic holidays as Independence Day and Memorial Day, Thanksgiving celebrates our ethnocentrism.”
There are two speculations as to the origin of the reason for the celebration. One is found in a document which was supposedly lost until the late 1950s and which was written by a man named William Bradford. William Bradford was a resident of Plymouth
Plantation, which was a settlement of the English puritans (religious radicals) who arrived in “The New World” after having been exiled from England. William Bradford served as an assistant to the Governor of Plymouth Plantation. Many historians have concluded from Mr. Bradford’s writings that the true reason for this initial Thanksgiving was the increase in personal harvest for certain farmers because of the Governor’s recent decision to shift away from a system of communal farming toward a system of private farming. No longer were the Plymouth farmers forced to share their crops amongst the Plantation communally, but now they could grow what they needed individually, and this increased the yields each farmer kept. A celebration was held in honor of the Governor’s decision, and people showed their gratitude for the chance to keep their yields to themselves.
The second and more wide-spread understanding of the initial celebration of Thanksgiving amongst the Plymouth Plantation was due in large part to the lone survivor of the Pawtuxet ethnic group, a man named Squanto. Squanto’s lifestory is fascinating
European slavery had taken him away from his home on this continent and across the Atlantic into the European continent. His will to survive and return home brought him back only to find that his beloved Pawtuxet had been wiped out by the smallpox epidemic. At which point Squanto lived as a slave of the puritans on the Plymouth Plantation. His strong will and intelligence served them tremendously, he taught them agriculture and fishing. He worked out a treaty between the Plantation and the neighbouring Wampanoag Indian Nation. At the end of the first year of the treaty, a feast was held at Plymouth Plantation. Crop yields were high due to Squanto’s traditional expertise, and members of the allied Wampanoag Nation also came bearing contributions to the feast. There were three days of celebration.
The harmony amongst the Plymouth Plantation and their Indigenous neighbors was short lived. More English migrants came to the New World, and the Plymouth Plantation moved inland, forcing themselves onto other territories. The Pequot Wars soon followed. The Pequot was a very strong Indian Nation who did not give an inch to the Plymouth Plantation or any other European migrant group. In 1641, the Dutch governor of Manhattan offered the first scalp bounty (a common practice in many European countries). This together with the Puritans’ bounty for Natives to be sold into slavery increased the aggression towards the Natives. The Dutch and the Puritans joined barbaric forces to defeat the Pequot. In what is now Stanford, Connecticut the churches of Manhattan announced a Thanksgiving for the war successes. A big feast was held. During the feast, heads of decapitated Pequot Indians were kicked through the street like soccer balls. Similar days of Thanksgiving were held after every subsequent massacre in each respective town. George Washington, American Hero and first president of the colonies, brought some organization and schedule to these celebrations and restricted the celebrations to one day that could celebrate the success of the migrants’ barbarism around the nation.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln decreed the day to be a national holiday. Lincoln’s decree came on exactly the same day he ordered troops to march against the Sioux in Minnesota – perhaps his way of taking part in the celebration and its true legacy.
Such is the true face of the Thanksgiving holiday. It was initialized with a celebration for either a turn away from cooperative living or a celebration for the success of the genocide of the Native tribes found by the Puritans upon their arrival in the New World. Either way, the most fundamental and long-lasting parts of the celebration are the gratitude for the genocide and massacre of the indigenous populations of this continent.
But let’s not only shine a light on the direct line of the origins of our national holiday. The Wompoanoag held six thanksgiving feasts per year, and one of these feasts may easily have influenced the first of its kind amongst the puritans of the Plymouth Plantation. These were held for different cultural reasons, one being the yields of the yearly Cranberry harvest. This is not unusual, indigenous people all around the world hold celebrations to show their gratitude to the Gods and supernatural forces of existence that provide the harmony and the conditions for their survival and the survival of their crops. These indigenous holidays more than likely grew out of the Kemetic holidays which preceded them with the exception of those which were coined for new situations and environments that each indigenous group faced in their own location and particular experience.
In the original Kemetic calendar in the month of Ateeri which begins around November 9th of the Gregorian calendar, there is a very important spiritual holiday known as The Death of Wsr. The Death of Wsr is the anniversary of the death of the God Wsr or Ouziry, known by the Greek territories as Osiris and by differing names around the world. The God Wsr is the first God of the Second Trinity of Gods presented in the Original Kemetic Cosmogony or creation story. The Second Trinity of Gods is also known as humanity’s Ancestral Gods because through their decisions and experiences, humanity was given a chance to exist. The God Wsr was the first God to die. The God Wsr chose to live out his immortality — one of the basic qualities of every God — through the path of transcendence. This meant that he would die but his essence would transcend through his children and through them he would be given a resurrection. It was with Wsr that all of the religious stories of reincarnation and resurrection were inspired. It was the dichotomy between Wsr’s heir and son Heru and his brother Seth that would inspire the dichotomies found in all cultures around the world, such as the most well-known philosophical concept of the same nature: the Yin and Yang of Eastern philosophies.
Wsr was not only special to humanity because his choices are at the origin of our existence, but also because Wsr played perhaps the biggest role in the enlightenment of humans. As a God, Wsr took the responsibility for the progression of humanity into his own hands and, in doing so, taught humanity spiritual refinement, medicine, agriculture, astronomy and time division. Wsr’s death has been observed since the beginning of human civilization as a day of mourning and lamentation. On this original holiday, we mourn the death of Wsr. Though his choice for death allowed room in existence for our existence, his death still is of great sadness to us. We see the death of Wsr throughout the Earth at this time, for it is in this time that, due to the Earth’s distance from the Sun, many plants are dying, only to be resurrected in the cycle of life, a cycle that we owe to the decision of the God Wsr. It is because of this that Wsr is known as a vegetal God. It is because of this that Wsr is also known as a lunar God, as the cycle of the moon also serves to represent his death. In death, Wsr was cut into fourteen pieces, just as the waning of the moon is portioned into fourteen phases until it begins to replenish those fourteen phases towards its resurrection on the night of the full moon.
Celebrations around the world in this time show a connection to the concepts highlighted on this original holy day, many of which have become simplified to a show of gratitude for the agricultural cycle, a cycle that is heavily associated with the God Wsr. In Ghana, there is a festival that is held in the Upper Eastern regions by the Paga culture known as the Fao festival. This festival is a harvest festival that honors the Gods for the abundance of the harvest. In the Phillipines there are two festivals, the Kalimidan Festival (Nov 21st) and the Sandurot Festival (Nov 22nd) where the people of the Mindanao region and Dumaguete (respectively) unite with other ethnic groups to celebrate unity and cultural sharing.
However, some festivals are even more revealing. In Thailand there is a festival named Ooc-Om-Bok in which offerings and ceremonies are held to the Vietnamese lunar God. Another Ghanaian festival held by the Essumeja in the Bekwai District at the end of “November” is a festival known as Nkyidwo. This festival is held in the Asantemanso forest, known to be the ancestral site of the Asante. This festival celebrates the ancestral heritage of the Asante. Another Ghanaian festival in November is the Kwafie festival, a purification ceremony which uses fire. There is also a Nigerian Festival known as the Mmanwu Festival which also celebrates the ancestral heritage of the Igbo people.
These global festivals show humanity’s honest attempt at gratitude and evolution towards higher levels of development. If the citizens of the colonial territories of the world have any interest in the preservation of the integrity of humanity and the preservation of logical human customs, perhaps it is time we re-awakened to the true power of the holy-day. Perhaps the disregard for honest spiritual and intellectual pursuits in the legacy of our ancestors is a testament in itself to the loss that humanity suffered when the God Wsr died on Earth. However, the festivals that continue in his legacy of preserving and perpetuating life and seeking new levels of human purity and evolution attest to his power of resurrection.
The God Wsr has taught us many things. One of the most important things that his life as described in the Kemetic Holy Drama (lecture available at The Earth Center schools) has taught us is that every decision the human being faces is a decision between destruction and construction, to stop life or to preserve life. We must put aside the destructive lies that have been perpetuated on the world via the colonial territories and bring our families together this year to return to our ancestral holy-days. This year, The Death of Wsr falls on the Gregorian Date of November 26th. The Death of Wsr is observed with a fast from sunrise to sunset. During the fast, no one is to eat, drink, smoke, curse or procreate. Throughout the day, time is given towards prayer, lamentation, and mourning. At sunset, the fast is broken with the ablution and zemzem (Original Kemetic Spiritual Purification and Prayer, instructional DVD available at The Earth Center schools) and a feast may follow amongst friends and family.
Guess what my friend… Believe it or not, I think that we’ve met. Perhaps our meeting wasn’t face to face, but I am sure that I’ve dealt with you before. Better yet, let’s say that at the least, I have dealt with an aspect of you, no matter how big or small. To understand how this is possible, first, we must look at what you and I are both made of. Simply put, we are the products of our exposure. At the beginning stages of the M’TAM initiations within The Earth Center schools, initiates are taught that the human brain does not harness the ability to invent. The basic function of the mind is to copy or imitate, so this makes you and I the result of what our brains have been inspired by.
All the events that we’ve gone through in our lives have added to us, making us who we are in this present moment. For example, even with this paragraph, as you read it, on some level it’s joining with you, changing you from the person you were before you picked up this newspaper. Another example that may help is to equate a single snowflake to a single life experience, can you see the similarity between what makes a snowman and what makes a human being? In other words, when you read this article, you are dealing with me, but who am I…? Dealing with me means that you are also dealing with all that has impacted my life. So, as you read these lines, you are being exposed to aspects of my mother, my father, brothers, sisters, teachers, friends, acquaintances, etc. And each of them are the product of the individuals that influenced their lives, and so on and and so on.
An elderly Kemetic woman giving a warm greeting. The depth and emphasis put on the Kemetic greeting is a clue into our ancestor’s understanding of the ties that bind all living entities together.
Now, there still remains the question of how we’ve met. Like I said at the beginning, perhaps our meeting wasn’t face to face, but I am sure that I’ve dealt with you before. Let’s try an experiment. First, I want you to imagine a person that you are close to. Let’s say that you spoke to that person a couple days ago. Perhaps, in that exchange you shared a humorous joke or a funny story, leaving them with laughter and happiness. Now, imagine your friend getting off the phone with you, but still carrying that aspect of you with them into the day, that happiness that they received from that joke. Imagine your friend going through their day, sharing that humorous story with anyone who would listen, affecting each of them on different levels, but all in positive ways. Imagine that at the end of your friend’s day, before going to bed, they end up having a phone conversation with their cousin. Before they end their conversation, your friend decides to tell your hilarious joke one last time. Both your friend and their relative laugh until tears role down their faces, and after they settle down, they say good night, hang up their phones and go to bed.
The next morning, your friend’s cousin wakes up and goes about their day, all the while giggling to them self about the joke that was shared with them the night before, still carrying your positive energy with them. They have the ability to continue to pass that energy onto others, who will then pass it onto others, and so on and so on. That aspect of you has been transferred from one person, to another person, to another, etc. That happiness that you placed upon your friend has now affected all those who heard the joke and all the people that they will share it with. Now, let’s say days later I speak to a friend of mine, and they ask me: “Hey Marrwho, you wanna hear a joke I heard today…?” As I’m entertained by your story, it becomes part of me, no matter how large or small the effects are, it has played a part in my life. Can you see how we’ve met? Can you see how I have dealt with an aspect of you? Now think, at the initial stage, what if you would’ve transferred negative energy onto your friend, the results could have been different.
I say all this because we as humans must begin expanding our awareness of how we impact ourselves and others around
us with our actions, our speech, and even our thoughts. It is important that we understand that our daily behaviors affect others, not only in our households and work places, but that they have the potential to change people in our neighborhoods, our cities, states, countries, and even the world. No longer can we afford to perform acts while remaining oblivious of their effects on our surroundings.
My spiritual teacher, the late Master Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig once stated that every thought and action echoes out into the Universe. When I think of an echo, I think of an emission traveling outward on a journey and eventually coming back to be received by the same entity that originally expressed itself. But that entity that expressed itself is not the only thing that is affected by that echo. If I am with a group of friends hiking in the hills, and I yell out, “HELLO!”, that echo from the hills will be heard by me, but also by everyone in the group that I am hiking with, even people camping miles away can receive that greeting and I would never know.
This example of an echo is really a life principle, perhaps this is what our parents meant when they told us the old cliche saying, “what goes around, comes around”. I must say that in the past whenever I heard people make this statement, I would always accept it, but I never truly understood what it meant. I couldn’t grasp the notion of how what leaves me, goes around, to eventually come back to me again. Like a package that has been sent out, arriving back at my doorstep with a stamp saying “RETURN TO SENDER”. Only this time, at every step of the way it has been opened by people who have added something to it before sending it back. If I knew that every package that I sent out would always return back to me, for me to open and deal with, I would always make sure that the contents of those packages were of quality. How about you…? This example of a package returning reminds me of another old saying, a saying that I’m sure has become a part of you too, how does it go…? “Treat others in the manner in which you wish to be treated”. As I gain more experience over the years, and as I continue within the M’TAM education, the understanding of the link between me and my surroundings is becoming more and more clear.
When I look at the example of how Master Naba lived his life Master Naba’s life, I can see that he was just one man, yet he made such an impact on the lives of so many. Those who carry him in their hearts and minds transfer him and his message to others on a daily basis. His exposure was a result of being raised in a very old culture, the message that he brought had been transferred from generation to generation for thousands of years, similar to the example of the joke being passed from person to person. This is why I hold a special place in myself for the influence that he has brought to my life.
Today, I am passing a piece of him onto you, so that even if you have never met Master Naba, through me and this article you have. You have now been exposed to an aspect of him, as well as all those that influenced his life. Keep this in mind as you go throughout your day. Remember, all that you send out will affect so many, men, women, children, elders, etc. before inevitably coming back to you. We must be aware of such an influence because with it comes a huge responsibility. Just as a brother must protect a brother, we must protect the entire universe by taking care in what we enclose in the packages we send out daily. Well friend, until that day we may meet face to face, remember that we can act as friends with all of those we have yet to see, but already touch… May good things be placed in your path.
The Earth Center, located on the South Side of Chicago, with locations in New York, San Diego, Ouagadougou and Los Angeles, is an organization dedicated to the preservation of not only Kemetic (African) culture and spirituality, but the unity of the entire human family tree. Under the guidance of, Dogon Priest/Kemetic spiritual master, Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig, The Earth Center promotes cultural and spiritual awareness, natural healing and education on the highest level. In addition, The Earth Center also publishes The Rising Firefly Magazine of culture, philosophy and spirituality as well as the Sunnyside Magazine. 
