Abstract:
In this paper I ‘n I will
critically reflect on some thought regarding African culture and the need to
create real alternatives to the bombardment of Eurocentric culture. I ‘n I
will use the basic principles laid for all i-dren of the Light of the world,
the conquering lion from the tribe of Judah, elect of god, peacemaker; Emperor
Haile Selasie I. The second part of the paper is dedicated to sharing some of
the interpretations around the seven seals and the implication for the faith
finally the paper seeks to share some of revelations hidden in the Secret Book
of Ethiopian Enoch.
The purpose of this paper is to
kindle up conversation about the scripture; to reflect on our roles as
messengers and agents of righteousness. It is also I ‘n I deepest hope that the
paper may contribute to the urgent task scholarly inquiry and spiritual mastery
of the teachings provided by the Most High to all the elect ones tasked with
bringing Jah light unto a sinful world that has forsaken the Love and power
of H.I.M.- the mighty creator.
Greetings in the name of name of Jah
Rastafari, give tanks and ises for this glorious day of the millennium of the
continent.
I-story teaches us that, in certain
circumstances, it is very easy for the foreigner to impose his domination on a
people. I 'n I also note that this domination can only be maintained by the
permanent, organized repression of the cultural life of the people concerned.
It is for this reason that I 'n I assert that cultural resistance – which is
indestructible- must take on various forms (economic, churchical or armed
resistance) in order to fully contest foreign domination.
Azania; like the rest of the motherland,
is faced with what Cabral called the dilemma of cultural resistance. Still
caught in the unreality of post Apartheid- colony- which perpetuates theories
of gross racism which in practice translated into a stage of permanent siege
for indigenous populations with a system racist dictatorship (democracy).
Note you Apartheid were the economic
and political domination of the Azania i-dren by a minority foreigner
population. The practice translated into unrestricted exploitation of the
African labor force, incarcerated and repressed in the largest concentration
camp on earth.
It is at this time, at the eve of this
millennium that we note and reflect on realities of foreign imperialist
domination as it confronts the cultural reality of the dominated.
Culture is always in the life of a
society the more or less conscious result of the economic and social activities
of that society a dynamic expression of kinds of relationships which prevail in
that society.
Culture is at once a fruit of a
peoples' history and a determinant of history.
Principal characteristic of
imperialist domination is the negation of the historical process of the
dominated people- taking away peoples' free will to determine how to live their
lives.
In most histories of national
liberation struggles, there is a common tendency for the struggles to be
generally preceded by an increase in the cultural expression of a people. This
can be read as the desire of the oppressed to affirm the cultural personality
of a dominated people as a means of negating oppressor culture. Therefore a
peoples who free themselves from foreign domination will be free culturally if
they able to infuse all aspects of their indigenous culture nourished by the
living reality of its environment and negates all harmful and subjugation
aspects of foreign culture. It is in this perspective that we assert that the
struggle for complete liberation from capitalist subjugation is an instance of
Kulture.
Basic principles
These
principles which we have long cherished and for which we have striven:
collective security, peaceful and active co-existence, non interference in the
internal affairs of other countries, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other nations and peaceful
settlement of all disputes among nations.
(Teachings
of H.I.M.-Haile Selassie I)
Love
Knowledge
paves the way to love; love in turn fosters understanding and leads one along
the path of great common achievement for one’s country.
A good leader.
A
good leader is devoted to his work and will willingly forgo even the demands of
sleep to see its accomplishment. This does not mean that he is impetuous. On
the other hand, he maintains a balance between emotional drive and sound
thinking. A true leader is one who realizes by faith that he is an instrument
in the hands of the Most High- Jah Rastafari and dedicates himself to be the
guide and inspirer of the nobler sentiments and aspirations of the people. He
will kindle interest, teach, aid, correct and inspire. Those whom he leads will
cooperate with him maintaining discipline, for the good of the group. He will
instruct his followers in the goals towards which to strive and create in them
a sense of mutual effort for attaining the goal. .
(Teachings
of H.I.M.-Haile Selassie I)
Spirituality
``the temple of the most high begins with the human body, which houses our
life, essence of our existence. Africans are in bondage today because they
approach spirituality through Religion provided by foreign invaders and
conquerors. We must stop confusing religion and spirituality. Religion is a set
of rules, regulations and rituals created by humans which were supposed to help
people grow spiritually.
Due to human imperfection religion has become corrupt, political, divisive and
a tool for power struggle. Spirituality is not theology or ideology. It is
simply a way of life, pure and original as was given by the Most High.
Spirituality is a network linking us to the Most High, the universe and each
other. As the essence of our existence it embodies our culture, true identity,
nationhood and destiny. A people without a nation they can really call their
own is a people without a soul. Africa is our nation and is in spiritual and
physical bondage because her leaders are turning to outside forces for solutions
to African problems when everything Africa needs is within her. When African
righteous people come together, the world will come together. This is our
divine destiny.``
(Teachings
of H.I.M.-Haile Selassie I)
House of the Order of
Nyabinghi.
“Never forget your God," Garvey had warned followers.
"Remember we live, work and pray for the establishing of a great and
abiding racial hierarchy, the founding of a racial empire whose only natural,
spiritual and political limits shall be God and Africa, at home and
abroad!" Although Garvey himself never visited Africa, his teachings had
galvanized Africans throughout the diaspora under the revolutionary slogan,
"One God, One Aim, One Destiny."
We the Rastafarians who
are the true prophets of this age, the reincarnated Moses and Joshuas, Isaiahs
and Jeremiahs.....are those who are destined to free not only the scattered
Ethiopians (Africans) but all people, animals, herbs and life forms.... God
came in many bodies to reign forever in Rastafari, the holy one of Israel,
whose ray of light shall finally dim the eyes of the dragon and through whose
power all those of many nations who embrace the faith and uphold its laws shall
live forevermore with God...." House of the Order of Nyabinghi.
Purpose of Nyabinghi is to resurrect the people from darkness into
light and to set all Black people free. Anyone can be a follower of Rastafari
but the Order of Nyabinghi [exclusively] is intended to liberate all African
people and set them in the ways of truth and right and teach them to love and
live as Jah Rastafari had wished from the beginning." This seemingly
abstruse concept finds its most popular expression in the festivals of the
Order, where the Nyabinghi drummers beat out their infectious, hypnotic rhythms
unceasingly in seemingly endless cathartic ceremonies.
"The
term 'Nyahbinghi' comes to us from East Africa and refers to a
religio-political cult that resisted colonial domination from the last decade
of the 19th century to about 1928," Barrett writes. "The term might
have been the name or title of a Ruandaise royal princess who was killed by
colonialist because of her resistance. After her death cults arose which were
influenced by her spirit. The members of the cult experienced spirit possession
and the medium of these cults was always a woman.
The
emergence and growth of Rastafari have been subjects of intense academic study,
particularly in the Caribbean and North America, where the religion has
flourished despite considerable opposition and misunderstanding. To many scholars
it is the inevitable outgrowth of a dispossessed, displaced people seeking to
define their own needs on their own terms and providing for themselves the
appropriate answers to their unanswered questions.
"The
Rastafarians and the Black Muslims are both the products of extreme social
dislocation and the similarities between the movements are very striking
Lincoln notes. "Both revere Marcus Garvey, both received their primary
incubation in the Depression years of the early 1930s, both have dietary restrictions
which sets them apart from non-believers and both are distinctive in their
physical
appearance. Both the Rastafarians and the Muslims consider their present
expatriation to be temporary and both believe in a Black God,"
Africa is today at
mid-course, in transition from the Africa of Yesterday to the Africa of
Tomorrow. Even as we stand here, we move from the past into the future. The task,
on which we have embarked, the making of Africa, will not wait. We must act, to
shape and mould the future and leave our imprint on events as they slip past
into history.
This world was not created piecemeal. Africa was born no later and no earlier
than any other geographical area on this globe. Africans, no more and no less
than other men, possess all human attributes, talents and deficiencies, virtues
and faults. Thousands of years ago, civilizations flourished in Africa which
suffer not at all by comparison with those of other continents.
In those centuries, Africans were politically free and economically independent.
Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous.
The obscurity which enshrouds the centuries which elapsed between those
earliest days and the rediscovery of Africa are being gradually dispersed. What
is certain is that during those long years Africans were born, lived and died.
Men on other parts of this earth occupied themselves with their own concerns
and, in their conceit, proclaimed that the world began and ended at their
horizons. All unknown to them, Africa developed in its own pattern, growing in
its own life and in the Nineteenth Century, finally re-emerged into the world's
consciousness.
(Teachings
of H.I.M.-Haile Selassie I)
The
interpretation of the Seals:
First Seal:
(Revelation 6:1, 2), a white horse appears, "and he that sat on him had a
bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to
conquer."
Second
Seal:
(Revelation 6:3, 4) reveals a red horse. In this bloody scene, peace is taken
from the earth, and many are killed with a great sword. From the beginning of
the second century until Constantine’s edict of A.D. 313, Christianity was
illegal throughout the Roman empire, and Christians were terribly persecuted.
Sign
#2: May
19, 1780, "And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair."
: Cocks crowed in answer to one another as they commonly do in the night:
Woodcocks, which are night birds, whistled as they do only in the dark: Frogs
peeped In short, there was the appearance of midnight at noonday.
Source:
Samuel Williams (a Harvard professor), Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences: to the End of the Year 1783 (Boston: Adams and Nourse, 1785),
Vol. 1. pp. 234, 235.
[p. 234] People were unable to read
common print determine the time of day by their [p. 235] clocks or watches dine
or manage their domestic business, without the light of candles. In some
places, the darkness was so great, that persons could not see to read common
print in the open air, for several hours together.
Source:
Timothy Dwight, quoted in Connecticut Historical Collections, compiled by John
Warner Barber (2d ed.; New Haven: Durrie & Peck and J. W. Barber, 1836), p.
403
Sign
#3:
May 19, 1780, "And the moon became as blood."
Source:
Benjamin Gorton, A View of Spiritual, or Anti-typical Babylon (Troy [N.Y.]: the
Author, 1808), p. 73.
The second is that of the moon’s
turning to blood; this I have not seen, but, from information, I have reason to
believe it did take place between 2 o’clock and day break in the morning of the
same night after which the sun was darkened, which was said to appear as a
clotter of blood; and it is the more probable, as that night, before the moon
appeared, was as dark, in proportion, as the day, and of course would give the
moon an extraordinary appearance-not suffering her to give her light.
Source: News item from Providence, R.I., dated May 20, in The
Pennsylvania Evening Post (Philadelphia), June 6, 1780, p. 62.
Sign
#4:
November 13, 1833, "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth,
even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty
wind."
Source: Denison Olmsted, "Observations on the Meteors of
November 13th, 1833," The American Journal of Science and Arts,
25 ([Jan.?] 1834), 363, 365, 366, 386, 393, 394.
The morning of November 13th, 1833, was rendered
memorable by an exhibition of the phenomenon called SHOOTING STARS, which was
probably more extensive and magnificent than any similar one hitherto recorded.
. . .
3You being spiritual, holy, and
possessing a life which is eternal, have polluted yourselves with women; have
begotten in carnal blood; have lusted in the blood of men; and have done as
those who are flesh and blood do.
4These however die and perish.
5Therefore have I given to them wives,
that they might cohabit with them; that sons might be born of them; and that
this might be transacted upon earth.
6But you from the beginning were made
spiritual, possessing a life which is eternal, and not subject to death for
ever.
7Therefore I made not wives for you,
because, being spiritual, your dwelling is in heaven.
8Now the giants, who have been born of
spirit and of flesh, shall be called upon earth evil spirits, and on earth
shall be their habitation. Evil spirits shall proceed from their flesh, because
they were created from above; from the holy Watchers was their beginning and
primary foundation. Evil spirits shall they be upon earth, and the spirits of
the wicked shall they be called. The habitation of the spirits of heaven shall
be in heaven; but upon earth shall be the habitation of terrestrial spirits,
who are born on earth. (24)
(24) Note the many implications of vss. 3-8 regarding the
progeny of evil spirits.
9The spirits of the giants shall be
like clouds, (25) which shall oppress, corrupt, fall, content,
and bruise upon earth.
10They shall cause lamentation. No food
shall they eat; and they shall be thirsty; they shall be concealed, and shall
not (26) rise up against the sons of men, and against women; for
they come forth during the days of slaughter and destruction.
Chapter 10
1Then the Most High, the Great and Holy
One spoke,
2And sent Arsayalalyur (12)
to the son of Lamech,
(12) Arsayalalyur. Here one Greek text reads
"Uriel."
3Saying, Say to him in my name, Conceal
yourself.
4Then explain to him the consummation
which is about to take place; for all the earth shall perish; the waters of a
deluge shall come over the whole earth, and all things which are in it shall be
destroyed.
5And now teach him how he may escape,
and how his seed may remain in all the earth.
6Again the Lord said to Raphael, Bind
Azazyel hand and foot; cast him into darkness; and opening the desert which is
in Dudael, cast him in there.
7Throw upon him hurled and pointed
stones, covering him with darkness;
8There shall he remain for ever; cover
his face, that he may not see the light.
9And in the great Day of Judgment let
him be cast into the fire.
10Restore the earth, which the angels
have corrupted; and announce life to it, that I may revive it.
11All the sons of men shall not perish
in consequence of every secret, by which the Watchers have destroyed, and which
they have taught, their offspring.
12All the earth has been corrupted by
the effects of the teaching of Azazyel. To him therefore ascribe the whole
crime.
13To Gabriel also the Lord said, Go to
the biters, (13) to the reprobates, to the children of fornication;
and destroy the children of fornication, the offspring of the Watchers, from
among men; bring them forth, and excite them one against another. Let them
perish by mutual slaughter; for length of days shall not be theirs.
14They shall all entreat you, but their
fathers shall not obtain their wishes respecting them; for they shall
hope for eternal life, and that they may live, each of them, five hundred
years.
15To Michael likewise the Lord said, Go
and announce his crime to Samyaza, and to the others who are with him,
who have been associated with women, that they might be polluted with all their
impurity. And when all their sons shall be slain, when they shall see the
perdition of their beloved, bind them for seventy generations underneath the
earth, even to the day of judgment, and of consummation, until the judgment, the
effect of which will last for ever, be completed.
16Then shall they be taken away into the
lowest depths of the fire in torments; and in confinement shall they be shut up
for ever.
17Immediately after this shall he, (14)
together with them, burn and perish; they shall be bound until the consummation
of many generations.
18Destroy all the souls addicted to
dalliance, (15) and the offspring of the Watchers, for they have
tyrannized over mankind.
(15) Dalliance. Or, "lust" (Knibb, p. 90;
cp. Charles, p. 76).
19Let every oppressor perish from the
face of the earth;
20Let every evil work be destroyed;
21The plant of righteousness and of
rectitude appear, and its produce become a blessing.
22Righteousness and rectitude shall be
for ever planted with delight.
23And then shall all the saints give
thanks, and live until they have begotten a thousand children, while the
whole period of their youth, and their sabbaths shall be completed in peace. In
those days all the earth shall be cultivated in righteousness; it shall be
wholly planted with trees, and filled with benediction; every tree of delight
shall be planted in it.
24In it shall vines be planted; and the
vine which shall be planted in it shall yield fruit to satiety; every seed,
which shall be sown in it, shall produce for one measure a thousand; and one
measure of olives shall produce ten presses of oil.
25Purify the earth from all oppression,
from all injustice, from all crime, from all impiety, and from all the pollution
which is committed upon it. Exterminate them from the earth.
26Then shall all the children of men be
righteous, and all nations shall pay me divine honours, and bless me; and all
shall adore me.
27The earth shall be cleansed from all
corruption, from every crime, from all punishment, and from all suffering;
neither will I again send a deluge upon it from generation to generation for
ever.
28In those days I will open the
treasures of blessing which are in heaven, that I may cause them to descend
upon earth, and upon all the works and labour of man.
29Peace
and equity shall associate with the sons of men all the days of the world, in
every generation of it.
Chapter 14
1This is the book of the words of
righteousness, and of the reproof of the Watchers, who belong to the world, (18)
according to that which He, who is holy and great, commanded in the vision. I
perceived in my dream, that I was now speaking with a tongue of flesh, and with
my breath, which the Mighty One has put into the mouth of men, that they might
converse with it.
(18) Who belong to the world. Or, "who (are)
from eternity" (Knibb, p. 95).
2And understand with the heart. As he
has created and given to men the power of comprehending the word of
understanding, so has he created and given to me the power of reproving
the Watchers, the offspring of heaven. I have written your petition; and in my
vision it has been shown me, that what you request will not be granted you as
long as the world endures.
3Judgment has been passed upon you: your
request will not be granted you.
4From this time forward, never shall
you ascend into heaven; He has said, that on the earth He will bind you, as
long as the world endures.
5But before these things you shall
behold the destruction of your beloved sons; you shall not possess them, but
they shall fall before you by the sword.
6Neither shall you entreat for them,
not for yourselves;
7But you shall weep and supplicate in
silence. The words of the book which I wrote. (19)
(19) But you shall weep…I wrote. Or, "Likewise
despite your tears and prayers you will receive nothing whatever contained in
the writing which I have written" (Charles, p. 80).
8A vision thus appeared to me.
9Behold, in that vision clouds
and a mist invited me; agitated stars and flashes of lightning impelled and
pressed me forwards, while winds in the vision assisted my flight, accelerating
my progress.
10They elevated me aloft to heaven. I
proceeded, until I arrived at a wall built with stones of crystal. A vibrating
flame (20) surrounded it, which began to strike me with terror.
(20) Vibrating flame. Literally, "a tongue of
fire"
11Into this vibrating flame I entered;
12And drew nigh to a spacious habitation
built also with stones of crystal. Its walls too, as well as pavement, were formed
with stones of crystal, and crystal likewise was the ground. Its roof had the
appearance of agitated stars and flashes of lightning; and among them were
cherubim of fire in a stormy sky. (21) A flame burned around its
walls; and its portal blazed with fire. When I entered into this dwelling, it
was hot as fire and cold as ice. No trace of delight or of life was
there. Terror overwhelmed me, and a fearful shaking seized me.
(21) In a stormy sky. Literally, "and their
heaven was water" (Charles, p. 81).
13Violently agitated and trembling, I
fell upon my face. In the vision I looked.
14And behold there was another
habitation more spacious than the former, every entrance to which was
open before me, erected in the midst of a vibrating flame.
15So greatly did it excel in all points,
in glory, in magnificence, and in magnitude, that it is impossible to describe
to you either the splendour or the extent of it.
16Its floor was on fire; above were
lightnings and agitated stars, while its roof exhibited a blazing fire.
17Attentively I surveyed it, and saw
that it contained an exalted throne;
18The appearance of which was like that
of frost; while its circumference resembled the orb of the brilliant sun; and there
was the voice of the cherubim.
19From underneath this mighty throne
rivers of flaming fire issued.
20To look upon it was impossible.
21One great in glory sat upon it:
22Whose robe was brighter than the sun,
and whiter than snow.
23No angel was capable of penetrating to
view the face of Him, the Glorious and the Effulgent; nor could any mortal
behold Him. A fire was flaming around Him.
24A fire also of great extent continued
to rise up before Him; so that not one of those who surrounded Him was capable
of approaching Him, among the myriads of myriads (22) who were
before Him. To Him holy consultation was needless. Yet did not the sanctified,
who were near Him, depart far from Him either by night or by day; nor were they
removed from Him. I also was so far advanced, with a veil on my face, and
trembling. Then the Lord with his own mouth called me, saying, Approach
hither, Enoch, at my holy word.
(22) Myriads of myriads. Ten thousand times ten
thousands (Knibb, p. 99).
25And He raised me up, making me draw
near even to the entrance. My eye was directed to the ground.
1The
vision which he saw, the second vision of wisdom, which Enoch saw, the son of
Jared, the son of Malaleel, the son of Canan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth,
the son of Adam. This is the commencement of the word of wisdom, which I
received to declare and tell to those who dwell upon earth. Hear from the
beginning, and understand to the end, the holy things which I utter in the
presence of the Lord of spirits. Those who were before us thought it
good to speak;
2And
let not us, who come after, obstruct the beginning of wisdom. Until the present
period never has there been given before the Lord of spirits that which I have
received, wisdom according the capacity of my intellect, and according to the
pleasure of the Lord of spirits; that which I have received from him, a portion
of life eternal.
Chapter 39
1In those days shall the elect and holy
race descend from the upper heavens, and their seed shall then be with the sons
of men. Enoch received books of indignation and wrath, and books of hurry and
agitation.
2Never shall they obtain mercy, saith
the Lord of spirits.
3A cloud then snatched me up, and the
wind raised me above the surface of the earth, placing me at the extremity of
the heavens.
4There I saw another vision; I saw
the habitations and resting places of the saints. There my eyes beheld their
habitations with the angels, and their resting places with the holy ones. They
were entreating, supplicating, and praying for the sons of men; while
righteousness like water flowed before them, and mercy like dew was
scattered over the earth. And thus shall it be with them for ever
and for ever.
5At that time my eyes beheld the
dwelling of the elect, of truth, faith, and righteousness.
6Countless shall be the number of the
holy and the elect, in the presence of God for ever and for ever.
7Their residence I beheld under the
wings of the Lord of spirits. All the holy and the elect sung before him, in
appearance like a blaze of fire; their mouths being full of blessings, and
their lips glorifying the name of the Lord of spirits. And righteousness
incessantly dwelt before him.
8There was I desirous of
remaining, and my soul longed for that habitation. There was my antecedent inheritance;
for thus had I prevailed before the Lord of spirits.
9At
that time I glorified and extolled the name of the Lord of spirits with
blessing and with praise; for he has established it with blessing and with
praise, according to his own good pleasure.
10That
place long did my eyes contemplate. I blessed and said, Blessed be he, blessed
from the beginning for ever. In the beginning, before the world was created,
and without end is his knowledge.
11What
is this world? Of every existing generation those shall bless you who do not spiritually
sleep but stand before your glory, blessing, glorifying, exalting you, and
saying, The holy, holy, Lord of spirits, fills the whole world of spirits.
I
said to him, Who are those whom I have seen on the four sides, and who
words I have heard and written down? He replied, The first is the merciful, the
patient, the holy Michael.
Chapter 19 (Enoch
2)
Of the taking of Enoch to the sixth heaven
3These are the archangels (1)
who are above angels, measure all life in heaven and on earth, and the angels
who are appointed over seasons and years, the angels who are over rivers
and sea, and who are over the fruits of the earth, and the angels who are over
every grass, giving food to all, to every living thing, and the angels who
write all the souls of men, and all their deeds, and their lives before the
Lord’s face; in their midst are six Phoenixes and six Cherubim and six
six-winged ones continually with one voice singing one voice, and it is not
possible to describe their singing, and they rejoice before the Lord at his
footstool.
Chapter 20
Hence they took Enoch into the seventh heaven
2Have courage, Enoch, do not fear, and
showed me the Lord from afar, sitting on His very high throne. For what is
there on the tenth heaven, since the Lord dwells there?
3On the tenth heaven is Jah, in the
Hebrew tongue he is called Aravat (3).
(3) Aravat. Or, "Father of creation."
4And all the heavenly troops would come
and stand on the ten steps according to their rank, and would bow down to Jah,
and would again go to their places in joy and felicity, singing songs in the
boundless light with small and tender voices, gloriously serving him.
JAH
BLESS!