Baobab Tree of Life

The Baobab Tree of Life!

There’s something sacred about trees.

For quite a while, I have been fascinated with the image of the baobab tree. Trees and plant life has always been uppermost in my mind.

The Baobab Tree reminds me of the Story of Ausar.

Goddess Nut, the mother of the Stars, created 4 days at the end of the year by giving birth to 4 children, Ausar (December 21st), Auset his wife (December 22nd), Sistar Het Heru (December 23rd) and his Brother Set (December 24th). Ausar became a benevolent ruler of the planet, who brought great abundance and prosperity. He created Heaven on Earth. Set, the baby brother was very spoiled and selfish. He grew jealous of Ausar's popularity and thought he could steal his brother's kingdom and fame. 

One day, Ausar and Auset had a grand wedding feast. Set had a gold-lined Chest carved for Ausar's wedding gift. He convinced Ausar to collaborate in a magic trick, and had Ausar lay inside the heavy Golden Chest. Set immediately locked Ausar alive in the Chest, and dump him into the Nile river! Distraught, in grief and horror, Auset was never able to consummate her marriage! She ran away and went to the Nile river, looking for her husband until days turned into weeks and weeks into months. 

Even in death, Ausar made his presence known in abundance and prosperity! Auset finally learned that Ausar's wooden chest had grown into a great Baobab tree of Life right off a bank of the Nile river. All of the land around the tree grew prosperous and abundant. A farmer built his compound and community around the Baobab tree. The tree was so large, part of the trunk was carved into the farmer's bedchambers, where his newborn sun was born. So, Auset humbled herself and was hired as a nursemaid for the Farmer's wife. She finally convinced the farmer's family to dig down to the roots of the tree to remove her husband's body.

Ausar symbolizes all things green and growing. 

Ausar represents the morning sunrise. 

Ausar represents the 1st day of the Winter Solstice (Dec. 21st)

Ausar also represents the greatest version of ourselves- to endure and overcome all obstacles.
Ausar is anything in nature that lives, then dies, then is reborn.
Ausar also represents Every discipline and thriving achievement manifesting from humanity, found all over the globe! 

This is a deeply spiritual principle caught in Our-Story of Ancient African Intelligent design and the foundation of all civilizations. The principle is this:

In life you can go through some difficult times. In order to change the circumstances a “new you” (Heru) has to be reborn. The “old you” (Set) has to die and it might even break you up. But even in the death of the “old you”  life contains the seed germ (Ausar) of the “new you(Heru).” You may not see the germination stage while underground but then you are resurrected and reborn into a new and stronger self.

In other words, Life/Shift Happens- the rotten things (fertilizer) you go through in life helps you grow.

The Religious have written about trees.

The Bible is a story about the tree of life. It begins with two trees in a garden: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the  Knowledge of Good and Evil. The pivotal event in the book comes when men were hanged and later lynched on trees.

The last chapter of the last  book features a remade Jerusalem: “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

If you understand the trees, you understand the story of life. 

“Think of a tree, how it grows around its wounds,” says one character in The New World to Pocahontas. “If a branch breaks off, it doesn’t stop but keeps reaching towards the light.” The New World is about resiliency—about pushing on amidst hardship, pain, suffering, and striving to make the best of one’s circumstance. 

Trees are like that—always growing, pulled toward the sky, even when winds and rain and hardship come. They weather all seasons, even if they lose some pieces along the way and this is the journey of life. We’re all familiar with the story."

I was introduced to the baobab tree in the story of the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery.

The symbolism and allegory of the tree is rich with meaning and helps me to think of metaphysical axes. 

It is hard not to marvel at the awesome possibilities of growth that these trees show yet paradoxically they are the upside-down tree.

Image Credit: Daniel Montesino [flicker]

Knowledge and wisdom are like the trunk of the baobab tree.

No one person's arm span is great enough to encompass them.

Saying from Ghana 

There are many myths and legend about the Baobab tree:

One African legend of the Baobab tree describes what happens if you are never satisfied with what you have:

"The baobab was among the first trees to appear on the land. Next came the slender, graceful palm tree. When the baobab saw the palm tree,  it cried out that it wanted to be taller. 

Then the beautiful flame tree appeared with its red flower and the baobab was envious for flower blossoms. 

When the baobab saw the magnificent fig tree, it prayed for  fruit as well. God became tired of the complaints and so yanked it up by its roots, and placed it upside down to keep it quiet."

All the animals were alarmed, and so was the huge tree. For after that, the magnificent tree only grew leaves once a year.

The other months the roots seemed to bend and grow towards the sky.

“Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky; we fell them down and turn them into paper, that we may record our emptiness.” Khalil Gibran

The baobab is one of nature's remarkable creations and has evolved to make maximum use of the scarce resources around it, just like I imagine the early church to have been.

It is among the largest and longest-lived trees on earth capable of growing to 98 feet tall and 36  - 60 feet wide.

It can survive long periods of drought with its massive sponge-like trunk that

which can be hollowed out to provide shelter. 

When in leaf, its fruit provides Vitamin C and the leaves Vitamin A and it has more calcium than cow's milk. 

It provides shade for all living things in the sub-Saharan heat. 

Baobab near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (Image credit: ironmanix [flickr])

For millennia the baobab tree has provided a Market Place and a meeting place for dialogue,

sharing stories and debate of important issues and ideas.

It can undergo a huge amount of mutilation, and still continue to thrive and heal. 

 For some cultures, it is the tree under which man was born.

It is a symbol of endurance, conservation, creativity, ingenuity, and 

dialogue.

The great baobab tree —  the tree of rest and resolution.

The five leaves of the Baobab Tree resemble an outstretched hand, hence its Latin name Adansonia Digitata, as if reaching out in friendship. 

Baobabs create their own ecosystem with hollowed-out trunks, leaves, foliage,  nectar, fruit, and bark providing habitats for many different creatures. This tree thrives in diversity.

The baobab's bark, leaves, fruit, and trunk are all used. The bark of the baobab is used for cloth and rope, the leaves for condiments and medicines, while the fruit, called "monkey bread", is eaten. Sometimes people live inside of the huge trunks, and bush-babies live in the crown.

It is not very often that you see a Baobab tree picture with leaves on the tree, usually only seen in a short rainy season for a couple of months.

Some baobabs can store up to 120,000 gallons of water from the rainy season to sustain themselves through the dry times.

When the long dry season returns the trees drop their leaves.

Image of baobab in leaf from Brian Gatwicke 

 A tree of life...redeeming, restoring...making all things new. 

 A tree raises It's arms to heaven.....

 they provide so much for so many

 their outstretched roots long for their relationship to the soil and the water.

"Amid its descriptions of the New Jerusalem, Revelation includes “the tree of life, bearing 12  crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2). 

The tree holds out  hope that whole cultures will be healed and mended, becoming places  where people can flourish and it sets an agenda for faith as a way of  life that contributes to that flourishing, in anticipation, here and now."

*Image Source Baobab tree at sunrise. © Shahidul Alam/Drik/Majority World

Link to still images and music here from the Japanese film "Baobab no Kioku" ("A Thousand Year Song of Baobab") by Seiichi Motohash. 

At the heart of the film is the baobab tree— the source of sustenance,  spirituality, medicine, fuel, and identity for the villagers.

Rest of this wonderful review of it is here
Another extract from a film review from The Japan times says :

"For his new film, he went to the village of Touba Toul, 30 km west of  Dakar, where he recorded the changing of the seasons and the planting of millet and peanuts, the two main crops. His focus, though, is the still abundant baobab. 

The villagers feed the leaves to their animals, or dry and pound them into a nutritious powder called lalo; they pick up its fallen twigs for firewood, while using its bark to make rope, its pulp to make juice and its roots to make medicine, and they commune with the spirits of the dead that are said to inhabit it. 

More and more Senegalese see the baobab not as a source of natural  riches and spirituality, but as an impediment to the latest strip mine  or real-estate scheme."

Silent sentinel of time

Spread across the plains

Worshipped, revered, remembered

This legend does remain.

Shelter us mighty Baobab

As we rest on common ground

Reveal your inner beauty

And God's mercy, thus profound.

Phyllis C. Murray '88

Let's sit down under the baobab tree

Man-Woman and Child Family
To discourse in harmony
To build a Nome Society

Pan AfRaKan Amen Days

Pan AfRaKan Amen Days

The reason that we Celebrate our Ancient Indigo society is to acknowledge and express gratitude for the systems of our Ancient Ancestars that worked. We glean from "our- story", of cultures for the diaspora, that addresses our needs in the present, to establish our values and principles, and apply ways of achieving and living an optimal life! Fundamentally, human beings have not changed. We still need to know and understand life-creating and life-sustaining ways of living in harmony with creation; also, bearing in mind that the Isfit and Maafa of war with Colonizers and their continued systemic racism strategies, has disconnected and disrupted our way of life as Indigo people, from our systematic and organized approach to living in balance and harmony with creation on this planet. 

We have the power in the palm of our hands, and we are taking steps to take back and recover and continue forward. We are making a sustainable way of life for our children and future generations. We are, adapting and evolving The culture of our Ancestars, to make it relevant for our day and times.”

Under the guidance of Seba, Nuta Beqsu Amen-Ra, of Amen Par Ankh: With the Blessings of her High Priest, Sasteh Meter, Amen Par Ankh of Kansas City, Missouri, We have regenerated the 4 Seasons of the Equinoxes and Solstices for our community.

Our way of life has been passed down throughout the ages of time, from generation to generation.

These Sciences and metaphysics were taught through parables

 and analogies...

There are hundreds of stories of the Mother and Sun icon, that had been told and retold through the ages to venerate the exceptional relationship of mother and child (Sun), to the highest honor and virtue of the crown of life.

Our Annual Schedule of Amen Par Ankh consists of:

• The Heru Peret Seed Festival and KaMaTa New Year -

Winter Solstice Transition  and Vernal Equinox- from December 25th through April 

• The Ausar Ankh Festival and Kemetic  

Summer Solstice Celebration / from May through July 

• The Sheps Ancestor Ascension Ceremony 

of the Autumnal Equinox Celebration / from August through November (October (Day of the Ancestors- October 31st, Nov. 1st and 2nd)

• The Birth of Heru and Ressurection of Ausar - 

The Winter Solstice Ceremony / From November to December 24th

*Malcolm X Day- May 19th

https://adenike-amenra.pixels.com/featured/black-dollars-rising-adenike-amenra.html

Malcolm X Day is an American holiday in honor of Malcolm X that is celebrated on either May 19 or the third Friday of May. The commemoration of the civil rights leader has been proposed as an official state holiday in the U.S. state of Illinois in 2015 and in Missouri as recently as 2019

*Fat Tuesday

*Juneteenth- June 10th -19th

*Black August- August 17th  Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. 

https://adenike-amenra.pixels.com/featured/marcus-garvey-adenike-amenra.html

Marcus Garvey, in full Marcus Moziah Garvey, was born August 17, 1887, St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica—(died June 10, 1940, London, England), Was a charismatic Black leader who organized the first important American Black Nationalist Movement (1919–26), based in New York City's Harlem.

ONH was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the U.N.I.A. Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, through which he declared himself Provisional President of Africa. 
Born: August 17, 1887, Saint Ann's Bay, Jamaica
Died: June 10, 1940, London, United Kingdom

Organizations founded: Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, 

Children: Marcus Mosiah Garvey, III
Spouse: Amy Jacques Garvey (m. 1922–1940), (Amy Ashwood Garvey -m. 1919–1922)

Edited works: The Negro World Weekly Newspaper - February 19, 1921 Pages 1 Through 10,

*African Liberation Day- 15th of April

ALD was founded in 1958 when Kwame Nkrumah convened the First Conference of Independent States held in Accra, Ghana and attended by eight independent African states. The 15th of April was declared "African Freedom Day," to mark each year the onward progress of the liberation movement, and to symbolize the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation.

Between 1958 and 1963 the nation/class struggle intensified in Africa. Seventeen countries in Africa won their independence and 1960 was proclaimed the Year of Africa. Further advances were made with the defeat of U.S. imperialism in the Caribbean. On the 25th of May 1963, thirty-one African Heads of state convened a summit meeting to found the Organization of African Unity (OAU). They renamed African Freedom Day "African Liberation Day" and changed its date to May 25th.

Sheps (Ancestars) Ascension Days

For almost 96 percent of the world's population, ritual offerings and prayers to deceased blood relatives are an integral part of everyday life. People of Eastern cultures such as the Chinese, Koreans, Indians, Japanese, and Tibet, along with great segments of the populations of South America, Mexico, Cuba, Bali, Indonesia, Polynesia, Mongolia, the Eastern Baltics, Iceland, and New Guinea offer respect to and seek guidance from their ancestors. Yet because most of us in the Western world were raised in the Jewish, Islam, and Christian traditions, which proscribe ancestor worship, Western newcomers to KMT or Ifa tend to be skeptical of it. Ancestor worship fits perfectly into the Ifa devotee's integrated view of the physical and spiritual worlds.

*Egungun Festival

The Egungun are a secret society among the Yoruba people of Ede, Oyo State, Nigeria. The major Egungun festival takes place during the Equinox in June when members of the society come to the marketplace and perform masked dances. The masks they wear represent ancestral spirits and may cover the whole body or just the face. It is considered dangerous to see any part of the man who is wearing the mask.

The masqueraders all dance simultaneously, although each has his own drum accompaniment and an entourage of chanting women and girls. The festival climaxes with the appearance of Andu, the most powerful mask. It is believed that the spirits of the deceased possess the masqueraders while they are dancing, and although it promotes a feeling of oneness between the living and the dead, the festival also inspires a certain amount of mystery and superstition.

ORIGINS

The Egungun Festival is part of the religious practices of the Yoruba people of Ede, Nigeria. The Yoruba religion is based on oral traditions. Beliefs and practices are preserved by passing history, customs, and traditions from one generation to the next. Authority for interpreting events and establishing proper conduct of ethics and morals rests with a bureaucratic structure of rulers who function in both religious and political realms.

According to traditional Yoruba belief, all power in the universe emanates from a supreme being, Olodumare. Olodumare, known as the owner of everlasting abundance, among many other praise names, holds all power and is the giver of all life. Olodumare is the mystical remote source of all things and is not identified by gender. All that exists, including supernatural divine realities and natural earth realities, are part of Olodumare.

As the supreme almighty source, Olodumare is directly involved in the affairs of the earth through a complex core of sub-divinities called orisa. The orisa are authoritative divine emissaries and serve as intermediaries between the people of earth and Olodumare. They are the major objects of veneration and ritual obligation. The names and numbers of orisa vary according to national and local customs, but they number in the hundreds. Some are more nationally known while others may be only venerated according to localized custom.

The Egungun is a secret society among the Yoruba people of Nigeria. A hereditary chief called the Alagba heads the society, which celebrates its most important festival in June. Members of the society come to the marketplace and perform dances for the Timi, or chief, wearing MASKS that represent the spirits of deceased ancestors. Which spirits are worshipped each year is decided by the Oracle. A man who is instructed by the oracle to worship his ancestor has a special mask made for the dance. Although he himself doesn't participate in the dance, he is considered the owner of the mask. He takes it to the Alagba, along with appropriate gifts, and the Alagba secretly appoints a member of the Egungun society to wear it during the festival.

About thirty masqueraders in long, colorful robes gather in a grove not far from town and then arrive as a group to perform their dances in the marketplace. Some Egungun dance in one place, while others make sudden movements toward the surrounding spectators. When one leaps forward, the young men acting as guards lash out with their whips to prevent anyone from coming near the masked figure. The high point of the festival is the appearance of Andu, the most important and powerful mask. The other masqueraders clear a path for him, and the drums beat louder and faster as Andu rushes into the marketplace.

It is the Egungun who listen to the requests of the living and carry their messages back to the ancestral community in heaven. Women who are having difficulty conceiving, for example, frequently ask the masked figures to grant them, children. The responses of the Egungun can be fierce as well as generous. They expect their descendants to uphold the highest moral standards and are quick to expose the evil thoughts that neighbors harbor against one another. Even though the annual appearance of the Egungun in the streets of Yoruba towns and villages inspires a certain amount of fear, it also assures the people of their continued guidance.

The word "Egungun" is sometimes translated literally as "bone" or "skeleton." Yoruba is a tonal language. When the word is pronounced with the correct tone, it means "masqueraders." Today there is a thriving community of Egungun worshippers in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, where they wear the colorful costumes of their Nigerian counterparts.

SYMBOLS AND CUSTOMS

Masks

Some of the Egungun masks consist of colored cloth and leather that cover the entire body while the dancer looks out through a closely knitted net. Others are wooden masks worn in front of the face, and still, others are carved heads worn on top of the dancer's own head. The mask-wearers are always accompanied by men holding sticks or whips who keep the crowd from getting too close. This is because it is considered extremely dangerous to approach the spirits of the deceased. According to an old Yoruba proverb, "Even a Prince cannot go near an Egungun with impunity." Anyone who saw even part of the man who was wearing the mask could be subjected to punishment.

Each mask represents the spirit

*Yam Harvest Festivals

The Yoruba honor the annual return of the ancestors to the world of the living during the season of the yam harvest. Their arrival not only brings a blessing upon the crops but stands as a reminder that it was the ancestors who first cultivated Yoruba land.

When a Yoruba man dies, the Egungun are especially concerned about the separation of the dead from their former life. So after a certain amount of time has elapsed, the widow is led to a mound of earth that represents her husband. From this, she takes a yam, which symbolizes the last gift she will receive from him. Then, a week or so later, one of the Egungun visits her house and calls to the dead person in a high-pitched or nasal voice. This is a signal for the dead person to leave the earth and his family behind.

*Odunde June 20th - 29th

ODUNDE originates with the Yoruba people of Nigeria, West Africa. It means "Happy New Year."  Odunde is celebrated during the Afrakan new year, of the Summer Solstice- June 21st-22nd. The ODUNDE festival is an occasion marked by joy and hope, a joy which is highlighted by a colorful procession to the River (at noon) where offerings of fruits and flowers are made to Oshun, the Goddess of the River. The religion, called IFA, embraced by the Yoruba people is very old. It involves the worship of one God and 401 Orishas (manifestations). Included in its three tiers of worship is “Ancestor remembrance” in the offering of libations, divination, and other such acts.

OSHUN is one of the orishas worshiped in the Ifa religion. She is one of the youngest orishas and is a female energy. As the orisha of the river, she represents beauty, vanity, sensuality, and attractiveness. Everyone is invited to participate in the revered processional to the river. The offerings to OSHUN is one of the sacred aspects of ODUNDE, During the processional to the river praise, is given to all orishas, in the Yoruba language, especially to OSHUN. Oriki, (songs) are sung in a particular order with the BATA, special two-headed drums used only for special occasions.

Once the processional reaches the bridge, incantations and prayers are offered in Yoruba. The Priest or Priestess asks OSHUN if our offerings are acceptable. Once a positive response is interpreted participants are given instructions to make their offerings.

The celebration then transforms into a joyous street fair Complete with live music, dance performances, food, activities, and an authentic African marketplace, the Odunde Festival brings a celebration of Africa every June.

*Heroes' Day Namibia August 26th

Heroes' Day is a national holiday celebrated annually on 26 August in Namibia. The day commemorates the Namibian War of Independence which began on 26 August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe. Celebrations occur in different places, often in the northern regions of Namibia, near important battle zones. Thousands of people gather to watch leaders such as Sam Nujoma, Hifikepunye Pohamba, and Nahas Angula bestow honors, such as military medals and officially commemorate veterans of SWAPO's military wing the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) for their heroic service during the war. A war memorial was established on Heroes' Day in 2002 outside of Windhoek, named Heroes' Acre.

*African Traditional Medicine Day

Celebrated August 31. After the adoption in 2000 of a resolution on promoting the role of traditional medicine in health systems by the regional health ministers in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, African Traditional Medicine Day was initiated in 2003 under the theme "Traditional Medicine: Our Culture, Our Future." African Traditional Medicine Day was designed to raise the awareness and the profile of traditional medicines of Africa as well as promote their integration into national, continental and diasporic health systems.

*Dia da Consciência Negra November 20th

Dia da Consciência Negra (Day of Black Awareness) the annual event is held on November 20 in Brazil. The celebration is one of reflection upon the Pre Colonial presence of Afrikan peoples in Brazill and the South American continent. Also, the atrocities incurred during the captivity and enslavement of Africans and their resolve to self-liberation and self-governance. The day is marked as the anniversary of the death of Zumbi dos Palmares (1655–1695), the last leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares one of the independent African republics in Brazil. Part of a week-long event of Black awareness celebrating the contributions to society by Brazilian citizens of African descent. Dia da Consciência Negra has been celebrated since the 1960s resulting in the 13th of May being recognized as a holiday commemorating Brazil's abolishment of slavery.

Thankyou for reading our post. If you are aware of any other traditional Pan African Amen-days (holidays) please feel free to email us: amen.parankh@gmail.com, and we will be happy to add these to our listings!

*Umoja Karamu 

 

Umoja Karamu, translated as "unity feast" in English, is an Afrakan American legacy of history and harvest celebration initiated in 1971 by Dr. Edward Sims, Jr. Umoja Karamu is held on the fourth Sunday in November. Its purpose is to instill solidarity, Afrakan values, and appreciation of Afrakan heritage into Afrakan families. Salutations to The African American Flag, Singing of the Afrakan American Anthem, African Spiritual libations to honor Ancestors, historical readings, and an abundant harvest feast marks the observance.

http://amen-parankh.blogspot.com/2013/11/umoja-karamu-2013.html


The celebration is based on five significant periods of Afrakan life in America, each represented by a color.

1. Afrakan Sovereignty

Represents Afrakan family prior to the invasions and influence of Europeans and Arabs. The color Black and Black beans are used to delineate the unity of the Afrakan people.
2. Maafa (Afrakan Holocaust)
The captivity of Afrakans during the Maafa. Rice Symbolizes the scattering of black families during slavery and the attempted destruction of Afrakan civilization culture.

3. Abolition of enslavement and eventual  Emancipation for Afrakans in America
The fight against forced labor and captivity in the United States of America through revolts, Civil Rights and the Black Power movements. The color red and red juice is used to represent those who lived and died in service of liberation.


4. Struggle for Re-Afrakanization Human and Civil Rights movement
National Liberation. The fight for decolonization of Afrakan countries the formation of the Organization for Afrakan Unity and the diasporic Afrakan liberation movements. The color green signifies the land and the struggle for Afrakan unification with cultural hegemony.

5. Envisioning the Afrakan Future
The Future of Afraka and Afrakans. Exemplified in The Afrakan Union, The African Socialist International, and The Sankofa Movement among others. Afrakan-Centered perspectives for the future. The color gold points to celebrants to plan and build for future posterity.

*Kwanzaa

2016 Is The 50th year Anniversary of KWANZAA

KWANZAA is a Pan-African holiday that celebrates family, community, and culture. Celebrated from 26 December thru 1 January, its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanza is derived from the phrase "Matunda ya kwanza" which means "first fruits" in Swahili, a Pan-African language that is the most widely spoken African language. We must remember that the seasons are in reverse south of the Equator. Even though it is cold in North America, It is Summertime and harvest season below the equator. The Father of KWANZAA is Dr. Mulana Karenga. KWANZAA with the extra "A" is also an acronym abbreviating the 7 youth participants of the first experience. 

The 7 Days of KWANZAA is an African American Holiday celebration, commencing on the day after Winter solstice, December 26th until January 1st. KWANZAA means, "the first fruits of the harvest." We use the African Market trade language of Ki Swahili to express a universal Pan-African heritage. 

Habari Gani is a Swahili word for "what's the news." We use this word to announce each day of KWANZAA. The answer for the first day is 

1. UMOJA! (unity)  

2. KUJICHAGULIA (self-determination) 

3. UJIMA (collective work and responsibility) 

4. UJAMAA (cooperative economics) 

5. NIA (purpose) 

6. KUUMBA (creativity) 

7. IMANI (faith)

The first-fruits celebrations are recorded in African history as far back as ancient Kemet and Nubia and appear in ancient and modern times in other classical African civilizations such as Ashantiland and Yorubaland. These celebrations are also found in ancient and modern times among societies as large as empires (the Zulu or kingdoms (Swaziland) or smaller societies and groups like the Matabele, Thonga and Lovedu, all of southeastern Africa. Kwanzaa builds on the five fundamental activities of Continental African "first fruit" celebrations: ingathering; reverence; commemoration; recommitment; and celebration. Kwanzaa, 

First, KWANZAA was created in 1966 to reaffirm and restore our roots in African culture. It is an expression of the recovery and reconstruction of African culture. Secondly, KWANZAA was created to serve as a regular communal celebration to reaffirm and reinforce the bonds between us as a people. It was designed to be an ingathering to strengthen community and reaffirm common identity, purpose, and direction as a people and a world community. Thirdly, KWANZAA was created to introduce and reinforce the Nguzo Saba (the Seven Principles.) Seven symbols are displayed during the Kwanzaa ceremony to represent the seven principles of African culture and community. The seven communitarian African symbols are: 

Mkeka (M-kay-cah) - This is the mat (usually made of straw, but it can also be made of fabric or paper) upon which all the other Kwanzaa symbols are placed. The mat represents the foundation of African traditions and history.

Mazao (Maah-zow) - The crops, fruits and vegetables, represent traditional African harvest celebrations and show respect for the people who labored to grow them.

Kinara (Kee-nah-rah) - The candle holder represents the original stalk from which all African ancestors came. It holds the seven candles.

Mishumaa (Mee-shoo-maah) - In the seven candles, each candle represents one of the seven principles. The candles are red, green, and black -- symbolic of the African people and their struggles.

Seven candles are placed inside the Kinara. In the center is a black candle representing the first principle: unity (Umoja). To the left of the black candle are three red candles representing the principles of self-determination (Kujichagulia), cooperative economics (Ujamaa), and creativity (Kuumba). To the right of the black candle are three green candles representing the principles of collective work and responsibility (Ujima), purpose (Nia), and faith (Imani).

Muhindi (Moo-heen-dee) - The corn represents African children and the promise of their future. One ear of corn is set out for each child in the family. In a family without children, one ear is set out symbolically to represent the children of the community.

Kikombe cha Umoja (Kee-com-bay chah-oo-moe-jah) - The Unity Cup symbolizes the first principle of Kwanzaa -- the unity of family and of the African people. The cup is used to pour the libation (water, juice, or wine) for family and friends.

Zawadi (Sah-wah-dee) - The gifts represent the labor of the parents and the rewards of their children. Gifts are given to educate and enrich the children -- they may include a book, a piece of art or an educational toy. At least one of the gifts is a symbol of African heritage.

This stress on the Nguzo Saba was at the same time an emphasis on the importance of African community values in general, which stress family, community, and culture and speak to the best of what it means to be African in the fullest sense. 

*Amen Ankh

Amen Ankh means Sacred life we are located in Kansas City, Missouri. We are an online and mobile vendor of a wide assortment of Afrakan merchandise. Retailing a large collection of traditional attire, gifts, Home Health, and Herbal Products, books, and Educational Materials. Ankh also sells handmade jewelry and natural cosmetics. Displaying artwork, furniture ornate statues, reliefs, and paintings artwork. Amen Ankh is your one-stop shop for everything Afrakan Centered.

Culture is Cultivation" is a trademark of AA. All rights reserved.

http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/index.shtml


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Kandaki-Ma Nuta Beqsu (Adenike Amen-Ra)

I hope you have enjoyed our presentation. Amen Par Ankh is our Outreach ministry. Please support our initiatives...

(c) All rights reserved. No part of this Blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author; Nuta Beqsu Adenike AmenRa

We are available for Lectures, Panel Discussions, Conferences, and Workshops, along with an Af-Ra-Ka-N Centered curriculum for youth STEAM homeschooling, Workshops, and Itinerate Tutoring. 

We live in our ancient KMT Spiritual systems to serve our community in Libations, Griot Spoken Word Presentations, KMT Wedding, Naming and ReBirth, Personal consultations for Nia (Purpose), Health, Career and, Relationship, and Ascension officiant, Salutations and Blessings for new beginnings, (Home and Businesses blessings), Afrikan Storytelling. Amen Par Ankh is a Sacred Temple of Life- We are a KRST Conscious Community. We Grow Food to restore balance in our relationship with the cosmos, earth, and our Natural communities by increasing awareness of Life, Health, and the Environment. We are a Ma'afia a "Healthy Place To Live" Amen Ankh Urban Farm’s Mission is to produce, promote, and perpetuate food, resources, and comfort and to grow local healthy Indigenous Foods in environmentally, respected, earth-gentle ways. Contact: amen.parankh@gmail.com or amen.ankh@live.com Phone: 816-281-7704

The information on this website has been put together for general information, education, reference, Spirituality Current Events, and entertainment purposes only and is not intended to provide medical advice. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any specific condition. Ask your American Medical Doctor for professional advice before making radical changes in your diet and lifestyle.

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Black Social Media | Blaqsbi - Culture Breakdown (youtube.com)

Amen Par Ankh (sacred temple of life) and Amen Ankh Akademy; is a local homeschool network, Child Care, Tutoring, mentoring, and Green STEAM Urban Farm nestled around a Spiritual Outreach Ministry and an Education Center in the heart of midtown Kansas City, Missouri. Contact our Minister and Director: Queen Ma Nuta Beqsu Moses aka Adenike Amen-Ra El and become a member of our Gnome Maafia- as We Celebrate the Cycles of Life! Email: amen.parankh@gmail.com , or amen.ankh@live.com ,and Call: 816-281-7704 to sign-up for courses and We Appreciate in advance any donations and support: PayPal email: amen.parankh@gmail.com information: http://amen-parankh.blogspot.com -also Look for us on Twitter & LinkedIn. We acknowledge our Great Ancient Ancestral history and heritage of Afrikan and Native American Spiritual Ways. We provide an Online Homeschool network and Afterschool STEMM (science technology, mathematics, and medicine) careers with hands-on Agriculture Experiences. –You GROWW Girls and Youth Going Green Economic Literacy study group. We Respect Mother Earth and acknowledge the natural sciences and ecology with recycling. We provide Ancestor Libation Ceremonies and Outreach to observe the Equinox and Solstice events, where we celebrate and show our respect for the wonder of nature with Cultural Ceremonies, songs, music, dance, Workshops, and special events. We make Org-Ankh Electric foods, Gift Boxes, and Accessories We provide an Online Radio Call-in show for Outreach ministry: Amen Communications http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amencommunications Dial-in: We provide whole Life Coaching For Destiny/Purpose, Health, Career and Relationship, Ancient Cultural Wedding Ceremonies- Destiny Naming Ceremony and Newborn Blessings, Home and Business Spiritual Cleansing and Blessings, Ancient Funeral rites and Ascension ceremonies, Par Ankh Reading Room, Herbal Teas & Juice bar, Nature walks and Outdoor camping Experiences, classes such as Spiritual Jewelry making, Sewing and other handcrafts, Henna Healing designs, of Head wrapping arts, Making Natural Hair oils, beading and Lox twisting, Cosmetics, and Herbal products. Also Envisioning, Dream Catchers, Vision Boards, Art Healing Mandalas, Spiritual Jewelry Making, Gentle Yoga, Canning and preserving food, We assist in Wellness for Body Mind and Spirit for Spiritual Attunement - to realize the fullest capacities of life, health, prosperity, and strength. We provide an active space for expressions of our original wisdom ways of life. Ceremony, Counseling, Coaching, Cleansings & Classes Amen Ankh Urban Farm is an urban agricultural enterprise with the goal of achieving environmental justice and sustainability through Healthy local food production and improving local neighborhood access to healthy Foods. We are growing orchards and constructing Aquaponic Systems of farm-raised fish, Herbs, and microgreens. We also provide Farm-a-See tours of successful Local Farmers with the “Green Griot” Sasteh Meter Mosley. We grow selected local “Org-Ankh” electric indigenous Herbs, Fruits, Vegetable and plant life of the Three Sisters: (Corn, Beans, and Squash/Melons) and calciferous vegetables: Cabbage, and Kale, With Wheat Grass and other Sprouts, Herbs: Basil, Sage, Chives, Rosemary, Parsley, Peppers, with Moringa nutritional drink supplements, -From our Fresh produce, we create canned and Baked Goods, teas, cosmetics, & liniments to provide Healing through the inspiration of Kujichagulia (Self-determination) for everyone. 

Feel free or Contact the Director: Queenma Nuta Beqsu Moses aka Adenike Amen-Ra El 

Please like our facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/Green.Griot https://www.facebook.com/PARANKH , https://www.facebook.com/Amen.Ankh.Farm , https://www.facebook.com/Adenike.Art , 

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Dua (Th-ankh you!) ♥.

The Meaning of Bey, El, Ali, Al, and Dey

ISLAM

The meaning of the "Bey" or "El" added at the end of people's last name signifies that they are returning to the knowledge of being a Moor. Bey and El are family names of people that belong to the Nation of Moors, also associated with the ancient Moabites. The name Bey or El, was used as a title as well. Ultimately, Bey or El is used as a family name like Soprano is for Italians, Don for Latins or Lee is for the Chinese. My Name is Nuta Beqsu Adenike AmenRa Mosley El.

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The reason Bey or El has been removed from so-called "black" people in North America is due to the fact that people who have Melanin, were raided in the Americas, kidnapped from their own lands right here in the Americas, human trafficked, and held captive as prisoners to be forced to work on plantations in the US Maritime occupation of the Americas. During the period, of the Trans-Atlantic Wars, Moors who were captured were stripped of their land, nationality, divine creed, or anything linking them to their Title, Nation, heritage, Language, Ethnic Family, and names, through Paper Genocide. These captured Nationals were considered and used as property and were reassigned the last names of their masters. This is how you can have someone like Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, ect., who have the last names known to be Irish, or English when they are not. This is what is known as paper genocide of our people, culture, and society. We were evacuated from our rightful land, resources, and wealth then trapped to either work on our own occupied lands or die. while our heritage, documents, titles, treaties, etc... were ignored and destroyed.

http://amen-parankh.blogspot.com/2017/01/ancient-naming-ceremonies-return.html

 Malcolm X- Malik el Shabazz explains his reasoning for using the title X.

So now when you see -Bey or -El titles added to the last name, it is merely so-called black people returning to the ways of their ancestor's true identity of being Moorish, and also returning to their divine creed of Islam. They did not give up the last names that their ancestors took on, because they carry that to always be linked to their ancestors and as a reminder of the brutality of their captivity and the stripping of their nation of people, reducing them to sub-human status. The annexing of Bey or El brings them back into the families of nations. Those people who change their name when they return to Islam are taking on an Arabic name, yet that is not a prerequisite to practicing Islam.

 

Here are five Kushite/Khemetian/Moorish titles of nobility that ties so-called "Indian"/"Indo"/"Indios"/"Indus", "Blacks" to the sovereignty of America/Amexem/Al Moroc/North Gate:

El, Bey, Dey, Al and Ali. 

These five titles also belong to the "Five Civilized Tribes". 

These tribes are:

El - Cherokee.

Bey - Choctaw.

Dey - Seminole.

Al - Creek.

Ali - Chickasaw

The Title El means God or power, Executive, Law Maker, Creator

Bey means ruler or landlord, Enforcer, Officer,

Dey means knowledgeable,

Al means the same as El (Feminine/Goddess),

Ali means exalted or most high.

As for Titles, we must at the primary and foundational level be Els and Beys BEFORE self-assigning titles that are earned by Degree.  It is likened to wanting to come in and go straight to the highest degree without foundational and primary knowledge to support the climb.  The other titles Al, Dey, and Ali are reserved for the functioning of the Nation by degrees that MUST NOT be self-assigned.  Many may wish to ignore these principles, however, the universe does not allow circumscribing.

El -  the lawmakers, lawgivers, likened to Executives.

Bey -  law enforcers, O-Bey -- the law.  A MUFTI is a Mohammedan Judge

Ali - is a title reserved for those who are, or who have reached a Master degree in their line of studies, inclusive of published dispensations.  Thus is an earned title, reserved for the workings of the Nation and not to be self assigned.  Many get it confused with their corporate state Masters Degree, however, if you read "Religious Controversy', from the "Moorish Literature' booklet, there is information regarding those who have received those degrees and the mental state they are in whether they recognize it or not.

.

Al - is also reserved for the nation in earning degrees in the sciences:  Mathematical, Geometrical, Psychological, etc.,

Dey -  is meant for and reserved for same in degrees of Astrological, Cosmological, other sciences, etc.

 http://rvbeypublications.com/id130.html

http://hermetic.com/moorish/catechism.html

The Twa/Khoisan of Akabalan, Are the oldest people on the planet. They are the Ancients and were the FIRST people to migrate to all of the continents from Akabalon (Africa), including Australia, Europe, Asia, and the Americas- as well as islands of Planet Earth to establish Civilizations! The Twa/Khoisan Ancient Ancestors were the first inhabitants of Europe. Later, the Caucasians appeared and began the establishment of war cults against Indigo people, and the destruction of the natural ecosystems and the environment. 

We are Souls (Sol) having a human experience. Many of our kindred can trace their life ancestry to The Dogon and Po Tolo.  “The Dogon”, are a tribe in Mali who found stars called "Po Tolo.”  These stars have been celebrated by this particular group of people for centuries. Yet, they can see them with the naked eye! Many of our people acknowledge that we are from the dimensions of the universe.

Many Indigo communities left Europe, following the Earth's Energy vortexes, while the Caucasians subsisted, from the ruins of what the KMT societies left behind. 

After thousands of years of decline of the Caucasians, the Moors later migrated to Europe, and discovered these Caucasians, dying out from their own offensive sanitation and unhygienic practices. The Moors found their existence, appalling as they were consumed with plagues, and madness, with no water purification or proper sewage systems. The Moors taught these people how to use soap to bathe themselves and helped them build water purification and proper garbage and sewage systems. The Moors brought the Caucasians out of the Black Death and the Dark Ages of illiteracy to the Renaissance of humanity, civilization, and understanding of Ancient Arts and Sciences.

The Moors ignored the warning signs from the Bes, the Twa/Khoisan Ancient Ancestors to stay away from these Yacub/Yurugu. Mixed up with the calcified consciousness of Aryan Arab ideas and belief systems, the Moors felt compelled to have pity on the Caucasoid's self-imposed plight, to bring them aid, and to release these Caucasians from Bes' spell of the Flat Earth. Now, these Caucasians have been running rampant, on a terrorist reign of destruction not only on the Indigo Peoples but on the environment of Planet Earth for more than 2012 years!

It was the knowledge of the Moors that brought the Europeans out of the dark ages. KMT of Akabalon and Moors(blacks) were the ship-builders and map makers; yet no one remembers that the Black Moors ruled all of Europe and Latin America, including Spain, for almost 1000 years! No one remembers the names of the Moors who were the Captains of the Nina, Pinta or Santa Maria. These Ship-men had the astronomical, nautical knowledge, protractors, compasses and maps, to be sponsored by Queen Isabella. Columbus was just a contracted explorer. These Moor Captains already knew where they were going! They just went home to the Americas. They already knew that the earth was not a disc, but indeed a sphere!

So Moors were already established in the Americas.


We know that there is NO "race." 
Race was manufactured as a political construct for social control and class/economic status. Our society would fair better to completely remove race as a narrative, into our future. ALL HUMAN (Hue+Ma+N) beings (people with natural melanin,) come from Afrika. Yes, Afrikan people, in their multiple varieties, are our oldest known Ancestry on the planet. The "Eve Gene is found in the DNA of every Black Melanin woman.

Yet, Caucasians are the exception. They are "Mankind," possessing a hybrid form of RH- blood that possesses fragments of RNA, that tie them to Neanderthals and Rhesus Apes. The Original Indigo Hunter-Gatherers were NOT Neanderthals. Caucasians were crossbred as Mankind and only made their appearance on the planet 10,000 years ago. A rare few possess, what is known as O Negative blood. They rarely survive childbirth, because the blood of their fetus attacks them. The Caucasians are essentially Identity Thieves. Everything that Aryan Caucasians claim, own, or represent was stolen from Indigo people. The Moors, who conquered and governed Europe for almost 1000 years. broke the spell of Bes, the Curse of the Dark Ages, and the Flat Earth, which was able to contain the caucasoids into a small area in the north, for Aeons, where they were afraid to cross. During their government, the Moors brought Wealth and Health, through East and West African Knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering, Fine and Industrial Arts, Agriculture, Mathematics, Hygiene, Philosophy and the Enlightenment of the Geo Planet terrestrial movement, using electromagnetics and the Stars for Nautical movement.

http://amen-parankh.blogspot.com/2015/11/american-leaders-and-first-founders-of.html


MER Ka Ba, Ta MER ri, Maroon, MER, Ma-Ry, MER-RE, MURRAY, MU’UR, MOOR, MORENO, Maurice, Morris, etc. MOORS ARE PEOPLE OF THE LAND OF MER, HENCE TA-MER-RI, male name “MERER.”

(c) All rights reserved. No part of this Blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author; Nuta Beqsu Adenike AmenRa

I am available for Lectures, Libations, Griot Spoken Word Presentations, KMT Wedding, Birth and Ascension officiant, Salutations and Blessings for new beginnings, Home and Businesses, Afrikan Storytelling, Conferences and Workshops Contact: amen.parankh@gmail.com or amen.ankh@live.com Phone: 816-281-7704

The information on this website has been put together for general information, education, reference, Spirituality Current Events and entertainment purposes only and is not intended to provide medical advice. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any specific condition. Ask your doctor for his professional advice before making radical changes in your diet and lifestyle. Donations to Amen Par Ankh