Kemet, Zulu, Yoruba

Eyes of RaAfrican Cosmology
By Grisso

As it was in the beginning,
So shall it be in the end.


In a previous article, The Ancient Wisdom in Africa, we saw that there exists a learned society which the Zulus call the Bonaabakulu Abasekhemu, whose members come from among all the many peoples of Africa, and whose origins may be traced to a priest of Isis during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, the 3rd dynasty (3900 BCE) builder of the Great Pyramid. In this article, I try to address in a brief space the core concepts of the Kamitic cosmology, and show correspondences to the teachings of the Bonaabakulu Abasekhemu, and moreover to the Yoruba religion.

The Kamitic Tree of Life

Ra Un Nefer Amen has reclaimed for us some of the core Kamitic spiritual teachings and precepts. The key teachings have been diagrammed in what has come down to us and is known as the Tree of Life.

The Tree of Life is a diagram of the process through which God creates the world, Man, and Man’s sojourn in the world. The Tree consists of eleven spheres, numbered from zero to 10. Sphere 0 is at the top, and is depicted as being “above” the tree. It depicts and corresponds to the state of God and of existence before the creation of the thingly, phenomenal world. In the Kamitic tradition, this aspect of God was known variously as Amen, Atum, Aten, Nu, and Nut. As it has come down to the Zulu through the Bonaabakulu Abasekhemu, it corresponds to what they call the Itongo as Bowen has told us.

Amen, or The Source, or The Itongo

The essential state of God or of existence before creation is of an undifferentiated Potential — the primordial mist. There are two dual principles which characterize the Amen: One is the principle of Mind, the other is the principle of Matter. The principle of Mind is itself dualized into Consciousness and Will. Consciousness represents the passive polarity, and Will the active polarity, of the same essential quality.

The principle of Matter may be seen as a continuum, which may more properly be called Energy/Matter, because “matter” in the strict sense is but one extreme of that continuum, being “energy-slowed-down.” Implicit in that notion is the fact known to Western science at least since Einstein, namely that energy and matter are mutually transmutable. As reflected at Sphere 0 above the Tree, the essential quality of Mind is a state of bliss, peace, hetep, the Kamitic word for a state of unshakable inner peace. The essential quality of Matter, at Sphere 0, in the state of Amen, is that of pure Potential, which means there is as yet no motion, [Note: The Hindu word nirvana also characterizes the state of Amen, and means, literally, “no motion” (nir = “no” + vana = “motion”).] no vibration, no “things”, therefore no space, and no time. There is also no light, since light is a vibration, and there is no motion.

Mind/Matter Duality. Parenthetically, and somewhat paradoxically, the energy/matter continuum (i.e. the Matter principle) properly includes Spirit. In the grand dichotomy between Mind and Matter, Spirit falls under the category of Matter rather than of Mind. Spirit is fundamentally energy, and the medium through which Mind expresses itself. Since individuated spirits also are associated with individuated Mind (Consciousness/Will), loose usage of the term “spirit” sometimes, indeed usually, refers also to Mind. Strictly speaking, however, spirit is energy, and thus distinct from Consciousness/Will (hence Mind) which may in various senses manipulate spirit.

It follows from this schema, that the grand dichotomy here called that between Mind and Matter, could also properly have been rendered as the dichotomy between Mind and Spirit, for matter, too, as “energy-slowed-down,” is but a form of spirit. But such a usage would do too much violence to the common understanding of these matters, and the usage that goes with it. In common usage, we speak of body, mind, and spirit as all being distinct, certainly to the best of the ability of our senses to perceive these distinctions. At the same time, we use the term “spirit” as a common noun to refer to individuated “souls” that have given up the body, but which retain as an essential attribute the attribute of Consciousness/Will, or Mind.

Given the potential for ambiguity, I stick with Mind/Matter as being the fundamental dichotomy, but with the clear understanding that Spirit, qua energy, falls under the category Matter. The concept of soul, in relation to that of spirit, is a tricky one, and will be addressed later on, in the context where it is most easily explained.

The peace of hetep is an “inner” peace, because it is a state that is considered still to lie somewhere within Man. It is not to be found in the material (energy/matter) principle of the universe, rather in the mind principle. Therefore it lies within. It is an aspect of existence that is inherently indivisible: when you get to “it,” there is nowhere further to “go.” I believe Amen has speculated somewhere in his writings that Democritus imperfectly understood this Kamitic concept of “Atum,” and sought to apply it to matter. It is from this misconception that Western science found its way to the notion of the atom, as being the smallest indivisible particle of a substance. No sooner was the atom discovered, however, it turned out that it contained yet smaller constituent particles of stuff. There is apparently no end to the proliferation of yet smaller sub-atomic particles.

Kamitic spiritual science confidently predicts that the fundamental building block — in a delicious irony of metaphor — of matter, is not matter at all, but the energy polarity of the energy/matter principle. The wave/particle duality of photons, and of sub-atomic particles, is a manifestation of the energy/matter principle, namely that energy and matter are mutually transmutable. Be that as it may, the state of hetep, in terms of the mind aspect of Being, is the ultimate state of pure inner peace. In terms of the matter aspect of Being, it is the ultimate state of pure, quiescent, energy-as-potential. Both, together — quiescent mind, and quiescent matter (energy, really) — constitute the Kamitic concept of the Creator before creation. This is Amen, and the Source from which all comes. It is also, in the Kamitic spiritual science, the true nature of the hidden God within, which is essentially unconditioned, and which cannot be upset by externals. It is represented at Sphere 0 above the Tree of Life. In the Yoruba tradition, that aspect of God represented by Sphere 0 is called Olodumare. It is also what, as we have seen, the Zulu call the Itongo.

The purpose of creation

If the true nature of God, the Source, is Amen, and is essentially unconditioned and undifferentiated, the question arises why did God create the thingly world of differentiation in which Man dwells, and further, why did he create Man. The Kamitic scripture says of God in the state of Amen: “I was alone; not born were they.” Amen (1996) quotes this scripture to explain that God created the world in order to have experience. And It created Man in order to have a vehicle within the world with the same essential qualities as Itself. Man is in this sense created “in the image of God.”

Further, as Bowen informs us, the Bonaabakulu Abasekhemu teach that Man is on a journey of return to the Source, to the Itongo, to the state of Amen. Man, in his gross, physical aspect, and the thingly world in general, is represented by Sphere 10 at the bottom of the Tree. Sphere 10 thus represents the end-result of creation. Spheres 1 to 9 in-between represent the functional stages of creation, as well as the various aspects of the spiritual being which is also part of Man’s nature. Not only does the Tree of Life represent the unfolding of Creation, it represents also the way back, sphere by sphere (or branch by branch), for Man’s spiritual return journey.

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4 thoughts on “Kemet, Zulu, Yoruba

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  2. realblackpower June 26, 2015 at 6:14 am Reply

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  3. Gonondo sheila mbele-khama May 27, 2017 at 12:24 pm Reply

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  4. Reneeka Smith July 11, 2018 at 4:37 pm Reply

    I appreciate this information and the time spent dispersing it to the rest of us.

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