AFRICAN RELIGION, ITS ORIGINS AND COSMOLOGY

by Prof. Mathole Motshekga B.Iuris, LLB (UNISA), LLM (Harvard), LLD (UNISA) FOUNDER DIRECTOR: Kara Heritage Institute and Kara Development Ministries Paper presented for ISLAMIC PROPAGATION CENTRE

Venue: Suite 215 IPCI Building 124 Queen Str, Durban Date: 09 December 2006

AFRICAN RELIGION, ITS ORIGINS AND COSMOLOGY Centuries of slavery and colonialism destroyed the sources of African religion and its institutions. During the 19th and 20th centuries astro-archeologists discovered the ruined African temples and Holy Scriptures which revealed that African is a cradle of both humanity and theosophy or gnosticsm (i.e. spiritual knowledge) and popular religions. This paper gives the background of this theosophy expounds on cosmological framework and practical application Historical Background In Southern Africa the remains of African theosophy or gnosticsm (i.e. spiritual knowledge) was rediscovered at the BaRozwi Ba Mbire ruined temples of Maphungubwe, Great Zimbabwe, Mudzimungale at Mutokolwe, Lwandali (now Tshiendeulu) in the Zoutpansberg, Limpopo Province. The BaRozwi builders of these temples came from the Ancient Ethiopia, more specifically, the province of Naphta (now Kordofan) in the Sudan. The provincial cities of Ancient Ethiopia were Karama (Kerma), Naphta (or Napata), Meroe (or Saba), and Akacham (or Achum), popularly known as Axum. A German scholar found that the theosophists or Gnostics of Great Zimbabwe and those of Meroe (or Saba) in the Sudan had a common astral (Sabian) religion based on the observance of the stars, planets and in particular the sun and the moon and the rulers were sacred Kings (or Queens) whos life spans were regulated by a Lunar Calendar. Hence, their religion, like that of the Sabians of Harran(Asia Minor), Marib in Ya-Amun (now Yemen) and Achum (now Axum) in Abyssinia (Modern Ethiopia, was called Sabaism (i.e. astral religion or Karaism (i.e. Solar) religion. The Astral or Solar religion of Maphungubwe was recorded in a wooden platter which was discovered at the ruined city of Matendere some ten miles outside Great Zimbabwe. Hence, this wooden platter is called the Zodiac of Maphungubwe or Metendere. The Zodiac contains the African cosmology which is substantially the same as that of Great Zimbabwe, Meroe (or Saba), and Dendera in Egypt. In 1979, an American archeologist discovered archeological remains at the ruined city of Meroe (or Saba) in the Sudan which included pyramids, the temples of Amuni, Osiris and Isis, the lion (Simba/Tau) God called Apedemek. He also established evidence of the oldest divine monarchy predating that of dynastic Egypt. The archeological evidence confirmed Ancient Ethiopian (Sudanese) claims that Egypt was their colony which was founded by Osiris and that they gave arts, science, religion and the hieroglyphic art of writing. The Ultimate Principles of African Theosophy The Great rift Valley (Lupata) running from North of Pretoria, through the Great Lakes, to Ethiopia and Egypt is named after the African creator God called Tapa (or Pata), popularly known as Ptah. The Ancient African empires of Ethiopia (Atape or Atpu) and Egypt (Hakaptah) were named after God Ptah. The ultimate principles of African theosophy or Gnosticism expounded in this paper are based on Memphite theology that is the religious philosophy based on the Word (Mphe or

Memphe) of God Ptah. This theology is contained in the Sabaka manuscript which was inscribed on the stone (the Sabaka stone in the British Museum) which was published by Pharaoh Sabak of the Ethiopian (or 25th) dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The African Creator-God, Ptah, is known as The First Cause The Unknown God Unknowable God The Principle of Principles The Self-begotten God The African popular religions are known as Umveliqani, or Mutangiwakugara (i.e. the Self begotten One or First One to live). Evolution of the Ultimate Principles of Being African Sages (theosophists or Gnostics) taught that the beginning there was Nothingness or Nonbeing (Nahas or Nehes) and that Ptah was the first being that emanated from Nothing [O] and manifested itself as an encircled point [ ]. Thus Ptah became the First Cause that unfolded itself into the Decade (i.e. tenfold principle) that came out of Nothingness. These principles are expounded on below. A A A A + + + + M M M M + + + + U E OU A + + + + N N N NI = = = = AMUN AMEN AMOUN AMANI

The Evolution of the Universe The Universal Mother (Hathara or Sabanyadatja) is the cradle of the universe. The Mother principle manifested itself not only as a stone of Wisdom but also as a Python (Domba or Demba) or ten concentric circles. These symbols represent the Decade (i.e. tenfold prince) that emanated from the First Cause. These ten principles are aspects of the First Cause. The Universe evolved from these principles. The cosmic energy embodied in the Universal Mother (Hathara) is called Hara or Kara. This cosmic energy (Hara or Kara) is symbolized by the Phyton (Demba or Domba). The first emanation of this cosmic energy is called Harana (or Arhana), Karana (or Arkana), also known as NeDemba or NeDomba. This little cosmic energy is symbolized by an equilateral triangle corresponding to the three stars of the Orion (Urhana) belt. These three stars represent the spiritual trinity consists of:

Usara Nuba Mena +

+ Maat + + Maat + Maat + Ra

Ra Ra =

= Usarmaatra = Nubmaatra Menmaatra

 Usara + Osiris +

(m)usasi + Isis +

Hara = Horus =

Spiritual Trinity Spiritual Trinity

The Spiritual Trinity Father (Osiris)

Child (Horus)

Mother (Isis)

The three spiritual beings created the universe through the Law of Squares which says in a rightangled triangle the square on the hypotenuse is equals to the square on the other two sides. The Law of Squares

C2 =Horus2

a2=Osiris2

b2 Isis2

a2 Usara2 Nuba2 Mena2 Usara2 Osiris2 Nahara2 32 9 +

+ + + + + + + + 16 25 25 5

b2 Maat2 Maat2 Maat2 Usasi2 Isis2 Mara2 42 = 25 = 25 = 25 = 5

= = = = = = = =

c2 Ra2 Ra2 Ra2 Hara2 Horus2 Kara2 52

In this Law of Squares the number 25 represents the 25 spheres of being while the number five represents the five elements (ether, water, fire, and earth) which make out all spheres of being. The three personalities of spiritual trinity unfolded themselves into three individual gods, namely, Osiris, Isis, and Horus. These gods are symbolized by the Door to and from Heaven. Thus Heavenly Door

1 7

1 11 + 11 = 22

22/7 = 3.14

------------------

In this diagram 3 = Osiris (mind, soul and body) 22 = Isis (water, fire, earth and air) 7 = Horus (Isis (3) + Osiris(4) = Horus (7) The number 3 is the spiritual trinity while the number 14 is the number of light beings, popularly known Archanges (7) and Angels (7). These Archangels and Angels are messengers of the Horus (the Bull of Heaven). The 14 Light Beings form the Ladder of Heaven, Chain of Being or Ladder of Perfection. The Constitution of the Universe The Universe consists of 32 spheres of being made out of: The Decade (10) that emanated from the First Cause The 10 planetary bodies The 12 fixed stars

This Universe is a living organism. The structure of the Universe is contained in the Zodiacs of Maphungubwe (or Matendere), Great Zimbabwe, Meroe, and Dendera. This structure or organism, called the Bemben stone, is depictd below.

The Bemben Stone

Mercury (Kara)

Suturn (Patara)

The Sun (Ra)

Mars Tara

Venus (Mara)

ThauThau-Harama(Thoth-Hermes) or Mbekara/Mberaka

This Bemben Stone is a little reflection image (microcosmos) of the great (macrocosmic) Bemben Stone. The two (macro-microcosmic) stones make out the living organism that is called the universe. The macro-microcosmic order is based on the Law of Analogy or Correspondence which says As Above, So Below. The African prophet, Ham (or Khem), popularly known as ThauThau-Harama (Greek Thoth-Hermes) inscribe this law on a Tablet called the Tablet of Ham or The Emerald Tablet of Hermes. Lord Ham or Thoth Hermes is called Idris by Moslems and Enoch by JudeoChristians. Thus African prophet pre-existed Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus and Mahommed. The Tablet of Ham or Emerald Tablet of Hermes contained three quarters of the Wisdom of the World. Thus its author, was called Thoth-Hermes the Thrice Greatest. The Tablet of Ham was copied by both Phythagoras and Plato during their studies and initiations into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris. During the first century A.D. Apollonius of Tyana copied the Tablet and circulated it among the theosophists or Gnostics of Alexandria.

The Influence of Hermeticsm on Modern Religious Thought. Hermetic (or Gnostic) gospels were found hidden in a jar in the Southern Egyptian Village of Nag Hammadin in 1945. These Hermetic texts included Imhotep (Greek Aesclepius i.e. the perfect word), and the Corpus Hermeticum. These gospels were used by early Coptic priests and monks, notably, Saints Anthony and Pachomius, founder of modern monasticism in the Egyptian desert. The Hermetic (or Gnostic) gospels contained the astral (Sabian) or Karaite) religion which was popularized by the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (Akhetaton) and Tutankhamun, his Ethiopian Son-in-law and successor. Many of the early Roman Christian church fathers were profoundly influenced by Hermetic or Gnostic philosophy. For instance, Saint Augustine of Hippo, studied the works of the Egyptian theosophist, Egyptian theosophist, Plotonus (204-270 AD) and embraced the Hermetic philosophy of Union with the Divine. In his book entitled the City of God, St. Augustine, dedicated several chapters to Thoth-Hermes Trismegistus. He also quoted from Imhotep ( Aeclepius), including the passage which describes Egypt as The Temple of the World. He considered Thoth-Hermes to be a wise man and a precursor of Western Christianity. The Hermetic art found its way into the Moslem world where it came to be known as the Al Chemical Art. The Hermetic (or Al Chemical ) texts, including the Tablet of Ham or Emarald Tablet of Hermes were translated into Arabic. These texts appeared in the Arabic language as early as the eighth century A.D. some of the were ascribed to the Ummayad Prince Khaled. In Arabic writing Al Chemy was often described as the Wisdom of the temples. A medieval Arab manuscript entitled the Great Circular Letter of the Spheres cited the Solar (Osirian) religion as its inspiration. This letter came from an inscription concealed under a statue of Isis Hathor, mother of Kara (Greek Krios) or Hara (Greek Horus) in the Crypt of the temple of Dendera. It had been translated from Greek into Arabic at the time when Caliph Maamun stayed in Egypt in 832 A.D. It described a King (Osiris) in the process of decaying who engendered an heir (Horus) in whom he would live again. The author of Hermetic Art or Al Chemy was the African prophet Khem or Thoth-Hermes Trismegistus. The Latin translation of the Arab Alchemical texts appeared in Europe as early as 1144. They were translated by the same author who also translated the Koran. From then on, Al Chemy (or Hermetic Art) became part of the Western tradition as well. During the European Renaissance the Hermetic writings inspired renewed interest in Khemetic or Hermetic) philosophy. In 1460 Leornado of Pistoia brought the Corpus Hermeticum from Macedonia to the Platonic Academy in Florence. This institution was founded at the court of Cosmo de Medici to resume the legacy of the Athenian Academy, closed by Justinian in 529, where Plotonus and Proclus taught Hermetic philosophy. Marsilio Ficino translated the Corpus Hermeticum from Greek into Latin at the request of Cosmo de Medici. These Hermetic texts were held as evidence that philosophy existed before Plato. Ficinos Hermetic Book underwent sixteen printings before the end of the sixteenth century. The Corpus 7

Hermeticum studied at the Florentine Academy revealed a universal spiritual science that predated Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Latin translation of the Emerald Tablet was first published in 1541. From Latin it was translated into many European languages. The Emerald Tablet of Ham or Hermes summed up Hermetic or Gnostic philosophy of Ancient Ethiopia and Egypt. The correspondence of the stars with the elements, the exaltation of the sun, the union of the heaven of Ra and the underworld of Osiris, and the New Kingdom doctrine of God as One and all, are found in this text which still exists. The story of Osiris continue to live in the Hermetic tradition. In the English edition of the Kore Kosmu (i.e. Virgin of the World) and Imhotep (Aesclepius), published in London in 1885, Edward Maitland, who wrote the introduction gave his own interpretation of the Solar (Kara) or Osirian religion: Osiris is the reflection and counterpart in man of the supreme Lord of the universe, the ideal type of humanity. Hence, the soul, or essential ego, presenting itself for judgment in the spiritual world, is described as an Osiris. It is to this Osiris or King within us, our higher reason, the true world of God, that owe perpetual reverence service and faithful allegiance. Moreover, Maitland took on board Darwinis theory of evolution and explained the Hermetic teachings in the context of evolutionary principles; The Hermetic books admit three expressions of deity: first, the Supreme, abstract and infinite God, eternally self-subsistent and unmanifest; Secondly, the only-begotten, the manifestation of deity in the universe; Thirdly, God in man, the Redeemer of Osiris The microcosmic Sun or Osiris, was the image and correspondence of this macrocosmic Sun: the regenerating principle within man, begotten by the means of the souls experience in Time and Generation.Isis is thus the secret motive power of Evolution; Osiris is the ultimate ideal of Humanity toward the realization of which that evolution moves: (See Bojana Mojsov Osiris-Death and after life of a God Blackwell Publishing Oxford 2005 pp 121-126 African Religion has reappeared in different guises within the New Age Movement

The Rebirth of African Solar Theology and Religion

Recent astro-archaeological discoveries have renewed interest in the solar (Karaite) or Astral (Sabian) theology and religion of Ancient Africa. Both sabaism and karaism found reference in both the Bible and the Koran and their influences are evident in these Holy Books. The nativity of solar (Karate) or Astral (sabian) theology and religion in South Africa appears in the Maphungubwe Zodiac, that is substantially the same with those of Great Zimbabwe, Meroe (or saba) and Dendera. At the centre of the Maphungubwe (or Matendere) Zodiac we find a crocodile (Zambe or Nyambe) or turtle (Haramanuba) which symbolises the macrocosmic sun (Kara or Hara) which is the physical manifestation of the word (Ham/Cham) or the First Cause (Ptah) called Hamptah or Chamttah. The sun (Kara or Hara) or word of the First Cause is surrounded by four triangular slab one in each pair facing in the opposite direction. Orbiting the central sun (Kara) and the four light

beings (Kheru) are seven outer planets (Kabiri) with the moon (ma/maia) and the sun (Ra) featuring prominently. Next to the planets are triangles and three stars of the orion (Urhana) belt. All these stars and planets are encircled by the twelve fixed or Table of Isis known as the zodiac. The Bemben or cubic (Kaba) stone is the city of the sun (Annu or Zaun) and motive force of the universe. The creative function of Bemben or cubic (Kaba) stone is performed by the sun (Ra) and the moon (Ra) or their Union (Mara or Maria) Queen of Heaven and earth according to the law of Analogy or correspondence which says everything emanated from One or Divine Mind (Pamandara) and the father thereof is the sun and the mother thereof the is Moon or the Union of the two. Thus Africans worship both the One or Divine Mind and the Queen of Heaven and Earth (Mara or Mari) Mbekara or ThauThau-Harama (Greek Thoth-Hermes) is the first born light child or Mara or Mari. This light child or Word of the Divine Light is symbolized by the Ibis (Bannu) bird and the baboon (Soko Mbire). This baboon squats on a Cube (Kaba) symbolizing the earth (Kumara or Tamera) and carries a Lunar Crescent with a Solar [ ] disc mounted on it. The Divine Baboon

In this monogram

The solar disc mounted on the Lunar crescent symbolise the union (Mara or Mari) of the sun (Ra) and the moon (ma) The baboon, Ibis bird symbolises the Light child (Kara) or word (Mbe) of the Divine Light to (Kara), in short mbekara or mberaka also known as ThauThauHarama (Greek Thoth-Hermes). The earth (Kumara or Tamara) symbolised by the cubic (Kaba) stone is a variant of the Ancient Pillar (Djed or Zindj-ka-Fura). These sacred objects are made out of the five elements (ancient 9

pillar) which underlie both the spiritual and physical reality. These sacred objects give expression to the Law of Analogy or correspondence.

The African Popular Region

The hierarchy of the gods in the African popular religions consists of: The universal mother The god of Light that holds quarters of the world The fourteen Light Beings who are messengers (angles) of the god of Light. The twenty-eight (14+14=28) Light Beings which correspond to the twelve hours of the day and twelve hours of the night. The fourteen Light Beings make out a Ladder of Heaven or chain of being which interconnect heaven and earth. This ladder is also used for the computation of the Lunar months and year. African people established solar (Kara) temples and shrines where they draw down divine powers from the fourteen light beings during specific phases of the moon, seasons of the year, the two equinoxes and two solstices. A popular African shrine included an elevated land mound with a tree, trunk of the tree or three River stones (Mabweadziva) called Mabwea-mwari (i.e. the stones of the Queen of Heaven and Earth). This means that the African Heaven and Earth are interconnected, interrelated and integrated into one living organism.

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