Cultural Appropriation & The Healing Arts
“The logic that authored the invasions, colonialism, imperialism and capitalism also authored the idea of cultural appropriation. This idea is keeping us from reclaiming the polytheist, nature-based, spiritual systems that hold above all else the value of preserving life. ”
Yoga is a polytheist discipline.
The Druids in Europe practiced polytheism.
The Kemetic temples in Africa are polytheist.
In Australia, Japan, China, Tibet, Central America, South America and the Pacific Islands, we see polytheism and the same stone megaliths that stood long before 1492 AD. We can still see them with our own eyes.
That’s because humanity had one original culture, Kemetic culture, that was the same all over the world before the Greco-Roman invasions, before the Inquisition, before colonialism, before imperialism, and before capitalism destroyed every corner of the Earth with the ideas of profit, authority and power for their own sake. (Naba, 2011, pp.260-3)
I hope to call upon some of the feminist courage and righteousness when I ask,
“What do you think all of the witch killings and burnings throughout history were about?”
They were about destroying Kemetic culture, the original culture of humanity; the same culture that was destroyed in all of the aforementioned places. They were about destroying the polytheist culture that was demonstrably practiced everywhere on the planet before the Greco-Roman invasions commenced.
The terms, “White” and “Black” were first used by the Romans to invent divisions among humanity for the purpose of conquest. This mentality has ultimately resulted in division in every possible way: identity, race, creed, color, religious, gender, sexuality, and so on. (Meniooh, June 7, 2015, lecture)
The logic that authored the invasions, colonialism, imperialism and capitalism also authored the idea of cultural appropriation. This idea is keeping us from reclaiming the polytheist, nature-based, spiritual systems that hold above all else the value of preserving life.
This agenda, when it collides with spirituality and wellness, exists to separate modern day healers—who are trying to use yoga, Qigong, Reiki, acupuncture, Kemetic spirituality and other ancient healing modalities to facilitate healing—from their own past and spiritual power.
Make no mistake about my position: Honor, respect, and be accountable to Indigenous traditions.
A great way to do that is to follow the ethical code provided by the 77 Commandments, a set of principles/ordinances at the core of Kemetic culture that govern human behavior (Naba, 1999). These Codes, given to humanity by the Gods and re-introduced to us more recently by Prophet Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig, value and instruct us to “preserve life” above all else.
Don’t think this lets you off the hook if you’re not acting with accountability. Recognize that healing is a responsibility, not a hobby.
But don’t let the notion or fear of cultural appropriation stop you from practicing a healing art rooted in polytheism.
That was the ultimate goal of killing witches throughout history. As long as our modern culture values financial capital or physical property over life and nature, humanity will continue to suffer the problems we face today.
We need healers now more than ever to preserve life and preserve the culture. If we respect the core of Kemetic culture and its prioritization of the preservation of life over all other things and stick assiduously to the principles of the 77 Commandments, we can still practice our arts with accountability.
Who am I to say these things?
My name is Ibsahu Ma’akmaha and I’m an initiate of the Dogon Priesthood. Most of you know me by my English name, Ivor Edmonds, a healer and trauma-informed systems builder with 20 years of experience providing public health services through modalities such as reiki, yoga, Ka’at Ibi, qigong, and Pilates.
I was given the name, “Ibsahu” after completing my initiation by Prophet Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig, an authentic Dogon High Priest who founded the Earth Center in 1996. It is only because of Prophet Naba’s lifetime of study and sacrifice that I am able to share the Kemetic perspective for our benefit and apply it to the current issue of cultural appropriation in the healing arts.
The Earth Center is a non-profit organization headquartered in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso authorized by His Majesty Yoabili: The 34th King of the Gulmu throne to bring our ancestral and initiatic knowledge out from the secrecy of the African bush to re-introduce humanity’s original culture, Kemetic (traditional African) culture, to the world. The Earth Center has branches in West Africa, the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.
There are more than 100 books written about the Dogon, but most of them are written by outsiders, researchers and academics to serve their own agendas. The exceptions were written by Prophet Naba a Gourmantche from Fada N'Gourma, Burkina Faso, West Africa. The Gourmantche are a subset of the larger Dagomba (Dogon) people.
Prophet Naba is the only member of the Dogon bloodlines to write books about his own culture and all of my knowledge of Kemetic culture comes from his lifetime of sacrifices. Ankhkasta, a branch of the Earth Center, is an organization of Kemetic healers known for its exceptional products and remedies. Ankhkasta is also responsible for bringing herbal knowledge and traditional healing training to the world as a place to seek education or continue your journey as a healer with accountability.
For those who want more information about our upcoming lecture series, or have questions, please feel welcome to contact me at ivor@sagamonadnock.com or ibsahu@gmail.com.
References
Meniooh, N. (2015, June 7). Kemetic History of Slavery. [Lecture session]. The Earth Center, Chicago, IL, United States. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7RQfmAIVlU
Morodenibig, N. L. (2011). Philosophy Podium: A Dogon Perspective. (2nd edition). Firefly Productions.
Morodenibig, N. L. (1999). The Great of Divine Ordinances, The Code of Human Behavior: Translation of the papyri Nw, Nbsni, and Insa. The Earth Center.