Take Over Control Of Your Spiritual Destiny

Maintaining Proper Perspective
The debate is about whom is responsible for initiating the African Slave Trade: the Africans, or the Europeans? Before attempting to through some light on the issues of the debate, I wish to point out the real challenging issues that some scholars seem to be overlooking.

The word “slave” was not invented to define a strictly African social institution. The word came to be used as it was associated with 13th century epithet for a people. These people were called “Slav, captive” - because Slavic peoples were widely captured and enslaved during the Middle Ages. That a world supper power, namely the Soviet Union, is a civilization of Slavonic people should be a beacon for us. They achieved independence from being slaves just as we have now achieved independence. Why are we not becoming super powers as they have? Part of the reason is that while they were slaves to human beings who captured or defeated them in wars, we are captors of non-human entities - spirits, Gods, ancestors, demons and the like. We can and should achieve greatness and respect from the world community if we tried in the correct direction.

Africans invented neither slavery nor slave trade. The African slave trade as recorded in history started in mid 15th century or two centuries later than the invention of the term in Europe. The aspect of African slavery that is abhorrent is that the slaves were perceived along with domestic animals as the property of their owners; the Africans being cruel to animals generally (I talk from experience as a native African) did not make exceptions about the slaves as human beings. For example, slaves could be killed for rituals just as roosters, goats, dogs, etc. were. Their owners were not answerable to anyone, and that includes not being answerable to any transcendental authorities such as God, Deity, Nature, ancestors, juju, or whatever. Hence, fear of God or use of God or any divine providence as reason to esteem those condemned to slavery did not exist.

Divine providence was not applied as excuse to intercede on behalf of slaves. The abolitionist movements that were in Europe or America for example could not have arisen in African culture. The moderating attitudes to slaves and slavery as recommended in the Holy Quran were not home grown and was absent in non-Islamic Africa. Furthermore, the African is the only known race who sold their relatives or kith and kin to strangers. This is shameful; hence, the present debate as to whom to blame for starting it.

If the long-run goal of the debate is to prevent a reoccurrence of Slavery or Slave Trade in future, the focus should be on the PRIMORDIAL or causes that are more than skin-deep. We should be in the vanguard of preventing slavery and slave trade in the world in general or in Africa in particular. We ought to be investigating the true origins which are in human psyche, culture, religion (witchcraft), ethos, etc. as manifested by ancient Africans. Is the psyche, culture, religion different today? Are they on their way to becoming different? Every religion or society has a way of communicating with the ancestors of the race. This is the ultimate training facility for the priesthood. Which ancestors does our priesthood communicate with?

Vision quests were common as practiced by the native Indians of the Americas and some peoples of the Middle East. Writers are often silent on the fact that Prophet Moses received the Ten Commandments while on a VISION QUEST on the mountain. So did Jesus go on a VISION QUEST in the wilderness. Such quest leads to a transformation or sublimation of the personality of the leader to be. Where do we quest? Our equivalent of questing is the initiation that leads to a transformation in the personality by staying days and nights in a sarcophagus, mummy cases, or tombs/graves. Witchcraft, vodun/voodoo and funerary rituals produce zombies, etc.

These institutions prevailed in Africa North and South of the Sahara desert before the Europeans came. Consequence of this was that the whole population hinged on the civilization of the dead. Ancestor worship still predominates in our societies today. Virtually the whole population was engaged in the construction of super tombs of Pharaohs in the North in ancient times. The population elsewhere was a population of slaves under a handful of chiefs or ruling class. Wealth was measured in terms of the number of slaves that one owned. And those were slaves as understood in the African culture.

Slave Trade has stopped official; so has slavery too. The underlying social structure of the culture when slavery thrived is still intact. They are only camouflaged, so that the outsider does not see it. The population still suffers under it as did the slaves in the mid-1500s. Hence, it is necessary that these be exposed, because they are the main hindrances to the development of our human intelligence. Imagine a population sustained by a priesthood of zombies. We would remain in five thousand years hence as we have been for the past five thousand years if these anchors of our spirits and souls are not changed.

(To be continued)