Reemergence of African Spirituality as a Healing Module

Africans in America have a unique point of reference that governs their awareness of the world.  They carry within them the DNA of a people who were responsible for the birth of the human race and the knowledge that exists within it.  Unfortunately, they also bear the weight of having been damned to wear the veil of a backwards, ignorant species of being that couldn’t have possibly had the wherewithal to move mountains, let alone pyramids, if you will. 

It is an internal duality that has pulled many of them apart as their children are born with eyes void of life and their elders shake their heads in bitter disappointment and merely fade away.

Family within traditional African thought is totally contrary to what is viewed as family by today’s standards.  When Africans in America can begin to bridge the gap between tradition and current fad, they will begin to facilitate rejuvenation within their hybrid culture that includes a wholesome embrace of their elders, their children and themselves.

Health within traditional African thought is totally contrary to what is viewed as health by today’s standards.  Traditional medicine viewed the whole being in prescriptions for healing as opposed to only addressing the symptoms.

Indigenous cultures throughout the world had a relationship with the Earth that showed them the properties of those plants that could facilitate healing.  They knew which parts of the plants to utilize and when – what time of the year – the plants were accessible.  They would only use so many herbs from a particular area in order not to deplete the plant.  They knew which disorders each plant was good for correcting, as well as what would be needed in addition to that plant, whether it be another plant, a change in diet or the like.

The elders were prepared to pass their knowledge on to their children but to no one else.  They had witnessed too many times the way in which such information had been bastardized.  Unfortunately, missionaries from “civilized” lands were able to seduce the children away from their homes, convincing them that such backward ways held no value in the world.

Today, western civilization is scrambling to gain understanding that the elders hold within their beings but the elders are not budging.  The missionaries have gone back to the children, now grown, to entice them to return to their homeland.  Their seduction was too well orchestrated, though, and the children are refusing to return.  The knowledge was in danger of being lost.

Africans in America can finally hear the call of the land from which their ancestors hail.  They are finally initiating the connection to understandings that guided their pre-colonial ancestors and are seeking ways to heighten that connection.  They are returning home to save the knowledge of their people.

Spirituality used within traditional African thought is totally contrary to what is viewed as spirituality by today’s standards.  It is more than an idle phrase used to label a number of conflicting ideas or a periodic glimpse into that which is less knowable to the naked eye, separated from state and the general daily walk.  It is life in its entirety within the African mindset.  Spirituality and culture are the same.

It is the exploration of these ideas that will lead to healthy discussion and exploration, moving past pre-conditions.  As Africans in American step more clearly into the 21st century and their own shoes, they will begin to bear witness to their own souls and commit to the healing work necessary for themselves and the planet.