Cultural Otherworldliness Understanding African Spirituality
Understanding African Spirituality
Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture
African Spirituality Wholeness Dagara Cosmology
In African Spirituality, the Burkina Faso Dagara Cosmology tradition is similar in thought to string theory where it is the theory of everything. Every particle in the universe contains a vibrating string which leads to other dimensions, nothing dies; instead, Tingan and Tenbalu are continually reshaping into other forms of matter.
Dagara Elder Malidoma Patrice Somé explains in African spirituality Dagara Cosmology, the masculine and the feminine have little to do with biology.
The masculine is Tingan similar to fire with an endless propensity to consume. The feminine is Tenbalu because of its nurturing and caring instinct. Earth is therefore a man and a woman with an endless capacity to generate and regenerate, to give and to bless.
Is this possibly why the Tingan-sob - the person in charge of Tingan - is always a male? It goes without saying that if the guardian of Tingan is a man and the latter is perceived as both the legislative and the judiciary entity in whose hands every subject's fate resides, the masculinity of Tingan is verified.
African Spirituality Theory of Tingan and Tenbalu are Everything
No one speaks to Tingan directly and no one crosses Tingan without being severely punished. Hence, if you have an issue with Tingan, you're on your own. There is no safe haven anywhere to hide. This apparent ruthlessness highlights the infallible supremacy of Tingan and underscores its masculinity. Thus Tingan governs.
Tenbalu
is the Earth's nurturing and caring principle - the epitome of Mother. Literally it means soft earth or realm with
reference to the crust, or the rich top part that provides nutrients for growth
and nourishment. Unlike Tingan that
requires a tending agent, someone like a priest or a mediator who most of the
time comes across like a king or monarch, Tenbalu needs no such dedicated
attendance.
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| African spirituality dagara wheel |
What is your African Spirituality Dagara Cosmology Sign
Water, Earth, Mineral, Fire or Nature - the last number
of your birth year equals your Dagara Cosmology sign. For example, if you were
born in 1987, the number 7 means you are Fire, born in 1953, the number 3 means
you are Nature.
Water 1 and 6
Water is
yielding, but all-conquering. Water tames Fire. Alternatively, finding itself
likely to be defeated, escapes as a steam and reforms. Water washes away Soft
Earth, or when confronted by rocks, seeks a way round. Water corrodes Iron until
it crumbles to dust; it saturates the atmosphere so that Wind dies. Water gives
way to obstacles with deceptive humility. For no power can prevent it from
following its destined course to the sea. Water conquers by yielding; it never
attacks, but always wins the last battle.
Earth 0 and 5
Earth
symbolizes the mother on whose lap everyone finds a home, nourishment, support,
comfort, and empowerment. Representing
the principle of inclusion, earth is the ground upon which we identify
ourselves and others. It is what gives
us identity and a sense of belonging.
Mineral 4 and 9
Mineral is
the storage place of memory, the principle of creativity, resources, stories,
and symbolism. In the cosmological
wheel, mineral is located in the west and is colored white. The elemental
energy allows us to receive messages from the Other World, and to remember our
origins and purpose in this life. In Dagara physiology, our bones, not the
brain, are the storage place of memory.
In the village, it is not uncommon to hear an elder say, "This is
in our bones as it was in the bones of our ancestors." In the West, there is a similar saying,
"I knew it in my bones," which refers to a deeper, more elemental
knowing than is possible through rational thought. To the indigenous person,
mineral is also equivalent to stone. As
they say, the bones of the earth are the stones and rocks we see. To know the true story of our earth,
including the story of ourselves, is to listen to the rocks.
Nature 3 and 8
The element
of nature signifies the principle of change.
It is transformation, mutation, adjustment, flexibility, cyclicality,
life, death, and magic. Nature is vegetative, therefore it is all plants and
landscapes; and it is all animals as well.
In the cosmological wheel nature is situated in the east, opposite
mineral, and its color is green. Nature invites us to change consciously and to
welcome change. Just as mineral stores
information for our benefit, nature's complex paradigm is a library to those
who pay attention. The magic we crave and our attraction to the supernatural
are nature in their essence. This is
because the tree, plant, the landscape, and the serpentine river zigzagging
downhill on its way to the ocean are all golden hieroglyphs capable of bringing
a deep understanding to those willing to pay attention. Indeed, to the indigenous it seems that the
tree is the essence of consciousness.
Fire 2 and 7
Fire is the
original element of origin, the one that was present at the beginning. Its primal nature is combustion, warmth,
vision, and feeling. Its position in the
wheel is the south, the underworld, and its color is red. Everything eventually
returns, the state of the ancestors coming from the underworld below us to the
state. Fire opens the doorway to the Spirit
World and allows our psyche to commune with another life present, past, and
future. Fire is like a connecting rod,
an open channel. In fact, fire is our psyche, the spirit part of us that knows
what has always been. It is our ability
to act, emote, and sense. A person on
fire is craving a connection. In this
person, fire is translated as restlessness, a great deal of emotion, and strong
dream experience.
Sacred Space and
Ancestors Explained
Imagine walking into
a beautiful garden and seeing two people arguing and fighting. Most of us would
just be aghast and realize or something is gravely wrong with what is going on it
is because we understand about space as sacred its set apart is to be used for
only one thing, peace.
One of the secrets
of a happy spiritual life is set aside a sacred space like an altar in your
home. When you set aside a sacred space, it has a similar effect as when you
walk into a beautiful orchard filled with every fresh fruit imaginable. In my sacred
space I have candles, water, and live plants, it is very beautiful and it is
very small does not take up a lot of room and I use it for only one thing,
prayer.
Sacred spaces make
you drawn to prayer, as human beings were affected by our surroundings, quiet beautiful
places remind us of a kind of purity of life. We must create ancestral scared
spaces that remind us of Spirit spaces that draw our hearts to the helpful ancestral
spirits. Sacred spaces tell us in all of who we are it is time to pray, time to
enter into a relationship outside the physical; it is time to have that one-on-one
commune with the ancestors.
If you want to make
significant progress in communing with the ancestors, I strongly recommend that
you set up a sacred space in your home for nothing else but prayer and if you do,
I assure you that your struggles with talking and listening to your ancestors
will be greatly minimized because that space will draw you to prayer every time
you enter.
Spiritual Awakening and
the Ancestors
Spiritual awakening
actually means awareness, you have a level of awareness of who you really are,
of what your divine nature really is. You understand and you know you are a spiritual
being having a human experience. but what it actually means to be a spiritual
me that you are Eternal that you are worthy that you are loved that you know
that you exist that you're not just this being that's a part of the universe
but you're the entirety of the universe. That you are the universe and the
universe is you.
There is more to you
than just a flesh and blood, more than that there was another aspect to be
aware of the other aspect of you to the first stage of that usually is that you understand there's a spiritual part of you that you cannot see with your
eyes. This part is the larger part of you is the internal part of you; you are not
separate from the whole but literally one. It is that right-thinking when we
come to the understanding that we are a spiritual being.
Awakening really is when
you boil it down to the smallest level is understanding your divine nature and spiritual
essence. You are an eternal energetic being; you are not just this physical
aspect of bone and blood and wasted energy vibrating on a temporary frequency
that allows you to be human. Do not misdirect your spiritual power from the
ancestors. You have a connection within the spiritual and when you can see the
whole breadth of yourself with the ancestors, your being then become awakened
and you will recognize that you have always been a part of the whole.
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