In order to understand the true nature of African Ancestor Ancestral Spirituality and why Africans Honor their Ancestor’s Ancestral Spirits, it is important to appreciate who and what Ancestors are according to African Spirituality so that it can be clearly understood why Africans Honor their Ancestors and once this is appreciated it can also be seen that Africans do not worship Ancestors.
The Ancestors In African Theology
Africans honor their Ancestors because of the place of Ancestors have in African Religious practice which is derived from Ancient African Cosmology.
The most Ancient African Cosmology available to us which provides a basis for Africans to Honor their Ancestors is the Theology of the Africans of Ancient Kemet in Egypt as well as later African systems derived from the Egyptian system such as the Ifa Oracle and Voudon (Voodoo).
In African Theology, the One Genderless Supreme Being expresses its will on the Formless Nun (Primordial Waters) that contain all matter, anti-matter and the abstract principles that govern the Order of the Universe like Electromangetic Forces, Polarity, Gravity and abstract Qualities like Ethics in order that it may have experience to know itself.
The name of this Supreme Being differs in different Cultures from Ptah, Amen, Ausar, Oludumare or Nkulunkulu.
Man is the final Manifestation from the Will of the Supreme Being after it has already manifested many other different Aspects of Reality in the form of Natural objects and Deities like the Metu Neter Gods Of Kemet or the Orisha of the Ifa Oracle which have been mistaken as Anthropomorphic Gods erroneously suggesting that Africans were Polytheistic when in-fact African Religion is Monotheistic.
The Manifestation of Man in the 3 Dimensional World by the Supreme Being is a Scientific Process in which the Supreme Being combines the physical “Me (Body)” with the “Ka” and “Ba” by manipulating and enclosing Divine light from the Nun into the Physical Body after emanating a series of specific sound vibrations called Heka or Hekau.
The “Body” created in this way by the Supreme Being manifests as the Human flesh visible in the physical world.
The “Ka” is the Life Force Energy that animates man’s body on Earth whilst the “Ba” was the Egyptian Equivalent for the “soul” and represents the portion of Divine Light received from the Supreme Being before Birth and is a reminder to us in our everyday life to search for our Divine Nature.
The best equivalent of these concepts in other African Traditions like the Ifa Oracle is the Ori which is an individual expression of Divinity that should guide our quest to accomplish our Destiny on Earth.
Africans thus Honor their Ancestors because tt was believed that upon death, all the separate elements (Me-Ka-Ba) that make up the Spiritual anatomy of Man and allow him to manifest physically on Earth are separated and Man’s Me-Ka-Ba (Ori) Vehicle that allowed him to exist as a Physical expression in 3 Dimensional Space disintigrates on his death.
However, the separate elements of Mankind’s Spiritual Anatomy simply return to their source in the Supreme Being and continue to have experience in another dimension that is not restricted to the Me-ka-Ba (Ori) vehicle expression as the Physical Body they possessed on Earth but as pure Consciousness in another dimension.
Thus in Honoring Ancestors, Africans are simply recognising the Divine Light of the Supreme Being that was in their Ancestors during their time on Earth based on the principle that Energy is never created nor destroyed but only moves from one form to another.
As such, the Ancestors are Honored by Africans because people are Immortal since at death they simply transcend to another dimension beyond the limits of the Me-Ka-Ba body of the 3rd Dimension after they fullfilled the set of experiences that Body vehicle was required for and they now exist as pure Consciousness elsewhere.
The Honoring of Ancestors including responding to the Ancestral Calling to become Traditional Healers by Africans is therefore a recognition of Natural Law as it applies to Human death as a process of transcendence that acknowledges that the Me-Ka-Ba vehicle or Ori of the deceased survives death and returns to the Divine Source of origin with the Supreme Being because we are Immortal as expressions of the Supreme Being who is Immortal.
Ancestral Honoring by Africans is also an expression of gratitude for the Ancestors carrying us on their Shoulders during their life on Earth, helping us to become who we are today even though they can no longer be physically present on the Earth Plane.
PDF Download: Metu Neter Oracle
