"God...... a being whose only definition is that He is beyond man's power to conceive" Ayn Rand
Thokozani. Camagu. Lesedi. Greetings to you and the Ones who walk with you. In today’s lesson we are going to learn more about the African Trinity, Modimo (God-The Creator), Badimo (The Ancestors) and Moya wa Badimo (The Spirit).
God- The Creator- Modimo-Tlatlamacholo-Ramasedi-Nkulunkulu-Umvelinqangi-Xikwembu, I can have a whole page full if I have to use all African languages to give praises to the Supreme Being. In the language that I grew up speaking, Southern Sotho, we say Modimo ya hodimo meaning the one who is above all creation. Modimo does not have a gender (or maybe is it because he&she exist not in my language) and we do not find our God outside ourselves. When man (human) was created God said “ke monna” (the one who is created in My image). God breathed Spirit into the body, and gave the body life. Spirit found a place to function in order to manifest. God said humans will reign over all creation because each one of us is of God.
The God I serve is without a gender, Modimo holds no form or shape, and sees no boundaries of the physical world. I do not find my God in a building; neither do I connect to Modimo only in a particular environment fixed in a particular way. When I need to communicate with Modimo, ke ya rapela (I pray). At home, in my car, at work, everywhere anytime, because Modimo lives in me.
God is the Supreme Being, the Ancient of ancients, the One who cannot be reduced to definition, a name or a religion. The God that I call is the source of life and light. The giver of Spirit, the keeper of Spirit and the one who is praised by Spirit.
The Ancestors. Badimo. AmaThonga. Abaphansi. Those who walked this earth before us. When I say Badimo I mean Ba-Ho-Modimo, those who are with God. Our forefathers, AboGogo na BoMkhulu, boNkgono le boNtatemoholo. Those who have passed on from the physical world and are now living in the world of the Ancestors. The world of the Spirit that still remembers and sees the physical world. They are in a realm where they have wisdom to guide and make better decisions regarding this life; unfortunately they are no longer in a body to carry out those acts. We, in the physical world, are lacking the wisdom to make informed decisions in the body and they lack the body to carry out informed decisions, and therefore they become our guides.
They come to guide us in our dreams and visions. AmaThonga, you will always recognise, or have someone in the family tell you who it is that you were dreaming about, your relation to them. Badimo come through channels that allow us to be receptive of their message, and they come in a manner that paralysis the body and awaken the mind, i.e. dreams and/or visions. They become messengers of God, after all at creation God said monna.
When we Pahla Emsamo (give praises in the sacred place of the Ancestors), we talk to the Ancestors, they listen and they answer through dreams and visions. The Ancestors are the ones who guide the Spirit (Idlozi) to descend and they prepare us to receive the Spirit and understand why we are chosen to carry the Spirit/ the Calling.
Idlozi- is Spirit. Moya wa Badimo/Idlozi. The Spirits- Meya ya Badimo/Amadlozi - possesses an individual and the person end up going through ukuthwasa (a process of becoming an African healer). The Spirits possesses the body of the chosen individual and starts to talk through the individual. Spirit descends for a reason and that is why one will evoke and allow spirit to communicate their reason to be present. Amadlozi will never just descend without a reason.
Not all Spirit that descends requires one to twasa; others are in need of cleansing in order to enter into the realm of the Ancestors. This is where we find the difference between Idlozi-The Spirit and Amadlozi –The Spirits.
Idlozi is a Spirit that has been send down by the Ancestors to seek healing, cleansing or forgiveness in the physical world. Only then will the Spirit be pure to enter into the realm of AmaThonga. Idlozi will possess an individual and those trained to communicate with Idlozi will enquire and provide the help needed to cleanse Idlozi. One does not necessarily need to twasa when you have a Spirit possessing you, after the ritual needed, the Spirit will be able to join the Ancestors and the individual will also be free to continue with their lives.
The Spirits – Amadlozi – Meya ya Badimo will require one to twasa. Amadlozi are the Spirits that have a task to fulfil still in the physical realm. They always come as a task team, for one to twasa there will always be more than one Spirit. It is always an entourage that will complement each other in their skills.
We have different types of Spirits that walk with us, for different reasons. The most commonly known Spirits are that of Mnguni and Madau, but we have so much more. People always ask the difference between Isithunywa and Amadlozi. Join me next week as we unpack Isithunywa and the different types Amadlozi.
On Wednesday, 20 May 2020, there will be a surprise waiting for you in the classroom, so make sure you visit.
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My name is Noma, and this is Learning with Noma.
