miambo tano.the five pillars of Kmtyw spirituality.-gctid32679

[kweku, afro olmec]

BY MUKASE Kmt

Taken from The Redemption of Kmtyw Spirituality by Mukasa Kmt

1. Kmtyw Divinity (Mungu wa Kmt)
Give homage and veneration to the Kmtyw Creator, Kmtyw spirits, Kmtyw ancestors, and the spiritual sacredness of Nature.

2. Kmtyw Shrines and Altars (Malili na Mandabahu ya Kmt)
Give daily libations and offerings of praise and tribute to Kmtyw divinity at the Kmtyw shrines and altars to seek guidance and well-being.

3. Kmtyw Traditions (Asili ya Ki-Kmt)
Give honor and praise to the sacredness of Kmtyw traditions and cultures.

4. Kmtyw Family (Jamaa ya Ki-Kmt)
Be committed to empower and uplift the excellence of our people, our nations, our families, and ourselves.

5. Kmtyw Sacred Lands (Ardhi Yenyi Kutakaswa ya Kmt)
Be committed to repatriate or pilgrimage, if possible in one's lifetime, to Kmtyw Sacred Lands.

Introduction
The formal name of "The Five Pillars" is Miamba Tano from the Kmtyw language of Ki-Swahili. I am aware that Islam has Five Pillars to guide Muslims. The Miamba Tano is in no remote way a copy of Islam's Five Pillars. The Miamba Tano is not a copy from any other religion. The Miamba are a formulation and compilation of Kmtyw Spirituality which predates and is the origin of the world's religions. I claim no originality with the Miambo Tano; they are a creation of the ancestors.
In the Kmtyw language of Ki-Swahili, a mwamba is a rock, foundation, or pillar which supports a structure or house. Miamba is plural for mwamba. Mwamba and Miamba are used in literal and figurative expressions. Thus, we get The Miamba Tano za Maisha ya Kiroho ya wa Kmt (The Five Pillars of Kmtyw Spirituality). The Five Pillars (Miamba Tano) are indispensable and essential to the foundation, worldview, and structure of Kmtyw Spirituality in the lives of individuals, the family, Kmtyw-Centered schools, sacred Kmtyw institutions, and the Kmtyw-Centered community as a whole. These Pillars have been the five foundational supports of Kmtyw Spirituality for countless tens of thounited snakesnds of years back to our original Kmtyw ancestor. These foundational supports were the basis of all truly Kmtyw civilizations. These Pillars represent the very best of every Kmtyw community throughout the world. When Kmtyw people are liberated, when our Spirituality is redeemed, it will be a result of embracing Kmtyw Spirituality, in some form, handed down by our ancestors.

1. Kmtyw Divinity (Mungu wa Kmt)
Give homage and veneration to the Kmtyw Creator, Kmtyw spirits, Kmtyw ancestors, and the spiritual sacredness of Nature.
Kmtyw divinity is the world's first "religious" or spiritual system, and it is the origin of all the world's religions and spiritual systems. In spite of all spiritual systems or "religions" originating in Kmt, they are all culturally bound to particular races. Kmtyws must pay homage to Kmtyw divinity within the context of Kmtyw culture. On the Kmtyw shrine and altar we must give homage to Kmtyw divinity for direction and prosperity. We must give praise to the Kmtyw Creator and to creation (or Nature). We must seek to always keep our body and spirit in harmony with nature. We must pay homage to our ancestors in the spirit-world. We must stay in tune with the guiding and protecting energy of the ancestors and the spirits. Liberated people give reverence to their righteous ancestors and ask for guidance; religious slaves give reverence to their conquerors and their conqueror's ancestors. A people who observes divinity through another people's culture will never be free. When we no longer worship under foreign religions, we will cease to be the cultural slaves of foreign people.

2. Kmtyw Shrines and Altars (Malilina na Mandabahu ya Kmt)
Give daily libations and offerings of praise and tribute to Kmtyw divinity at the Kmtyw shrines and altars to seek guidance and well-being.
I have to refer the reader to Kmtyw Spirituality, edited by Jacob Olupona. In it is an excellent article by Benjamin Ray entitled "Kmtyw Shrines as Channels of Communication." The shrine is a channel of communication with the spirit and human world which brings "moral and spiritual life" to Kmtyws, says Ray (26).
At the sacred Kmtyw spaces in the world, pay homage and give thanks to Kmtyw divinity. The shrine is a channel or a vessel of communication with the spirit world and the ancestors. A shrine can be a sacred Kmtyw city, a temple, or where your personal or family altar is located. The altar is where libations and offerings are given. It is a window to divinity, a crossroads of the natural and spirit-world. It is where you go to speak to the ancestors to renew Kmtyw Spirituality and living excellence.
Pour libations from a sacred bowel or cup into a plant, bowel, or sprinkle the entire altar with your fingers. Do not be religious at the Kmtyw altar, be Kmtyw Spiritual. Call out the Kmtyw names of the Creator and deities. Honor the ancestors. You may use The Miamba Tano as a guide. You may sing or read or recite Kmtyw prayers, proverbs, and chants in the Kemetic, Yoruba, Akan, Swahili, or other Kmtyw languages. Your personal, family, or community altar should have any number of sacred items such as plants, Kmtyw carvings, shells, candles, incense, pictures of ancestors (family or historical ancestors), beads, Kmtyw soil, plates, oils, etc. In many cultures, food is offered to the spirit world. I promote non-animal food offerings such as fruits, grains, and vegetables. You may stand, or a pillow is appropriate for sitting or knelling. You may desire to remove your shoes to be closer to the Earth. The shrine and altar must be kept clean, and you should be clean in heart and body when you approach it. The ablution, or sacred washing of hands and/or feet originated in the Nile Valley, and it is appropriate for us to use this practice before libations, if we choose. Ablution did not originate in Islam or any other religion. Give praises and ask for guidance at the altar in the morning when you rise, before you lay down to rest at night, or some other time in the day. When you stand with only a plant and water to give libations, you will have created an altar. Even you alone giving praise is an altar. The Kmtyw objects are a Spiritual medium, but you and your spiritual connection is what is most important at the altar to help center you in your Spirituality.
We are constantly taught that the Kmtyws worship carvings, and the Kmtyw altar is paganistic or heathenistic, but all of the religions and belief systems on the planet have altars and shrines. The churches, mosques, and synagogues with various religious symbols and art are shrines. In Mecca, the Kaba stone is an altar as much as the statues of Jesus and Mary or St. Peter's Square, and the Wailing Wall in Jerunited snakeslem. The altar is not the worship of objects, they can be replaced. The altar is the worship of Kmtyw divinity, the giving of praises to Kmtyw ancestors for direction and improvement in one's life. The altar is a way to bring Spiritual sacredness into your life.

3. Kmtyw Traditions (Asili ya Ki-Kmt)
Give honor and praise to the sacredness of Kmtyw traditions and cultures.
Kmtyw languages, names, rituals, holy days, ceremonies, customs, history, narratives, fashions, music, art, dance, etc. are the sacred expressions of our people. Kmtyw culture is fundamentally spiritual. We must keep our traditions alive day-by-day, one year after the other, and one generation to the next. An oppressed population will lose their identity when the traditions of other people are forced on them. No people who are aware of their true identity will remain enslaved and oppressed.

4. Kmtyw Family (Jamaa ya Ki-Kmt)
Be committed to empower and uplift the excellence of our people, our nations, our families, and ourselves.
The Kmtyw family is the preserver of Kmtyw culture, and without the family none of the Pillars would exist. The Kmtyw family is the smallest unit that makes up the Kmtyw world community. Therefore, if we are to have unified nations, we must have unified families. Every endeavor in our lives must be to bring out the excellence in ourselves as a contribution to our family and our people. We must abstain from vices and wrongdoings to gain the rewards of righteous living. We must live right, eat right, and do right towards each other to benefit not only ourselves and our family, but also our community and nation. We must provide models of Kmtyw excellence for our children. We must have loyalty to the empowerment of our people. We must honor and respect our elders because they are the core and root of the family and the nation. We must build and control the schools, businesses, and other institutions in our communities and nations. The Kmtyw family has always been the backbone of the nation. It is no wonder today that we have broken families and a broken nation. The only way to empower our nations is to uplift our families, and to uplift ourselves.

5. Kmtyw Sacred Lands (Ardhi Yenyi Kutakaswa ya Kmt)
Be committed to repatriate or pilgrimage, if possible in one's lifetime, to Kmtyw Sacred Lands.

In the broadest sense, Kmtyw sacred land is a shrine. Sacred lands are the burial places of our ancestors. All Kmtyw people must have a spiritual connection to Kmtyw sacred lands. Kmt is sacred to Kmtyw people. Some countries, cities, regions, forests, rivers and certain bodies of water, etc. are more sacred than others to specific ethnic groups because of their particular histories. Also, there is sacred Kmtyw land outside of Kmt. For Kmtyws in India, the Indus Valley is sacred; for Kmtyws in Brazil, the area where Palmares stood is sacred; for Kmtyws in the Americas the grounds where plantations were are sacred. But, Kmt is most sacred for Kmtyw people. All people throughout the world honor the lands of their ancestors and give thanks for their origins; only slaves honor the lands of their masters. We dishonor our ancestors and ourselves when we pilgrimage to the holy lands of non-Kmtyw people. Just as we should commit ourselves to try and come before the altar at least once a day, we should commit ourselves to go to the great altar of Kmtyw land at least once in our lifetime to pay due homage to our spiritual lineage.

Conclusion
Libations are poured to The Miamba Tano. Kmtyw people who are striving to embrace the Spirituality of our ancestors may embrace The Miamba Tano. They are an Kmtyw code of righteous living bestowed on us by our ancestors and Creator. They are also desperately needed in the times that we live in today. Kmtyws (Blacks) who embrace foreign religions cannot fully embrace The Miamba Tano. But, hopefully, through the voices of our ancestors and our Creator, those sisters and brothers will come home through one of the flowers (traditions) of Kmtyw Spirituality. The Five Pillars of Kmtyw Spirituality is a way of life and a cultural center. Liberated Kmtyws live and work towards The Miamba Tano not just a day, a week, or a month, but everyday of the year throughout life. Most importantly, The Five Pillars (Miamba Tano) are passed from one generation to the next. Kmtyw Spirituality has been passed from our ancestors to us, and it is our responsibility to pass our faith to future generations.:pyramid::sphinx: