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"Obeah, on the other hand, is NOT a religion in the classical sense. That is to say, there are no meeting places such as churches, mosques, synagogs or other religious buildings or shrines --- or any underlying infastructure replicating such a system. Nor is there any sort of congregation or parishioners, although there are what may be called followers, albeit scattered. Obeah is instead, a focused application of "occult power" tapping the virulent source of God's own access --- employed without sanction to facilitate or induce spells, call up answers, predict the future, or garner assist or knowledge from planes other than the conventional and implemented through the individual skill, cunning, and artistry of the Obeah practitioner --- usually beyond the guidelines of traditional witchcraft, sorcery, shamanism, voodoo (voudon), or tribal magic."
In and around the world of the supernatural, the occult, and the underground dark-eddies of things spiritual, there are mystics, shamans, tribal elders, wizards, sorcerers, spellcasters, diviners, necromancers, witches, and all other types and kinds of controllers and purveyors of occult abilities, drawing strength and operating in other dimensions along the edges of the conventional plane. In the realm of all those practitioners the most powerful, the most dreaded, and the most feared is the Obeah.
In the first few sentences of the rather extensive paper OBEAH, by Azuth Kalafou and presented by the Wanderling, Kalafou writes: "The word Obeah or Obi is it self a word obscured and clouded in secrecy." What he is saying is, not only is the originating SOURCE of the word unclear or not fully known, it's obscurity mirrors precisely the mystery and secrecy of the phenomenom it is intended to represent.
Now, while it is true that the ORIGIN of the word is indeed obscured and clouded in secrecy, it is primarily because Obeah, as implied above, is in itself clouded in secrecy --- being the remnant of a once very powerful and celebrated SECRET religious Order lost in the mist of time. Even so, slowly over the years clues have surfaced that indicate THAT particular secret religious Order emanated from a certain general geographical area. Those clues, few in number that they may be, strongly point to the fact that the Order originated in or around an area where the Egyptian language was either born, dominant, or used by the priests or religious class --- much as Latin is used by certain religious orders today --- with the power and knowledge of Obeah maintained and rising from the underground ashes of that dispersed Order over the centuries. Considering such a background, it is very probable the etymology of the word sprang from the Egyptian word Ob or Aub, meaning "serpent." Oph is a winged serpent or dragon; and Ab means wisdom/understanding, and together means "Serpent of Wisdom" or "Serpent of Knowledge." To this day Obion is still the Egyptian name for a serpent.
FLEEING, MOSES PARTS THE RED SEA
Moses, who escaped with his people out of Egypt with the full might of the Pharaoh's army hot on their heels all the way to the Red Sea --- where the army reportedly then drowned --- forbade in the name of God, the Israelites even to enquire about the demon Ob, which is translated in the first testament as a necromancer, wizard, or diviner. In today's world the various translations are wide enough to encompass the type shaman-sorcerer that the infamous Yaqui Indian Don Juan Matus apprenticed under, a Diablero, a new-world tribal spiritual elder known to embody a sense of evilness and the ability to shapeshift --- in the process spawning such creatures as the insidious sorceress la Catalina and the inorganic being, the Death Defier.
Moses himself carries a great deal of importance in all those translations, including right up to this day with Obeah. Even though Moses forbade enquiry into Ob amongst his people, he is seen as the ultimate snake-charmer and among the greatest of magicians. When Moses doubted he was really hearing the voice of God, he was asked what he was holding in his hand. When he replied that he was holding a rod, he is commanded to throw it to the ground. When he does, the rod becomes a serpent. When he picks it up it becomes a rod again. Later, under the direction of Moses, when Aaron throws his rod down before Pharaoh, it becomes a snake as well.(Exodus 7:1-16)
MOSES, AARON BEFORE THE PHARAOH. THE ROD BECOMES A SNAKE
"The majority of commentators, however, based upon the narrative of the Bible itself, and the Talmud, believe that necromancers in ancient times sometimes possessed occult powers, and this fact should not be denied just because such phenomena are not within the realm of our own modern experience. As evidence of this, Pharaoh’s two magicians were able to turn their own rods into serpents, as Moses had done, although Moses’ serpent swallowed up those of Pharaoh’s magicians (Exo.7:10-12). They were also able to turn water to blood, copying Moses’ miracles. We read: “Then the magicians of Pharaoh did so with their enchantments [“secret arts,” margin]; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard” (Exo.7:19-22)."
Throughout the ancient world, the Middle East and Egypt, because of the brilliantly clear desert night skys, the stars and the constellations carried deep significance, both for the wandering tribes such as those following Moses and the great civilizations and city-states such as Babylonia, Sumeria, and Egypt. Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer is one of those desert-sky constellations. Most people pretty much know what the Zodiac is --- the constellations on the plane of the ecliptic through which the sun passes in the course of a year --- and what their "Sun Sign" is in relation to the Zodiac (i.e., Sagittarius, Taurus, etc.). What most people don't know is that there are actually thirteen Sun Signs, NOT twelve. According to the official modern constellation boundaries that astronomers use today, the sun passes through thirteen constellations, not twelve. The Greeks chose to remove one of the original thirteen constellations from the Zodiac in order to accomplish their desire to have each sign rule for an even 30º of sky, so they selected Ophiuchus to be eliminated. It can only be because of his origins in Egypt as one of their most powerful dieties, on par with Osiris and Thoth, all of whom answered only to Ra. Mysteriously enough, just like Obeah is secret, hidden, and unknown, the "thirteenth constellation" of the Zodiac, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer is secret, hidden, and unknown. About one person in twenty is an "Ophiuchus," and they don't even know it.
In today's world the most common manifestation of Obeah is blended with Orisha worship. Orisha are spirits of nature as well as powerful ancestors that are prayed to, asked to intercede, and in certain cases, actually take possession of practitioners. Among the top ranking Orisha and one of the Seven African Powers, using another ob word AND serpent related as well, is Obatala. His color is white, literally "chief of the white cloth," the integration of ALL colors into one. Corresponds to Damballah, the primordial serpent; sky-serpent; he is the Orisha of peace, harmony, and purity and owns the world. When he possesses his children, they move about on the floor in the manner of snakes.
Obol, also obolus (Latin obolus, from Greek obolos), is a silver coin or unit of weight equal to one sixth of a drachma, formerly used as coin of the realm in ancient Greece. Greek legend had it that for the dead, crossing the River Styx was the only way to transition into the underworld. In order to cross the Styx you had to pay Charon, the boatman. The cost was one obol placed under the deceased person's tongue. After Charon received his compensation he would take you across. Those who could not afford the passage of one obol --- or NOT admitted by Charon for whatever reason --- were doomed to wander the banks of the Styx for hundreds of years.
The peoples of ancient times (most typically the Pythagoreans, but others as well) had a legend that a kind of Light, described as a "living fire," flowed through all living things. Guarding this Flame was the serpent Ophioneus, very similar in respects to his nearly same namesake Ophiuchus. He was said to lay coiled in the Waters of Life. If anyone obstructed or hindered the Light of the Flame, Ophioneus would rise out of the water like a monster and consume them. The Greek philosopher Pherecydes (circa 600-550 BC) wrote a great deal about Ophioneus, having obtained the doctrines from the Phoenicians, also known as Ophites (Greece was first colonized by Ophites, serpent worshippers from both Egypt and Phoenicia). The Ophites venerated a serpent by the deity-title Ab, sometimes rendered Ob and Ob Aur, meaning Father --- as in the procreator of All. They also had the watery serpent Leviathan or Thiavat, which is same as Ophioneus. All of this ties into Abaddon that appears in Revelations as the Angel of the Abyss. It is unclear if the forces of the Abyss are fully good or evil in any way. The Obic forces that guard the Light and keep it flowing apparently take it by whatever means necessary and return it back to where it belongs when a person fails to let it flow or obstructs it.
Continuing, Oub or Ob, and Oubos (sometimes: Oubaios, although it should be rendered Oubos for oubaios is a possessive, and not a proper name) was the name of the Basilisk or royal serpent, emblem of the sun, and an ancient oracular deity of Africa. This derivation, which has come down from one particular sect --- and as stated previously, the remnant probably of a very celebrated religious Order in remote ages --- has now become the general term to denote those of African decent who practice Obeah. Although Obeah is found in some degree throughout a wide area of the islands of the Caribbean, it is most typically found where a strong concentration of descendants of West African slaves who spoke Ashanti are found. Nearly 90 percent of Jamaicans are descendants of West African slaves who spoke Ashanti, brought to the island by Spanish and English settlers, and the focal point in the Caribbean where Obeah has the strongest presence and most adherents. The Ashanti word for witch was obayifo. Obayifo, a derivative bayi (sorcery) is synonymous term ayen, a wizard, or more generally witch. Men and women possessed of this black magic are credited with volitant powers (ability to fly), being able to quit their bodies and travel great distances in the night sky (see). Over time, Ashanti words were mixed with English to create Jamaican patois. It is especially applicable to those who by means of a hallucinogenic potion made with the juice of a herb referred to as Branched Calalue, occasion a trance or profound sleep of a certain duration to convince followers of their power. Branched Calalue is said to be a species of SOLANUM (Davis, W., 1988), a primary ingredient oft cited in ancient recipes for Flying Ointments.
What is interesting is how the word "Oph," "Ob," and other similar words and root-words with meanings of snake-gods, winged serpents, dragons, and god of the Egyptians and various other cultures --- morphed through the ages to no longer be related to snakes per se' but instead to the evil that the snake represents (the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, etc.) --- and thus then encompassing such meanings as sorcerer, witch, wizard, diviner, ending up applied to Obeah. How the etymology of Egyptian words in such ancient times was able to spread or be incorporated into the language of a West African sub-Saharan tribal culture and eventually bleed down into the patois of the Caribbean islands is not known --- although one must admit there are incredible conincidences in both meaning and pronunciation.
The general theory runs thus: Ashantis are one section of the people known as the Akans in Ghana. The Akan can trace their history in West Africa back some nine hundred years, to 1076. Before that their history becomes murky, however they are thought to have originated in the Middle East --- as the Akkadian people of Babylon. Akan is believed to be a corruption of Akkane or Akkana. As to the Yoruba peoples, who were in a sense territorial neighbors of the Ashantis, there are some very well grounded theories that make a very strong connection between them and that of ancient Egypt. The various theories say Egyptians migrated to Nigeria looking for fertile land next to water bringing their ideas and knowledge with them, eventually establishing themselves and assimilating into the indigenous cultures. As well, adding to the mix, the Phoenicians, also known as Ophites, serpent worshippers from both Egypt and Phoenicia if you recall, were great seafarers. They are known to have taken their ships out of the Mediterranean beyond the Gates of Hercules and to have sailed south along the coast of Africa, possibly as early as 2500 BCE --- taking their words and culture with them.[1] In 1076 the Ashantis were driven from their ancient home in the Empire of Ghana by the Almoravids, a militant Berber party of strict Muslims, to their current West African locations in the modern nation of Ghana. From there, some six hundred years or so later, thousands upon thousands of Ashantis as well as Yorubans and others along the coast were rounded up against their will and transported in slave ships to the Americas --- inturn bringing their thoughts and religious beliefs with them. Two things were at work here. First, the slave traders sought out individuals that were young and strong. Typically the fully ordained and experienced religious leaders in tribal cultures are older, hence those more experienced in the various religious crafts were left behind. Secondly, those that did make it to the new world, young or old, experienced or beginner, used their knowledge as their only way to gain the upper hand or power over their slave masters. In the process the strengths of the religious beliefs increasingly manifested itself toward the occult and cloaked itself in the ever more secret.
For present day doubters who may question the power of Obeah, by the mid-1700s the strength and power of its practitioners amongst the slave population of Jamaica had become way too apparent and disruptive, undermining the rule of the land. The following is from the ACT OF 1760 which was an attempt by ruling members of the Colony of Jamaica to outlaw Obeah, punishable by death. It was never printed and failed Royal Assent, consequently never becoming official Law of the Colony --- yet it was still put into effect for all practical purposes by the colonist as though it had:
"And in order to prevent the many Mischiefs that may hereafter arise from the Wicked Art of Negroes going under the Appellation of obeah-men and women pretending to have Communication with the Devil and other Evil Spirits whereby the weak and Superstitious are deluded into a Belief of their having full Power to Exempt them whilst under their Protection from any Evils that might otherwise happen; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid that from and after the first Day of January which will be in the Year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and Sixty one Any Negro or other Slave who shall pretend to any Supernatural Power and be detected in making use of any Blood, Feathers, Parrots' Beaks, Dogs' Teeth, Alligators' Teeth, Broken Bottles, Grave Dirt, Rum, Egg-Shells, or any other materials related to the practice of Obeah or Witchcraft in Order to delude and impose on the Minds of others shall upon Conviction thereof before two Magistrates and three Freeholders suffer DEATH or Transportation, anything in this Act or any other Act or any other Law to the Contrary notwithstanding, etc."
In 1780 an Obeahman that went by the name of Plato the Wizard terrorized people, both black and white, throughout the parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica. He declared that anyone who dared touch him would suffer extreme physical and spiritual torments. He was captured by the authorities and taken to Montego Bay and condemned to death. He prophesied that his death would be avenged within a year by a storm that would ravish the whole island. He told the jailer who tied him and burned him at the stake that he, the jailer, would not live long enough to triumph over his death because he had taken care to "Obeah him." One of the most violent storms to ever hit Jamaica broke over the island that year, while the jailer, brooding over the curse of the Obeahman, declined in health, and in spite of medical aid and a voyage to America, died within the year.
The following is from a report by The Governor of Jamaica, Colonel John Dalling, to the Government in London regarding the hurricane that struck the island on October 3, 1780. Notice, besides the severity of the hurricane, the Governor reported that there were earthquakes as well --- and that the quakes totally demolished every building in the parish of Westmoreland and that remaining inhabitants were faced with famine:
I am sorry to be under the disagreeable necessity of informing your Lordships of one of the most dreadful calamities that has happened to this colony within the memory of the oldest inhabitant.
On the morning of the 3 instant, the weather being very close, the sky sudden became very much overcast, and an uncommon elevation of the sea immediately followed. Whilst the unhappy settlers at Savanna-la-Mar were observing this extraordinary Phenomenon, the sea broke suddenly in upon the town, and on its retreat swept every thing away with it, so as not to leave the smallest vestige of Man, Beast, or House behind.
This most dreadful catastrophe was succeeded by the most terrible hurricane that ever was felt in this country, with repeated shocks of an Earthquake which has almost totally demolished every building in the Parishes of Westmoreland, Hanover, part of St James and some parts of St Elizabeth's and killed, members of the white Inhabitants as well as of the negroes. The wretched inhabitants are in a truly wretched situation not a house standing to shelter them from the inclement weather not clothes to cover them, every thing being lost in the general wreck. And what is still more dreadful Famine staring them in the face.
[2]
Obeah is the most dreaded and most powerful of all occult practices. For both purveyors of the craft or the recipients of its outfall, it can be either deadly or compassionate. The path of the Obeahman is lethal in that a true Obeah has at his command a full range of tools and formulates that manifest themselves in a direct and instant function that infuses his abilities with the power to severely destroy whatever comes within his realm of comprehension. He also has the power to do the opposite. It depends on intent. Although a majority of practioners today are questionable, members of the old order, then or now, neither know nor see good or evil. An Obeahman can use ANY system and fuel it with the power of Obeah without the danger of disrespect FOR the gods, but, depending on circumstances, not necessarily without repercussions FROM the gods. Even White Light Shields can and do weaken, collapse, or be rendered impotent, buckling under to another's stronger power when pitted against each other in tests of strength. Spoken from experience.
SPIRITUAL USE: The Obeah priest who wanted to display his power to his followers was said to prepare an infusion of rum and the macerated leaves of a plant known as the Branched Calalue, which is identified as being a member of the SOLANUM genus (possibly Black Nightshade, Solanum nigrum L., Davis, W. 1988 (see) and known to have high concentrations of the hallucinogens Atropine and Scopolamine). The recipient of this preparation was spun around by the priest until the potion took effect, whereupon he or she would collapse to the ground unconscious. For several hours the victim would lie without pulse or heartbeat, until the juice of another herb was squeezed between the lips. A paste or ointment of other unknown herbs was dabbed onto the eyes and tips of the fingers, and in time the victim would recover completely. The Obeah poured a warm tea-like broth into two small bowl-shaped cups without handles. He took one and gave me the other, gulping down the liquid while motioning me to do the same.
He asked me what I liked about Jamaica. I told him things like the weather and the people. Then he asked again what I liked about Jamaica. But now I wasn't able to answer. It was like my mind had grown so huge that trying to focus on something as minuscule as a few words to string together into a sentence had become an impossible hardship. SPIRITUAL USE: Solanum turns up as an ingredient in ancient recipes for Flying Ointments. Some of these old recipes and other descriptions are found in "The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin The Mage", by Abraham the Jew (1458 AD), i.e., Book III, Chapter XVII, (4), as well as "De Miraculis Rerum Naturalium," ("Magiae Naturalis," Natural Magick) by Giovanni Battista Porta, AKA John Baptist Porta; Giambattista della Porta (1535-1615). Texts by both authors are are said to be found in FULL and complete format (originals, non-abridged) in the British Library, however access is restricted. Versions of both works can be found online, but Porta's is so watered down or incomplete because he omitted from the 1558 version some of the more blatant marvels of earlier versions, especially in the critical spots related here (Lamiarum Unguenta, for example). Some interesting aspects can be found in BOOK EIGHT, Chapter III, To Make Dark and Troublesome Dreams, but requires a certain grasp of insight to garner the full intent. Lamiarum Unguenta, spelled Lamiarum Vnguenta (Witches Unguent), can still be found in the untranslated Latin version BOOK TWO, Chapter XXVI. Said also to be useful in magic done for Astral Projection.
See Ayahuasca the Sorcerer's Brew, known as the "Vine of the Soul" and Velada a Mazatec mushroom ceremony. See as well Sacred Datura, an herb used by Native Americans of the desert southwest and elsewhere for rites of passage. Sacred Datura is the hallucinogenic reportedly used by Carlos Castaneda to transmorph into a crow and then fly while under the auspices of the Shaman-sorcerer he studied under, Don Juan Matus. Siddhis are supernormal perceptual states typically defined as "a magical or spiritual power for the control of self, others and the forces of nature."
Some people would argue quite stringently that siddhis are inherently different than the Power of the Shaman. However, that power actually emanates from the same original grounding source. The coincidence of
characteristics and striking similarities between Buddhist adepts and Shamans and Shamanism has been studied and outlined quite thoroughly by Mircea Eliade in
his monograph, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of
Ecstacy. For example, the Arhats sixfold knowledge of the worthy ones that includes, like the Cloud Shaman, the seeming ability to appear and disappear at will and the ability, as cited below, to fly.
VAYU GAMAN SIDDHI:
Using the powers of the Vayu Gaman Siddhi a person can become capable of flying in the skies and traveling from one place to another in just a few seconds. The Jain scriptures speak of Jain ascetics who could fly from place to place in a few seconds. Swami Divakarsuri and Swami Pragyasuri have been such accomplished ascetics. Although there are several occasions of individuals flying reported in the Sutras of classical Buddhism and Zen, the Venerable Pindola Bharadvaja is probably the person most commonly cited.
Swami Vishuddhanandji (d. 1937)(sometimes spelled: Vishuddhananda, Vishudhanandaaka; aka: Gandha Baba, Perfume Saint), well-known for his supernatural powers and said to be an adept associated with the mysterious Gyanganj (Jnanaganj) hermitage somewhere in Tibet -- a secret place of great masters -- demonstrated this practice in Varanasi and proved that it is not a myth.
Today Yogi Chaitanya Swami of Madurai and Yogi Niranjan Swami living near Kanya Kumari are the Yogis who have accomplished this practice. But it seems that this knowledge shall perish with them. See the Wanderling's Journey as well as The Sun Dagger and the Addendum at Shamanic Trance States.
In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Chapter IV, verse 1 it is stated as well that the supernormal perceptual powers of Siddhis CAN be reached through the use of certain herbs, that is DRUGS, called Aushadhis in Sanskrit, replicating on the short term a mind-strength ability and potential execution of powers similar to or equal to that of a person versed in Siddhis garnered via the highest levels of Spiritual Attainment. See:
PRIMARY RESEARCH SOURCES: AN INTRODUCTION: Plants Used For Spiritual Purposes by Different Cultures PASSAGE OF DARKNESS: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie OB: FAMILIAR SPIRITS: Sorcerers using occult powers to call up answers, facilitate or induce spells, or garner assist from planes other than the conventional were said to have a "familiar spirit," a spiritual servant in obeisance from other realms (Deut. 18:11; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chr. 33:6; Lev. 19:31; 20:6; Isa. 8:19; 29:4). Such a person with such a familiar was called by the Hebrews an OB which properly means a leather bottle; for sorcerers were regarded as vessels containing the inspiring demon. This Hebrew word was equivalent to the pytho of the Greeks, and was used to denote both the person and the spirit which possessed him (Lev. 20:27; 1 Sam. 28:8; compare Acts 16:16). The word "familiar" is from the Latin familiaris, meaning a "household servant," and was intended to express the idea that sorcerers had spirits as their servants ready to obey their commands. The Witch of Endor whom King Saul consulted was originally a ba’alath ob, "mistress of a talisman;" in the Latin she was a mulierem habentem pythonem, "a woman possessing an oracular spirit;" but in the King James version she appears as a sinister witch. Also "obic," forbidden knowledge. Thus Hebrew sorcery was transformed to fit the prejudices of Christian demonology.
See also: POWER OF THE SHAMAN. Related as well, Diablero, pertaining to a sorcerer connoting a sense of evilness. This from Carlos Castaneda: A sorcerer's power, Castaneda insists, is "unimaginable," but the extent to which a sorcerer's apprentice can hope to use it is determined by, among other things, the degree of his commitment. The full use of power can only be acquired with the help of what Castaneda calls an Ally, that he describes as a spirit entity (questionable) that attaches itself to the student as a guide. The ally challenges the apprentice when he learns to "see," as Castaneda did in the earlier books. The apprentice may duck this battle. For if he wrestles with the ally - like Jacob with the Angel or the Buddha with Mara - and loses, he will, in Don Juan's slightly enigmatic terms, "be snuffed out." But if he wins, his reward is "true power the final acquisition of sorcery membership, when all interpretation ceases." (Copyright March 5th, 1973 Time Magazine) FOOTNOTES, Book III, Chapter XVII, (4) Journal of a Residence among the Negroes in the West Indies OPHIONEUS
Ophioneus is both the serpent of the primeval watery abyss and the hatcher of the World-Egg. The Waters are the Waters of life; the Foundation. Ophioneus is by Pherecydes said to be guarding the Roots to the Tree of Life. As seen earlier, the Pythagoreans held a tradition about the Light that flows through you, and that has its Root in the Darkness from where it comes. More specifically, it seems this "Root in the Darkness" was linked to Ophioneus. In a surviving Orphic hymn called Hymn to Protogones, the Light is referred to as "the egg-born with golden wings" and as "coming full of metis (wisdom)." If the Light is the egg-born and Ophioneus the hatcher of the world-egg, then Ophioneus definitely connects to the "place" in the Darkness where the Light has its Root. To have this Root is to have the "living flame" spoken of earlier. The Root connected to Ophioneus is something shared by the "living."(source)
ABADDON Abaddon is the destroying angel of the bottomless pit. The word is derived from the Hebrew, abad, to be ruined or "lost," meaning the lost one, but the full name of Abaddon means "destruction". The word appears in Greek and Hebrew, but not in Latin. His name in Greek was Apollyon and used in the Old Testament to mean hell. This angel-prince of the abyss is the leader of the locusts of Revelation and is typified as the cause of wars and upheavals, the minister of death and author of havoc on earth. The term that describes him best is as an oppressor.
Abbadon is an enigma. At times, he is an angel of judgment, not of satan but of God, destroying at God's bidding. Both Heaven and Hell claim him as an ally, other times as an enemy. It is clear that he is the angel who will command the monstrous horde from the Abyss that will rampage over the earth in the tribulation period as Judgment approaches. What is NOT clear is whose orders he will be following at what time.
Some of that last paragraph may sound familar. If you have read the opening statments to Obeah you may recall the following discription in regards to an Obeahman's abilities and power:
An Obeahman can use ANY system and fuel it with the power of Obeah without the danger of disrespect FOR the gods, but, depending on circumstances, not necessarily without repercussions FROM the gods and the natural order of things. Obeah is potent, compelling and in the wrong hands, both deadly and dangerous. It's secret lies in its [1] PHOENICIANS: The Phoenicians early exploration of West Africa is recorded in King Hanno's famous expedition recounted in vivid detail in a tablet found in the ruins of the temple of Cronos at Carthage. Known as The Periplus of Hanno, it is a Greek translation of a Punic text which chronicles Hanno's mission. These voyages, undertaken not from Phoenicia but from Carthage, appear to be the natural continuation of an expansion and naval art of which the Phoenicians were masters. Hanno set out with 60 ships and thousands of settlers. They sailed south along the African coast, establishing colonies or trading posts along the way. They traveled past the "Horn of West", probably Dakar or Cape Palmas, until they reached a towering volcano in full eruption, which they called (in Greek) Theon Ochema, "Chariot of the Gods" or "Vehicle of the Gods" and which most experts agree was probably Mount Cameroon, with its 13,000 foot volcanic peak. The native name is Monga-ma Loba, "Seat of the Gods."
According to Herodotus, the furthest voyage the Phoenician sailors ever undertook was the circumnavigation of the African continent, accomplished on the orders of the Pharaoh Necho circa 600 BC. The journey is supposed to have taken three years and the navigators sailed westwards from the Red Sea. The fact that the sun was to their right as they passed the tip of Africa is proof that the jounery was made. Herodotus writes:
As for Libya (Africa), we know it to be washed on all sides by the sea, except where it is attached to Asia. This discovery was first made by Necos, the Egyptian king, who on desisting from the canal which he had begun between the Nile and the Arabian gulf, sent to sea a number of ships manned by Phoenicians, with orders to make for the Pillars of Hercules, and return to Egypt through them, and by the Mediterranean. The Phoenicians took their departure from Egypt by way of the Erythraean sea, and so sailed into the southern ocean. When autumn came, they went ashore, wherever they might happen to be, and having sown a tract of land with corn, waited until the grain was fit to cut. Having reaped it, they again set sail; and thus it came to pass that two whole years went by, and it was not till the third year that they doubled the Pillars of Hercules, and made good their voyage home. On their return, they declared - I for my part do not believe them, but perhaps others may - that in sailing round Libya they had the sun upon their right hand. In this way was the extent of Libya first discovered. Two subsequent voyages were undertaken from Carthage: circa 450 by Himilco, who sailed round Spain to the British Isles, an area known to the Phoenicians as "Tin-Land." and circa 425 by Hanno, who seems to have sailed through the Pillars of Hercules to the Gulf of Guinea.
Using Himilco's sea route from Carthage to England through the Straits of Gibraltar, the Phoenicians were able to trade for tin directly with Britain as tin trade at this time was controlled by the people living in the area that is now France.(source)
PLEASE SEE: Phoenician Sea and Land Voyages & Routes
SOLANUM:
AUSHADHIS: Awakening and the Power of Siddhis Through Herbs
THE VULTURE AS TOTEM
OLD OBEAH WOMAN
POWER OF THE SHAMAN: WHERE DOES IT COME FROM, HOW DOES IT WORK?
DEATH HAD A FACE: The Specter of Death In Shamanism and Zen
HUN TUN: Power of Chaos In Zen & the Tao
SHAMANISM
OBEAH
The Case Against "Shamans" In the
North American
Indigenous Cultures
THE BEST OF
CARLOS CASTANEDA
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VOODOOS AND OBEAHS: Phases of West Indian Witchcraft
Joseph J. Williams, 1932
W. Scott Hoover, 2002
Wade Davis, 1988
"The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin The Mage" (source)
FOOTNOTE [2]:
Lewis, M. G. (Matthew Gregory), 1775-1818
SEE: -46- January 12
