After speaking with Herpw Bikdeni about his interest in other indigenous and non-western philosophies, particularly the Law of Five Elements from the Taoist Tradition, I decided to focus my efforts on exposing some of the commonalities between Qi Gong (Energy Work) and Ka'at Ibi (Assessing the Heart and Mind), hoping to bridge the gap between Kemetic Spirituality and Taoist Wisdom. I have been formally studying Ka'at Ibi since January 2007. I am now in a process of learning to teach Ka'at Ibi. I have been studying Qi Gong since 1999 and received my teaching certifications in July of 2006. Personally I have found there are many similarities between the physical movements and exercises conducted in each system. To gain additional perspective I researched the history of Qi Gong and below is a passage that is fairly representative of the consensus of the history of Qi Gong:

"Five thousand years ago, a tribal people settled along the shores of the Yellow River in Northern China. ... But they would also talk about how their chiefs pursued the wild animals and fought back the floods. These chieftains possessed unusual power: they had mastery over the elements, the rivers bent to their will, plants and animals yielded their secrets to them, they talked with invisible powers, and traveled across the sky and beneath the earth to gather knowledge that would help the tribe." (Wong, pg. 11)

Upon studying closely the traditional kingships of Merita (Africa), we find that stories of the Kings are almost identical to the passage above. This is even occurring in the present day:

"The traditional chiefs and priests of the Gulf prefecture organised on Tuesday to avert the harm caused by flooding in recent weeks. Water mixed with wheat flour, and a ram were sacrificed after incantations. This ceremony that is simple but loaded with a deep sense, that these actions have been made to ask forgiveness from a God, but at the same time to ward off the bad luck that the prefecture has known."

"Never has the prefecture, much less the country, experienced a disaster of this magnitude, it behooves us to act and ensure that the spirit of evil goes away from Togo," explains Djidjolé III.

"The traditional chiefs and priests are convinced that this tragedy which has caused so much damage and loss of life is not by chance.

"Thus, beyond the physical actions which are to bring relief and arrange materials to prevent such tragedy, it is also important to take action spiritually.

"They intend to campaign throughout the territory to insure that Togo ‘never again falls within the ambit of evil spirits.' "

This article was published on August 20, 2008 on the Republic of Togo's website and is just one modern day example of the vibrancy of Kemetic Spirituality. It is reproduced here translated from its original French to illustrate the unmistakable link between the roots of Qi Gong and traditional culture in Merita.

Qi Gong has its roots in traditional spiritual practice (inappropriately called Shamanism) and has a 5,000 year history, but what we understand as traditional spirituality in the modern day has been slightly distorted. In the indigenous world, it is readily understood that different Neteroo (Gods) exist in different locations on Earth. Each of these Neteroo has specific qualities, and much of the diversity seen throughout different indigenous cultures is based upon the different preferences of the Neter (God) in each location. This diversity can/called also be seen in the countless Qi Gong schools that exist throughout the world today, each practicing different exercises but all belonging to the same body of knowledge.

There is, however, culture that, with respect to the differences of the Neteroo, honors them all, and this is Kemetic Culture. This is why there is such cooperation and community between different indigenous groups that live on opposite sides of the world. Ka'at Ibi is the original meditation system taught in the initiation camps in Merita that has a history of over 75,000 years. Ka'at Ibi is part of a larger school of Kemetic Wisdom and Spirituality known as M'TAM. It is this system that is now known as Shamanism, which is the original model upon which modern forms of martial arts, internal arts, meditation, and spirituality are based.

It is important that links and bridges are built between the histories of different peoples and traditions because such bridges expose the truth that we are all one people with a shared past. The separations and divisions that appear insurmountable in the present day are artificial when the facts are exposed.

At the M'TAM Schools, we teach that there is a universal dialogue of energies called the Bayuali and Yenu. It is a celestial dialogue in which the energies of planets, suns, and other heavenly bodies radiate out into the universe and interact with each other. The dialogue is central to life because it is this dialogue that determines the quality of existence for everything on the surface of the planet.

The Bayuali is the energy of the Earth which radiates up from the ground through humans into the universe. It is when this energy flow is obstructed that humans exhibit self-destructive behaviour, get sick, and eventually die unless they can re-harmonize and open their Bayuali channel again. The doctrines of modern Qi Gong are almost identical in this regard. Wenwei Ou, a prominent Master in the field of Qi Gong writes that Qi Gong "involves absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon and the positive energy of the universe, then using them to suppress evil and to raise the good in everyone, and to cure illness and save patients." (Ou p. 13)

From this example and many others, we can see that modern philosophies of Qi Gong are rooted in the most ancient traditions of Merita (Africa). Other examples of this can be seen in the I Ching, a Taoist divination system which has its origins in the Bayuali Readings (the Kemetic divination system) or the doctrine of the Yin/Yang which has its origin in the Heru/Set principle.

Constant exposition of these similarities is needed to break through the generations of conditioning that has divided humanity. Alliances between the sacred traditions of humanity must be strengthened to insure the survival and prosperity of humanity.

References:

Ou, Wenwei, Pan Gu Mystical Qi Gong, (Hollywood: Unique Publications, 2008).

Wong, Eva, The Shambala Guide to Taoism, (Boston: Shambala Publishers, 1997).