Welcome The Menihepou Graduation
The new graduate, Pehka Menihepou (center) with her instructors (from left): Imaib Ziawet, Perahru Ziaweet, Imy Maktitaoui and Zahib Ziaweet
It is interesting to think about the period of time in our lives where we begin to question the direction we are walking. The road we were walking on becomes foggy, and we end up with a sense of emptiness. When we sit down and close out the distractions that occupy our lives, the pain and void we experience leads us to question what is going on in our life.
We carry a sense of displacement and we look for something outside our own being to fix it. The sense of displacement makes you want to fit into something. Modern society provides entertainment to quell the sense of displacement. Most people drown out the sense with pleasures and vices. When you feel down, you can go and drink a beer or take a shot of alcohol. You can go drown your worries away. Unfortunately that doesn’t fix the problem. So many of us are missing our place in the universe. The only way to reposition ourselves is to learn about the world and find the place humanity originally belonged.
We have a Holy Day in the Kemetic culture that explains the beginning of humanity’s journey with a purpose. The day is celebrated on the 19th of the month of Tehuti. On that day humanity was exposed to the Divine World. Humanity was barbaric in their ways. They didn’t know how to maintain healthy hygiene or how to heal the sick. They were attacking and eating each other like animals.
Humanity was nothing more than just that, animals. When the World of the Gods was revealed to us, the Gods asked what our goal was. The only thing we knew was what we were doing. After noticing something greater than our world, we decided that we wanted to be just like them. The Gods explained to us the great challenge we would face because of the vast difference between humans and Gods, but humanity was insisted on their goal. It was decided that the purpose in every human’s life would be to become like the Gods. In order to achieve this purpose we were given 77 commandments by many different Gods which we are to follow in pursuit of this goal.
Our Ancestral Father Wsr became our teacher. He was one of the Gods that ruled over our world. He taught us how to read, write and think. He taught us how to domesticate the plants and animals to provide food and how to build shelter. He taught us principles to live by to maintain a healthy relationship between ourselves and the world around us. Each person born on Earth carries that purpose. We work to achieve it in different ways because we are on different parts of that journey. The only thing that is similar in each person’s life is the need for initiation.
When we are born on Earth, we come as a baby. We are fragile, weak, and dependent on each other to survive. We only come with the blood of our fathers and the support of our Ancestors. We come in this world without choosing who we want to be. We come into this world without choosing our parents. We don’t even know how to walk, speak, or properly think for ourselves. Everything we do at that point is dependent on the guidance of another.
Everything has a place. There is no empty space in the universe. Even though we don’t see everything, something occupies all the space. We come to Earth with our purpose. We belong some place. We fit here. Every life is supposed to be here. We need to find our place and in order to start our journey, we need to go through initiation. We go through initiation to learn about ourselves and the world. We learn the importance of designated spaces and how to maintain purity in our hearts, minds, and bodies. We are equipped with the logic to better face challenges and to overcome them.
We become able to manage our relationships with the Divine World in order to support us in achieving our purpose. We come out of initiation with strength, fortitude, confidence, and practical tools to face our challenges. We learn how to maintain the harmony in us and with all our relations in the universe.
It takes effort, discipline, and humility in order to get through the first steps of this journey but it is all worth it. We walk with our own feet. No one carries us. You think for yourself and you take responsibility of your actions. Our evolution or degeneration is a result of our own efforts that no one can make for us. It is at that point when the journey of our lives begins.
Each time initiates reach the graduation stage of the beginning of their journey, it is a celebration for the community. The M’TAM School of Kemetic Philosophy and Spirituality welcomes a new graduate to the initiatic community: Pehka Menihepou. The generation name, Menihepou, means Enforcer of the Rules. Her first name means the Upright Spirit. Her name was given based on a reading of her energies which revealed her character and destiny.
Pehka has graduated from the first level of all three of the initiation classes offered at the M’TAM School. In Medu Myeet, she has learned history of Kemetic Civilizations, the vulnerabilities of human nature and to read, write and speak Medu (Hieroglyphic language). In Ka’at Ibi, she has learned the Kemetic Holy Stories, the spiritual realities of human existence and techniques for meditation and strengthening the mind and body. In Sounnt, she has learned the functions of the human body, how to assess and diagnose disease and the philosophy of being a healer.
May the lessons she has learned and abilities gained through her initiation serve her in building and fulfilling her role in the world. May the challenges she’s overcome strengthen her as she encounters new obstacles on her path. May her heart be light and may her actions be pure.