Amanirenas - History to meet the ancestors

Kandake (aka Queen) Amanirenas was a fierce, one-eyed warrior queen of Kush who defeated the emperor of the Roman superpower, Caesar.

Backstory: the characteristics of this ancestor's spirit and vision.

Consider these points when pouring libations or otherwise connecting with this ancestor. 

Kandake Amanirenas recognized that the Emperor Caesar had already conquered Egypt and would soon thereafter expand further South to also conquer Nubi (Northern regions of Africa, below Egypt). 

Her husband King had died in an earlier battle, leaving her to manage on her own. She needed to think swiftly and strategically because her army was much smaller than that of the Romans. Consequently, she planned a surprise attack against the Romans in Egypt. She did not even await their approach or attack. She lead her roughly 30,000 soldiers Northward for this attack with swords, bows and arrows, and won. In fact, the victory was so good that she captured 3 Roman cities.

Not surprisingly, the Roman emperor was angered and retaliated by invading Kush. The Romans destroyed an old capital and sold thousands of Kushites into slavery. Kandake Amanirenas counterattacked quickly and repeatedly. Her spirit was that of an unapologetic fighter. For instance, paintings suggest that she fed captives to her pet lion and used war elephants. In one of these battles, she lost her left eye. However, that did not stop her. As if arising out of a short autumn to winter hibernation, she continued fighting once healed. After 3 years of further battles, Amanirenas was able to force the Romans into a stalemate. At this point, she sent a peace treaty with terms that would assure the well being of her people which he signed before retreating, even from Egypt.

Overall, the battle between Caesar and Amanirenas lasted for 5 years. However, Caesar agreed to leave Egypt and leave Nubia alone.

Symbol ideas you may use for altars

• One-eyed. She only saw through her right eye because her left one had been blinded in battle with the Romans. CK. I find it oddly coincidental that the Egyptian Eye of the Sun god Ra symbol is usually depicted as the right eye and represents power, fury, and violence. Ra's eye, like Amanirenas' remaining eye, symbolizes power, fury and violence. I would add laser focus. Amanirenas’ ability to succeed her entire family that consisted of only males was likely responsible for her being described (by European scholars) as masculine. While this description was likely a butthurt, her energy was necessarily masculine. It is coincidentally significant that she succeeded her husband and sons who had died in battle. Again this parallels the way that Ra sent his daughter to punish his disrespectful followers. In short, the one-eye symbology also embodies the mission of Ra’s daughter.
• Bundle of golden arrows symbolizes the kandake's brilliant achievement of peaceful resolution, albeit with defiance. When she had stalemated the Romans, leaving them unable to advance in their attack against her (new) capital, she sent a peace treaty with a bundle of arrows. The defiant message read "This gift is from the Kandake. If you want peace, this is a token of her warmth and friendship. But if you want war, keep the arrows because you are going to need them." (As typical of her people, she was an archer).
• 3 cities (she captured three major Roman cities). Somewhat like the biblical story of Gideon, the repetition of the psychic number 3 might suggest that she accepted a spiritual calling and was consequently granted supernatural intervention because, like Gideon, her army was considerably smaller and, ordinarily a huge mis-match against the opponent. Other mentions of 3 include the length of her reign, 30 years.

Other general details.

• Her full title was Kandake Amnirense Qore Li Kdwe Li. She lived in the 1st century BC and ascended the throne in her early 20s and bore 2 sons with her husband king (likely Emperor Terigetas).
• Amani (as a name or name prefix) pays homage to the kandake. Several successors adopted her name ‘Amani’ in their titles like Queens Amanishakheto (10 BCE – 1 CE) and Amanitore (1CE – 25CE).
• She died in her 50s.
• Kush is modern-day Sudan.
• The description of her being a masculine woman unsurprisingly came from a Greek scholar, Strabo. This continues to be the butthurt of white supremacy when faced with black women who resist and win against European imperialist antics. Afterall, she had succeeded her entire immediate royal family that consisted of only male relatives. Besides, she never remarried after her husband's death. Regardless, as the study of the hermetic principle of gender shows, masculine energy has little to do with the male gender. It is therefore fitting to commend her for knowing when and how to use masculine energy.

CONTENT RELATED TO HISTORY TO MEET THE ANCESTOR KANDAKE AMANIRENAS

• Series: Meet the Ancestors (an introduction to some noteworthy ancestors that include Marcus Garvey, the Kush Kandake Amanirenas, Ken Saro Wiwa and more)
• Working with the ancestors
• Libations
• Setting up an altar

Video by YouTuber Displore 'Top 10 greatest African leaders of all time'

Marcus Garvey - History to meet the ancestors

Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the still operational Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).

Key points & Characteristics

Consider these points when pouring libations or otherwise connecting with this ancestor. 

• One of the earliest fathers of pan-Africanism (Pan-Africanism is a general term for various movements in Africa and the diaspora that have as their common goal the unity of Africans and the elimination of colonialism and white supremacy from the continent. It focuses on upliftment.)
• Revolutionary, visionary and action-oriented. In fact, he roused the suspicion of some governments, like the US and Costa Rican governments. They considered him a 'trouble maker'. In fact, the FBI surveilled him and tried to find ways of imprisoning him until they forced the issue, imprisoning him for 3 of a 5-year sentence. Example(s) of his revolutionism. 
• He founded a shipping company that owned a ship called the SS Black Star Line. This ship's mission was to repatriate the diaspora to West Africa.
• He was very publicly vocal about pan-Africanism in public speeches and articles, even owning newspapers for this purpose in different countries. He held the first international conference for like-minded black people. Among his messages was the, at the time, novel idea like reparations and trade unionism in support of fair treatment of black workers. These ideas were particularly revolutionary for their time because black people had only recently emerged from slavery and were even far more severely marginalized than today. Consequently, many of his ideas likely seemed hard to conceive and even overly ambitious.
• To continue from the SS Black Starline, which was to make a positive spin on the Trans-Atlantic trade, was entrepreneurial by also including commercial ventures like the restaurant business and laundry services. His vision was to expand a black commercial network. He was already promoting the idea of buying from black-owned businesses.
• He promised that, even in death, he can be counted on to be the Marcus Garvey he aspired to be. Essentially, this is his call to action to others who will step forward to welcome his ancestry. Ancestors had visions that could not be completed in their life time for one reason or other. The baton is therefore passed on.

Symbol ideas you may use on your altar

• Pan-African flag. 
  
• Red: the blood that unites all people of Black African ancestry, and shed for liberation; 
• Black: for the people whose existence as a nation, though not a nation-state, is affirmed by the existence of the flag; 
• Green: the abundant and vibrant natural wealth of Africa, the Motherland.

Other details about the pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey

• His life spanned from 17 August 1887 to 10 June 1940. He was born in Saint Ann's Bay, Jamaica. However, he traveled widely, living at different points in countries that include his home country of Jamaica, Costa Rica (Limón province), Panama, the US and England.
• He needed to start working at 14 to help his household. To this end and somewhat prophetically, he worked as an apprentice in a printery.
• He died after a series of strokes in 1940. Although initially buried in London, in 1964 his remains were moved to Jamaica.

CONTENT RELATED TO HISTORY TO MEET THE ANCESTOR PAN-AFRICANIST MARCUS GARVEY

• Series: Meet the Ancestors (an introduction to some noteworthy ancestors that include Marcus Garvey, the Kush Kandake Amanirenas, Ken Saro Wiwa and more)
• Working with the ancestors
• Libations
• Setting up an altar

Video by YouTuber Displore 'Top 10 greatest African leaders of all time'

Ken Saro Wiwa - History to meet the ancestors

Ken Saro-Wiwa (10 Oct 1941 to 10 Nov 1995) was a Nigerian writer and activist for human rights and the environment. He was killed while fighting a non-violent campaign against the extreme environmental damage that indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping caused by foreign companies, especially the Royal Dutch Shell company to his Ogoni people's homeland in the oil-rich Niger Delta. This suffering occurred because his people's land was a key target by oil companies who dug for oil without adequate safety and human rights measures.

He became such a thorn in the side of corrupt government officials and Shell that he was eventually hung on trumped up charges. Needless to say, his execution provoked international outrage, even resulting in the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of nations for 3 years. For a while, his activism placed him in the crosshairs of those who benefited from the corruption. For instance, he was imprisoned for several months without trial by the military police as an attempt to silence him.

The legal, non-spiritual conclusion: Lawsuits against Royal Dutch Shell

Human rights cases were brought against Shell for criminal human rights violations, including summary execution, inhumane treatment, arbitrary arrest and detention. With an abundance of material wealth, Shell paid this sum easily, albeit grudgingly. However, do not lose sight of that the spirit guiding a company to act this way is hardly likely to truly change. Rather, like any other psychopathic energy, it learns to be more surreptitious. For instance, rather than more easily recognizable tactics like summary execution and other physical warfare, it uses more spiritual forms of warfare like character assassination and gang stalking psyops. In short, it simply continues in this vein whenever opportunities present themselves.

Video by YouTuber NewAfrica 'The Ken Saro-Wiwa Story | Greed, Betrayal and the Battle for Nigeria's Oil Money'

Backstory: this ancestor's characteristics and vision.

This ancestor had a mission but was unable to complete his mission in his desired way (ie to immediately protect the well being of his people). You decide whether aspects of his characteristics will help or hinder your specific set of circumstances before inviting them into avatar. It is painful to watch Ken Saro-Wiwa's dignified calls for peaceful protests, knowing that greed for money would ultimately motivate the military government to respond by killing him.  Essentially, he projected onto Shell and the military government the positive response he would likely have given had the tables been turned. The imagined response was, "We respect your humanity. Let us talk about how we can invest our vast resources to devise a mutually beneficial path." When you call upon the ancestors, they are often those who were unable to complete their mission. Calling upon ancestors who were unable to complete their mission is a matter of not only thanking them for the point to which they brought us but very importantly of volunteering to succeed them in their cause so as to either push their mission further or succeed. Regarding his success. At the very least, Ken Saro-Wiwa's death brought international awareness and roused emotions. Furthermore, the unique legal approach to tackling Shell created a noteworthy precedent.   

• He made sacrifices for his people's future. He understood that he was dealing with a war. It is worth also noting that many youths died as they protested. This created tensions among his people, many of whom began to think he should revert to more peaceful, albethey ineffective forms of protests.
• After his peaceful protests and requests were being ignored as his people struggled with the negative impact on their wellbeing, he organized a group of youths to sabotage Shell's infrastructure which successfully forced Shell to pause operations in his people's land for a short while. Unfortunately however, this meant that the military government went from perceiving him as a small nuisance to be ignored to being their single biggest internal threat because a significant part of their income was this operation. In response, the military government responded with ever-increasing violence and thuggery against Ken Saro-Wiwa's activists. The mysterious killing of 4 chiefs of a rival tribe was blamed on him. Not only was he imprisoned without evidence but the court case involved various false witnesses that later admitted to being bribed. Despite the international outcry, he, along with 8 other leading members, together called the 'Ogoni 9' were sentenced to be hanged. 
• He organized people. 
• In response to the social injustice and environmental degradation of his people, he founded an activist group.
• His dying words (about the fight continuing after his death) were not only prophetic but also a call-to-action, especially to you who have chosen to seek out this type of content.
• He was a peaceful and respectful, yet bold negotiator. Example(s)
• He sent a bill of rights to the government. (A bill of rights is a summary of rights and privileges guaranteed to a people against violations by the government. Common terms include the freedom of speech). This was bold because his group was a micro-minority (accounting for only 1% of the country's population and he had no real bargaining power). From the perspective of the government and Shell, he was too big for his britches and can be brushed aside and ignored without regard for his humanity. 
• He was persistent. As anyone understanding the West knows, this characteristic encourages organizations like Shell to consider Ken Saro-Wiwa as a 'trouble maker' to be cut down rather than consider his humanity and that of the many people whose suffering was clear from Shell's irresponsible practices. For instance, 
• After being unable to get a response from the government or Shell, he organized 1/3 of his people for a peaceful protest.

Symbol ideas you may use for altars

• Quotes:
• His words just before being killed were "Lord, take my soul but the struggle continues." These words almost seem like the result of his divine opportunity to give a final call-to-action. Specifically, he said these final words after the executioner's 4th failed attempt but succumbed in the following attempt.  
• “I am more dangerous dead than alive"
• “Whether I live or die is immaterial. It is enough to know that there are people who commit time, money and energy to fight this one evil among so many others predominating worldwide. If they do not succeed today, they will succeed tomorrow.”
• “In this country (England], writers write to entertain, they raise questions of individual existence, but for a Nigerian writer in my position, you can’t go into that. Literature has to be combative.”
• A pen / a pen and a (symbolic) sword. He was a writer, as he said, not of stories but activism to save the future of his people.

CONTENT RELATED TO HISTORY TO MEET THE ANCESTOR KEN SARO WIWA

• Series: Meet the Ancestors (an introduction to some noteworthy ancestors that include Marcus Garvey, the Kush Kandake Amanirenas, Ken Saro Wiwa and more)
• Working with the ancestors
• Libations
• Setting up an altar
• Internal links: summary execution (definition);

Video by YouTuber Displore 'Top 10 greatest African leaders of all time'

Notes

Summary execution refers to an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a free and fair trial.