blkrainbowfroLocsgirl to the rescue again. I saw when this post put out and wanted to respond but was working and did not want someone to come with white influenced ignorance early and kill what could be an interesting discussion.

Tippy just to complement my dear friend. First the terms used eg voodoo etc are very misleading. African metaphysical spritual systemss and practices are old as time. It was white Christianity as part of its civilising mission and indoctrination and role in enforcing white racism and supremacy, is respsponsible for us using confusing terms like black magic, etc.

Their is an excellent book by Prof JS Mbiti, 'African Religious Systems' that critically debunks a lot of this rubbish. Remember an essentially aspect of slave and white strategy was the systemactic destruction of core African cultural practices eg polygamy and marriage generally, indigineous languages and a range of funadamenal practices and rituals, in order to make us alienated confused and weak and at their mercy. Culture is the most powerful weapon against external domination and force, becaues it creates internal cohesion, understanding and a strong basis for collective action.

Because the white man, has never been able or will be able to destroy our culture,because it can be hidden from outsiders, or exists in our heads and more so unconciously and subconciously, unlike our land or bodies, they could not get their hands on it, so to speak.

So African spiritual/metaphyical practices have always existed in the Caribbean and Africa and I know after reading Prof Sterling Suckely absolutely brilliant study 'Slave Culture' on the African cultures of African Americans and how long it existed and influenced so much of Southern culture, it is not surprising that it still alive and kicking and we should be grateful of that.

I remember the blue's legend Johnny Lee Hooker singing about having his mojo working, which refers to African practices as mentioned above.

My parents believed deeply in the African spiritual paradigm eg metaphysical spiritual world and its powers both negative and positive. My mother in particular and that was fundamental to our up brining. For example despite going to Christian church with our father and the rest of his family. My mother never set foot in a Christian church other than her wedding and those of her friends or funerals. She thought it was the seat of all wickedness and evil.

My mother comes from a village which was essentially jet black Africans, not mixed, or having a white pressence like some and was reputed to be one of the centres of obeah and those practices in her island. In fact French Caribbean islands are reknown for their powers in that regard, with Haiti being the Mecca of the higher sciences, as they called them in parts of Jamaica.

We were not allowed to eat from strangers, or people outside very close circles, wear or exchange clothing, using people's combs, or vice versa and a whole list of do's and don't. This was protection against those who are involved in the negative aspect of the science. But it was also used for medicinal and a range of positive purposes eg communicating with ancestors and the spirit world etc.

We would attend a priest from our island who use to bless us and have us do various rituals on a relatively regular basis. Even as we speak, I have things in this house to protect my family given to me by my aunt, back home who has the powers to receive messages from the spirtual world. In fact, I have two aunts who have that power. I also have an older cousin who was taught traditional medicinal practices under one of these teachers.

If you go to Jamaica, particularly to proponent of the Pocomania religion[African based] you will find the higher sciences are well rooted and represented there, as it is Brazil in places like Bahia, Tabago part of Trinidad, which is a bastion of Yoruba culture and where they still practice things like the traditional Orishas and other metaphysical practices.

There is Guyanese Prof, Ivan Van Sertima, who did brilliant work on African Antiquity and the cultural practices of our ancients Ethiopia, Egypt etc and then followed up with powerful studies of Inca and Mayan civilisations, in his book, "They Came Before Colubus. He teaches in Columbia University, or did and he noticed that all these advanced societies with unbelievable knowledge of civil engineering, architecture and rational sciences, also had advance metaphysical systems of believes which he believed helped them in producing their miracles.

How you see a problem, shapes how you approach it. People who have advanced metaphysical knowledge, als have technology based on that understanding, and that was his thesis. All these engineering and medical marvels these people produced was based on having a wider range of knowledge both physical and metaphysical which they were able to deploy in conceptualising and then attacking the problem.

I attended one of Van Sertimas lectures in London when he returned from Haiti studying Voodoo and the metaphysical sciences of that country and some of the things he told the audience had us speechless, things he had seen with his eyes, which made things my parents had seen childsplay.

I am absolutely facisnated by this subject as I am most things related to how important things which shape our existence work. Can't tell you how my cars works, but not sure of its importance in the scheme of things and one day probably when I retire and have time, I will examine it with the attention it deserved.

But Tippy, any info you come across especially about hoodoo[or voodoo] in the US and southern states in paricular, I would love to know about, because Stirling work shows the depth of African culture in that part of the world, which fascinates me for multiple reasons.

Regarding learning about these powers, my interest is intellectual in understanding how god put this whole thing together. But in terms of being a practioner, I don't think it is that easy. First, you have to have the intrinsic skill or power which only a trained practioner will be able to ascertain. But it is more found in women and there is a very simple explanation for that which is reinforced in African cultural practices going back from dot.

Women are essentially left brain orientated for one, which makes them more intuned with a whole range of metaphysical forces eg non verbal communication, general intuition ,the fact a mother can know if her child is distress half way across the world or why more women can receive messages from spirits, all these things are related via complexity.
Wome have higher levels of paranormal skills.

I suggest those men, who have this power probably have higher left brain and feminine aspects to their spiritual character. But here is where it gets interesting, while women generally have higher levels of left brain tendencies, black people have higher levels than whites, which means our men are statiscally more likely to have this capacity.

So while people like John Edwards and these white tv personalities are men, the likelihood there are fare more black men, percentage and ration wise who have those powers. But they are black, meaning backward/primmitive and knowbody is going to give those guys prime time tv time to earn millions, when they hung and murdered us, for practicisng something we have mastered to a more higher and advanced level.

When a white professor tells us these things exist, or aliens exitst, then it will be so, but if our professors say this is the case, they are dismissed, becasue their knowledge is superior to ours. That's the game.blktype