Have we really lost touch with our ancestral beliefs or religion? Has Christianity or the religion of the Motherland or Masters really replaced that core belief system? I am very skeptical about that because I have observed time and time again where the most vocal or staunch Christians fail the most basic test of Faith resorting to their old beliefs at the first sign of difficulties. During the times of harvest I hear retorts that G-d is good, and G-d great, and there is a plethora of strong pronouncements of all the wonderful attributes of G-d yet when there is a misfortune of ill health or bad luck the modern day Christian seem to, without hesitation, abandon the faith and seek the help of the local Obeah man or witch-doctor, who I might add might be doubling as a Pastor. Why is that, and shouldn’t one honker down on the Faith so that G-d will lift the problem? Why run to something that is despised and firmly preached against in the Christian religion when the Faith is tested? Now it is not just the Obeah man that refuge is sought through in tough times but also other magical disciplines like Astrology and Palmistry etc. Why? Is there merit to any of these practices? I believe that that there is merit as history shows that Kings, Presidents and all forms of rulers in modern times all the way back to the Egyptian civilizations and from time immemorial have consulted with those disciplines to make critical decisions, like travel or when to hold major appearances etc., throughout their rule. Yes, even the so-called civilized nations of this world all the way back before Christ, Astrology have been practiced. Lets remember the Magi, the soothsayer and Julius Caesar and the tragic end when Caesar failed to heed the warning of impending doom from that Soothsayer. So why shouldn’t the common man utilize the power and benefits of something that is intrinsic to them is my question.

The slaves, our ancestors, who were caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place, mentally and physically superimposed the god figures of their religion over the figures of the religions that was now being imposed on them by their slave masters and the so called motherland. They masqueraded under the guise of Christianity to hide their ongoing practice of their true belief. It is my contention that this is still a practice today as many practitioners of the Obeah, voodoo or even Santeria visit the Churches to accomplish their goal using the Holy Ground of the Church.
I would suggest at this point that we would always fall back on what is most comfortable to us, what is in our spirit or DNA even. So is the practice of this Religion with its sacrifices and ritualistic blood letting, which existed even before Christianity, wrong? Well, here I would suggest a reading of the Book of Exodus
Ch. 29 as an example to compare with what is actually practiced in a “Salaca” or ritual of appeasement to the spirits with what the Hebrew were told to do in order to free themselves from their captors. I personally have experienced many of those practices albeit in a more innocent time but the ritual is still vivid in my mind. Am I to believe that what worked then no longer works in these modern times?

This religious belief system of our ancestors has kept them from annihilation and was core to the abolition of slavery and we should not let it die and disappear into the annals of history. We should seek a deeper understanding of the ancestral heritage and maybe gain a better understanding of whom we really are and our place in this world.