Page 186 - A People Called Afrika
P. 186

A PEOPLE CALLED AFRIKA

             tecture, the concept of wholeness, restoration and spirituality.
             You certainly cannot talk about ancient Afrikan architecture
             without talking about the pyramids of Egypt and they certainly
             are  a  topic of interest  for many  Afrikologists.  For  instance,
             the primary purpose of the great pyramids was as a place for
             spiritual initiation. It was in the sacred confines of the great
             pyramids that initiates would undergo the process of attaining
             real illumination. The pyramids were chosen because they are
             an outer symbolism of man’s inner quest. The spirituality of
             ancient Egypt was concerned with initiates seeking the Divine
             within themselves. Unfortunately, over time, the spiritual initi-
             ates who guarded the secrets of realization, lost influence and
             gradually, the pyramids became used for different purposes
             including as burial places for Egyptian royals. This is why, it is
             said, it is hard to find evidence of these early spiritual practices.


             In today’s society, it is not strange to travel across a country
             in Afrika and to see scars in granite rock faces, evidence of
             modern construction practices. As hills are eaten away, more
             and more stone structures emerge. This, accompanied by in-
             creased sand harvesting in rivers and along coastlines and the
             use of cement in construction, results in ecological disasters.
             How is it that this is a problem now and it was not a problem
             in earlier times? Afrikan communities built their structures,
             which now have been called primitive or low class by ‘mod-
             ern’ Afrikans, from materials that were found around them.
             They built into rock faces, using these as natural fortifications
             or enhancements, they used mud and cow dung or pitch for
             mortar to bind rocks or soil together, instead of cement which
             is now being banned from usage especially near the ocean or
             waterways because of its toxicity to nature. The result of Af-
             rikan construction was that there was little or no cannibalism



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