culture originated elsewhere
throughout history the europeans have never created a culture of their own. any cultural aspects that were ever present in europe where borrowed from civilizations outside of that continent. these artifacts originated in the 'east' (asia) and in the 'south' (africa); however, with time all borrowed cultural aspects where steadily degraded; the underlying symbolism was gradually lost.
what is culture?
culture can be defined as the patterns within human activity shared by some collective group, with symbolic meaning understood by that group which give the actions a significant meaning. the key word here is symbolic. it means that rituals, ceromonies, art, and other activities such as wearing a particular color or eating a particular food at a particular time; to be consider cultural-- will have an intangible, historical and most importantly spiritual meaning intrisically tied to it and this is the reason for performing the activity. in order for an activity to be cultural, it is necessary that it has this deeper symbolic and spiritual meaning and it is also necessary that the performer be aware of this deeper meaning.
examples of culture
consider the cultural artifacts of the sphinx, the obelisk, and kente colors
the sphinx
sphinxthe 6000 year old sphinxs of ancient kemet are enormous monuments. an interesting creature with the head of a nubian man, body of a lion and always facing the east. they represent the triumph of the higher self over the lower self. the head of the sphyx represents the higher self: wisdom, conciousness, righteousness (maat) and oneness with the divine. the body of the sphynx represents the lower self: the instinctual need based self that succumbs to the temptations of anger, envy, selfishness, jealousy, lust etc. the sphynx faces the east where the sun rises in adoration of the sun god ra. this idea of life meeting light symbolically represents the path that each of us must eventually follow.
the obelisk
obeliskthe kemetan name for the obelisk is tekhnu. when ra in the form of khepri (creator) created the universe out of his own body, rising from the primordial waters; the very first point of this mound of creation that was to become the universe was the point or dot at the top of the pyramid tekhnu. so the tekhnu is a symbol for creation. the westerners stole many tekhnus from africa, re-erecting them throughout europe. an original tekhnu from africa is in new york's central park (pictured to right). the washington monument is a replica of the tekhnu.
kente cloth and colors
kente cloththis age old cloth weaving tradition of the asante people of ghana is rich with symbolism, energy and culture. the beautiful colors and patterns are indeed aesthetically pleasing, but carry a meaning deep like the blackness of the african people. colors:
  • yellow - represents the yolk of the egg as well as certain fruits and vegetables. the color is a symbol for things that are holy and precious
  • pink - is used to symbolize gentle qualities such as calmness, sweetness, and tenderness.
  • red - stands for blood and for strong political and spiritual feelings
  • maroon - is associated with the color of earth, the mother. it represents healing and protection from evil
  • blue - stands for the sky and is used to symbolize holiness, peace, harmony, good fortune, and love
  • green - is associated with plants and stands for growth and good health
  • gold - is a symbol of royalty, wealth and spiritual purity
  • white - represents the white of an egg as well as the white clay that is used in certain rituals. it stands for purity and healing.
  • black - stands for aging; things get darker as they get older. black also stands for strong spiritual energy, and the spirits of the ancestors.
  • grey - represents ashes, which are used for spiritual cleansing.
  • silver - stands for the moon and represents serenity, purity and joy.
  • purple - like maroon, is associeated with earth and with healing.
difference in perspective..
consider the three modes of reality (coined by Molefi Kete Asante):
african personalism
the understanding perspective of being that seeks to transcend the ego consciousness. a psychospiritual consciousness that knows the entire universe as a living entity. from this classical african perspective, africans have revered the earth as a living being and understood the underlying connectedness of all of creation as being essentially one lifeform. from this paradigm, it is easy to comprehend the african's communal orientation toward the moral philosophy of altruism.
asian spiritualism
from this metaphysical perspective communion with the soul, the higher self or the spirit and spirit world is an integral aspect of the consciousness molding the realities of those in the asiatic regions who subscribe to this paradigm. There are similarities between this mode of reality and african personalism, but it is more individualistic where the african perspective is always of identification with the collective.
eruropen materialism
from this perspective, the object is reality. there is an overwhelming focus on matter and the material world. the world and life are what they appear to be. this paradigm is characterized by literalism as opposed to symbolism.
gloss on european materialism
the european mode of reality promotes individualism. because it it not apparent or at the moment scientifically proveable that there is a connection between all of humanity and much less all of creation, the europeans adopted a 'me against you' survival of the fittest mentality. manifestations of this mentality include:
  • seeking ego based material level distinguishments for ones self in the form of positions, titles, the accumulation of wealth, fashion etc.
  • the exploitation of others to supposedly increase ones value within the world
  • destruction and subjugation of nature, plant and wildlife, animals and the earth
  • the devaluation and subjugation of women
  • religious, ethnic, racial, sexual and gender discrimination
  • classism
individuals who cultivate a broader consciousness; one of identification with the collective or the transcendental self would understand the above symtoms of the european modality to be masochistic and self destructive.
how does this manifest today?
so, today the common perception is that europe is somehow the center of culture. this is interesting being that the opposite is true and that europe is quite nearly devoid of culture! this perception is created and reinforced by the overwhelming number of images produced by the western media machine; lead by the U.S. which dominates the media via hollywood and the internet. this voice of the ruling establishment actively promotes a euro-centric thought process while diminishing any alternate perspective.
think of your favorite european piece of artwork or literature. examine it for symbolism or microcosmic instantiations only to dissappoint yourself. artwork hailed to be of greatest importance such as the 'mona lisa' boil down to nothing more than awkward relflections of the known physical world. you couldn't borrow enough fingers or toes to count the number of 'prince to pauper', 'rags to riches' and cinderella stories produced by the european continent. such stories that focus only on the material world and not so subtly suggest that happiness comes in the form of wealth, that success and respect can be measured in pounds of gold, that accomplishment and honor requires man made titles such as doctor, king, lord, executive, or president, and that somehow an elitist group of materially entitled individuals are better than their counterparts. this degraded european modality of thought suggests that the poor should aspire only to be rich. also implied is that life is finite and should be lived to the fullest in the form of sense pleasure endulgences.
this eurocentic materialist perspective actively degrades the fabric of a harmonious society which (a) would be spiritual based and rich with symbolism and (b) family based with an emphasis on unity as opposed to individualism.
culture and spirituality
there is an inherent link between spirituality and culture. culture is a human creation. but, it requires more than one individual. it requires a collective who all agree upon the value, beauty or usefulness in some cultural artifact. once that artifact is accepted by a large enough group it can then be transfered generationally, inherited, learned and taught. it is a way to preserve information that is deemed important to some collective. through this process culture can therefore be seen as a reflection of the focus and consciousness of some population.
so, spirituality is not belief, but understanding, knowledge, experience and a lifestyle. as the ancient kemetan proverb goes "know thyself". lifestyle is a routine of actions. because all actions are preceded by thoughts, lifestyle and culture are therefore functions of the consciousness. consciousness gives rise to the thoughts that govern the actions. the point here, is that the lack of culture, or the presence of a degraded culture is evidence of a pervasively low level of consciousness and lack of self understanding which are the ills that plague a non-spiritual society.
it is the state or level of consciousness that is most powerful in contributing to cultural artifacts. now it is here that the effects of religion or spirituality have on the consciousness that is of primary importance. take for example the modern and western religion of christianity that dominates europe and the west. this religion undeniably flattens the southern and eastern spiritual systems to not only a finite, but a deterministically two layered system where there is a god who is the creator that exists outside of creation. this mode of thinking limits the consciousness, restricting it from the exploration of other spiritual realms. this system prevents a broad understanding of the many faces and contradictory or polar aspects of god by claiming that a) god is unknowable and b) introducing a second external being into the 'god layer' -- 'satan' to explain, negativity, evil and all other things that would 'balance' the "all loving" abrahamic god!
alternative to european materialism
i'll now delight in contradicting myself. in opposition to the title of this essay, i'll now state that the philosophical modality of european materialism is in fact a culture. but a culture so lacking, destructive, degenerate and substanceless that only a most maniacal european anthropologist could in the loosest sense of the word judge it as such. here the discernment must be made that the assertion is not being made that europeans are incapable of creating culture, but only that historically, they have not done so. we can only speculate. perhaps the ruling establishment has historically deprived its people of such adancements; or potentially the geography of the european continent my energetically be uncooperative with the cultivation of spirituality and culture. the earth is a living organism and the climate and geography of a region will most certainly effect the vibrations of its inhabitants...
compare the european reality to the well balanced, culturally and spiritually rich cilivization of the ancient kemetans. here in 2008 with hillary clinton running for president, it is seen as a historical moment. but, 7000 years ago in the gender equal society of kemet there were pharohesses ruling over the most powerful and advanced 'civilization' (i strongly dislike this word because of its ethnocentric polarization) in the world. i thank my ancestors the kemetians for providing us with:
  • rich spiritual based art in the form of music, literature, myths, sculptures, paintings and other visual arts.
  • the metu neter (language of the gods) and symbolic pictoral writing. such images communicate ideas and concepts instantaneously rather then an alphabetic system which first requires conversion to pictures in the mind.
  • the first divine trinity -- one that is balanced with the feminine energy of love, nurturing, and healing (asar, aset, heru).
  • clear concepts of the afterlife, heaven, hell, creation and reincarnation.
conclusion
the europeans have never (with exceptions of the druids and wiccans) produced a culture or viable spiritual sytem (one that truly leads to self realization, understanding of god, oneness with god). the europeans stole symbolism and cultural aspects from asia and africa (namely kemet) such as the obelisk, the sundisk, the eye of ra, the gods isis (aset), osiris (asar) and horus (heru). the symbols and cultural artifacts where degraded into a material culture. luckily for us, a great and balanced model for civilization was left for us by the ancient africans: the ancient kemetians of nubian descent who meticulously recorded every aspect of their culture, civilization and spiritual system over the 4000 plus years that it stood strong. this culture and system of knowledge and wisdom is now readily available for us to study and emulate.
~manu heru~

No European Culture!