THE DAMBY TRADITION OF THE KONO PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE WEST AFRICA
VOLUME II
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Mother Nature, our provider, is going through a cycle of change, which will align us with our former self or natural self. Humanity, her caretakers, is experiencing the effects of that change. As disruption occurs, a ceremony begins. The primary source of a person’s health is not in the body. It is due to a fundamental imbalance in the spirit, which is in direct violation of Mother Nature’s ancient dietary laws. Mother Nature, our mirror, since the beginning of our history had certain laws, which were recognized by our males, the Kono Damby founders: the incorporation of which yielded our Damby tradition. Our Damby tradition is as ancient as our tribe itself. Mother Nature’s dietary laws from the beginning invited us to step inside the circle and experience the spiritual dance of harmony (Gbonjoh) and a rediscovery of our ancient laws, particularly what we eat. Therefore, I am calling on you today to believe that what you put into your mouth or mind in the form of food is what you will become, and eventually effect the basis of your DNA, your genetic markers. The choice is yours. DAMBY TRADITION According to the Kono tribes of Sierra Leone, West Africa, a Damby System is a family group, propagated and expanded from a single patrilineal lineage, empowered by strict dietary laws, totemic in nature; these laws bind the group to each other. Being a Damby member means being in a covenant relationship, where animal, plants, or other food prohibitions must be strictly observed. Our Damby laws parallels the Biblical laws of Moses or Moses’ dietary laws. Some of these dietary laws has been interpreted to mean Jewish Kosher laws. Some of these laws will be discussed in detail, as the book progresses. Our ancient Fathers considered not only the earth, but also all the sidereal (relating to stars: especially measured with reference to the apparent motion of the stars) bodies as individual creatures possessing individual intelligences. Some of the twelve signs of the Zodiac are represented by animals as well as humans.
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About the Book
The Damby concept is very similar to the concept of DNA: protein chains from where every human or every living creature gets its hereditary traits. The earth was originally farmland created for a family. Animals that inhabited the air; water and earth were venerated by all cultures in the ancient world and viewed as symbols of the invisible forces; through whom he worships the Divine Power for the creative impulses of the gods readily respond to them. All cultures of the world reverent some animals as symbolism of divinity. The the forms and habits of these emblematic creatures : the media of existence closely relate them to the various generative and germinative powers of Nature thus, were viewed as evidence of Omnipresence. The Kono understood that all life has its origin in water. Therefore, he chose the fish as the symbol of the life germ. This fish as his emblem of the life germ is called Sa-neh (eel); meaning Sa, the ancient God is here. Furthermore, he went a step further and chose other kinds of animals to represent the divine for each - original founding fathers of the Kono Tribe. These animals and plants became known :Tana of the male heads of each founding family . However, the basic reasons behind such choices were based on a simple belief that each Damby head was a product of his Damby : his Tana or Totemic Animal. Therefore, the totemic animals were depicted as deities; and each family was prohibited from eating his or her totemic animal or food. At first, twelve animals and other forms of food were chosen and each family member had its own animal or other food form as the family's Tana. The animals and their explanations are giving in the book.
About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR My name is Kumba Femusu Solleh of the tribe of Kono, born and raised in Koidu-Town. I attended school in Bo at Holy Rosary Elementary School and then the Queen of the Holy Rosary Secondary School for Girls, then Freetown at St. Joseph's convent and finally to the USA in 1972. I have a BA in Philosophy, MA in Political Science, and a Nursing Degree (RN). I am well read in Theology, Anthropology, and World Religion: African Tradition, Oriental Religions and Medicine, Judaism, Metaphysics, Egyptian Religion; Masonic, Hermetic Qabbalistic & Rosicucian Symbolical Philosophy, etc