Introducing Kamitic Spirituality and the Ausar Auset Society

Renaldo McKenzie of The Neoliberal Round Podcast and the Neoliberal Corporation stumbled on an exciting group called the Ausar Auset Society, followers of Kemet and teachers of Kamitic Spirituality and culture. The group was not discovered like the New World, where Christopher Columbus claimed to have found it when it was already inhabited by the American Indians/natives. The Shekhems of the society will tell you that the organization is over fifty (50) years old and is international and that Kamitic Spirituality/culture is not an invention of the group but has been around for hundreds of thousands of years. Nevertheless, the group is reviving, re-popularizing, and preserving its essence from Western and European hi-jack and manipulation. We sat down to interview two of the group’s leaders, the Shekhems, or High Priests), Shekehm Ma’am Kheru men Metu and Shekhem Ramenakhi, to learn more about the group and Kamitic Spirituality.

 

The interviews were quite revealing, and we learned not only about their society and practices but also discovered Bamba Ra, AKA Sha’Heed Muhammad, who recently died and is being celebrated as an iconic black revolutionary from Philadelphia who graduated from Howard University and was involved in the Student Non-violent Action Coordinating Committee (SNCC), The Revolutionary Action Movement and the Nation of Islam; and was a frequent contributor to the Journal of Black Poetry. In addition to this, the interview led to a discovery about the foundations of knowledge as explored in the Liberal Studies Program curriculum at some Universities such as Georgetown University, where Kamitic culture/spirituality and or other foundational traditions are left out. We will explore these later findings in our conclusion of this article, which is composed in a dialogue format to capture and be faithful to the essence and style of the conversations with the Shekhem.

 

The Dialogue:

Renaldo: What is Kamitic Spirituality/Culture?

 

Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu: Before the Europeans came and invaded Egypt, it was called Kamit. So, Kamit was the original name given to our people in Africa. It was one of the oldest organized ways of life on earth, which was successful for over five (5000) thousand years before their (Egypt’s) invasions…. It’s a way of life from which all others came, including Hebrew, Christianity, etc. So, we’re returning to our old way of life that was proven successful and is still being studied today.

 

Renaldo: What are the principles and ideas behind the (Kamitic) culture and or spirituality?

Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu: The principle is knowing your relationship with your Supreme Being, that you are the same, but you have to work for that; we have to raise our consciousness of our Divinity to reunite us back to or with the Supreme Being; henceforth Godman-Up and Godwoman-Up. That’s the principle: you’re shooting for the highest form of your being. It’s within you, but right now, it’s dormant because when you come to earth [through birth], it sleeps.

 

Renaldo: Plato discusses this very same principle in the Phaedo, saying that when we are born, we take on flesh, and the Divine or immortal side becomes dormant, so we must live a life of piety to recapture what was lost….

 

Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu: They [Socrates, Plato, and early Greek scholars] “went to school” in kamit, so that [Socratic philosophy on life and death as described by Plato in the Phaedo] was their understanding of it [Kamitic Spirituality which they recreated and reformatted in their Greek culture]. So, they did not get the full understanding, and they took that back to Greece and Rome. to them, they were scholars because, in those countries, they did not have any kind of culture, Math, or Science.

That was their understanding and awareness of what they could or did not understand about the Kamitic way of life. So, they went to Kamit to learn that, and Socrates paid or played all those guys.

 

Renaldo: (Insight/Critique): But, what proof do we have of Socrates’ intentions and motivations? Can we detect ulterior motives that are not clear or stated? But if they (Socrates, Plato, and the early Greco-Roman world) could not understand it due to limitations and a lack of specific knowledge about math, science, and culture, what makes us think we can understand it? Are we better or more advanced than them with culture, Math, and Science? And is it fair to assume that knowledge of Math, Culture, and Science makes one better at grasping spirituality? And why do we believe that they (Greek and Roman Scholars) did not have culture or math, or science? Wouldn’t it be ethnocentric at best to think that others don’t have a clue due to the primacy we give to our ideas and values over others of a different place or period? Indeed, it doesn’t speak to the issue of privilege, so this society is privileging their knowledge over another, assuring a place of prominence and power over others, which is a strategy of control.

 

Renaldo: Some time ago, I interviewed the owner of the Ubuntu Fine Arts Studios in Philadelphia, and he talked about the concept of Ubuntu, an African concept that promotes a kind of individuality or the freedom of the individual and the recognition of the individual as a person to be valued and appreciated irrespective of a person’s individuality. In a sense, it is free of labels. What’s the similarity between this concept of Ubuntu and Kamitic Spirituality and Culture?

 

Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu: You gotta remember that the original culture, when it got severed, it was dispensed, dispersed, and spread all over the planet, so each way of life got a piece of the truth. But it came from one truth, a whole truth like a pie; a piece of pie over there, a piece of pie over everywhere. But, it has to come together to get the whole authentic truth, and that’s what this [kamatic spirituality/culture] is.

 

Renaldo: What is the authentic truth?

 

Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu: That you are a Divine Being, and what you’re doing is that you’re waking up this Divinity or Divineness, because in the Western World, the highest thing you can be is a human being, but that’s the lowest thing that you can be in this way of life. The lowest you can be is a human being, an animal because the human being is full of faults, frails, and excuses. But, when you reach your Godhood, you’re one with the Creator. That means you understand the perfection. Perfection can be achieved! Completion can be achieved; in this Western way of life, they got God up here and human beings down here, and there’s no way you can get up here (to where God is); that’s the way they think. But this way of life [Kamatic Spirituality/culture] shows you how to become God-Man-up and God-Woman-Up.

 

Renaldo: What is this Center of the Asar Auset Society all about?

 

Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu: This is the Ausar Auset Society International. However, this is the Pennsylvania region of that. Each place has its region, and each area has a King and or Queen in charge.  But, internationally, we are all together. We are in Ghana, South Africa, California, Canada, and all over. It is a big organization that has been around for over fifty (50) years, and we’re growing. We are not inventing anything, it’s something that’s been around for hundreds of thousands of years. But we are bringing it back because it’s proven successful. People are, Europeans are still studying Egypt and don’t understand it. Why? They do not have that spiritual aspect because they are looking at it from a scholarship or intellectual standpoint, and you can’t look at spirituality from that; you have to live it.

 

Renaldo: It is quite anthropological and ethnographic as they would say, if you want to really understand people and the meanings in society you have to really live it-the experience.

 

Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu: Yes, you can’t intellectualize it, or you’ll take things out of context.

 

Renaldo: Well, a guy named Gramsci, who wrote the Prison Notebooks, an intellectual himself, is against intellectualism and had written that it’s a part of status, position, special interests, privilege, and a strategy that people have used to increase power, maintain power or extend power in my understanding of all things Gramsci with my interpretive spin and conclusion or extrapolation.

 

Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu: That’s the misuse of intellectualism. Intellectualism goes along with wisdom, and intellectualism without knowledge is dangerous! And that’s what’s happening now because we have a lot of intelligent intellectuals in charge of this country and the European world. You know, Former President George W. Bush wasn’t a dummy, he was just crazy! You know what I’m saying. So, that’s what this is about. We’re getting back to the old ways, the old ways that’s proven to work.

 

Renaldo: Insights/Critique: what proof can we draw on that suggests this? And when one says that has been proven to work, to work how or on what? If the old ways are old, why do we believe they will work in the 21^st century? What relevance does that have on us today? And what benefit did Egypt or Africa realize from Kamitic Spirituality, except to be conquered by the external? What bearing does this have on our life to reveal progress on society and its ills today?

 

Renaldo: And what are some of the things that you guys do at the society here to help people realize the Kamitic way of life and spirituality? I hear drumming going on….

 

Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu: Of course, that’s African; drumming, meditation, dieting; we are all Vegans here. We do Qi Gong, which is life force building to build one’s life up – all these are in conjunction with the concept of working towards developing God-Man-Up and God-Woman-Up.

 

Renaldo: I have never heard of this before, and I study society, so when I go back to Georgetown, I must explore this some more to learn the ideologies of Kamitic spirituality/culture.

 

At this point, I paused my conversations with Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu, as I was introduced to another Shekhem/Priest, Rameneikhi, who joined the discussions/interview.

 

Renaldo: Can you tell me about this Kamitic Spirituality/Culture and your role in leading this group?

 

Shekhem Rameneikhi: My role is to assist those who come in looking for answers, trying to find out their true selves and the true meaning of life.

 

Renaldo: What impact is this having in the community, in Germantown, Philadelphia, and the world so far?

 

Shekhem Rameneikhi: Right now, it’s a slow process. So many people out here don’t know their true purpose in life, and people are coming in slowly but surely, trying to find their purpose.

 

Renaldo: It’s quite interesting because I came in thinking it was a small bookstore and was checking out the place to see if I could have a book signing for my book Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance, but instead, struck gold. Now tell our listeners how they can connect with the Ausar Auset Society?

 

Shekhem Rameneikhi: Everyone is welcome to visit us online at www.ausarausetpa.com.

 

Renaldo: By the way, who is Bamba Ra, and how is he connected with the group? I came in and saw a flyer about him.

 

Shekhem Rameneikhi: He’s been a pillar of the [Philadelphia and Black and Brown] community for a long time.

 

Renaldo: I saw that he just recently died in 2021 – Bamba Ra aka Sha’Heed Muhamad – and was born Morris Lenwood Rufin Jr. in 1944. According to the info sheet here, he was involved in the Student Non-Violent Action Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He was very involved in the Revolutionary Action Movement and The Nation of Islam. The article goes on to explain that although he experienced some traumatic and controversial experiences during these times, they truly defined him and his artistic gifts in his many entrepreneurial endeavors to express African Achievement and pride. The article opines that in the 1970’s, he was a frequent contributor to the Journal of Black Poetry, one of the strongest publications of Black Thought and expressions and inclusion in the iconic work of author George Foreman. Importantly, they described Bamba Ra as having charisma, charm and the gift of gab. Did Bamba have any connection with the society or was he part of the society when he was alive?

Shekhem Rameneikhi: No, he was a friend of the society and he had his own fashion and line.

 

Renaldo: Oh, okay. Thank you so much for your contribution and for taking the time on such short notice to participate in this impromptu interview. I wish you and the group tremendous success.

 

I went back to explore the center some more and to speak with the High Priest I had started the interview with in the beginning, Shekhem Ma’am, Kheru Men Metu, as he was getting ready to facilitate a drum lesson. Here, I discovered that he was a musician, particularly a drummer extraordinaire. I then spoke with one of the owners of the center who was managing the restaurant and take-out, which was also inside the complex on the grounds. The cuisine was vegan and smelled as if it was pretty tasty. The Manager stated that she was from Trinidad and Tobago and that the center’s King was on business. I then returned to the main building where I had conducted the interviews with the Priests. They were getting ready to do Qi Gong and drumming. I sneaked into the room in another area of the facility. I noticed that as they entered the room where the drumming and Qi Gong were being done, they took their shoes off, leaving them at the door. This a follower explain was important to cleanliness and kamitic living. I looked at the entrance and saw two young men standing over a drum. In fact, one older young man was guiding the other younger man as he was beating the drum rhythmically. I observed and recorded the beat until I concluded my visit.

In closing, I raised a concern at the beginning of the article that I wanted to explore more in the conclusion of this article. Having explored this idea of Kamitic Spiriuality and Culture, as well as other discoveries about the foundations of knowledge, I realized our education system and how we strategically leave out some other occurrences and histories. I do a compulsory course at Georgetown University as part of the Doctoral Studies Program in Liberal Studies, where we are expected to do a class called DLS Foundations 1, 2, 3, and 4, looking at the foundational history of civilization, especially that of the West and to an extent we explore the East. These studies, mainly Foundation 1, delve into the foundations by studying Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and Europe, with few references made to Eastern China, Russia, or India to a smaller extent. But nowhere do we look at Egypt/African history and ideologies and how they intersect with the West and form part of our civilizations’ understanding and development. This is worth exploring and must be followed up with the school’s course developers. As members of a student body, we can, at the collegiate level, press for these inclusions in our school’s course curriculum and programming. This may include doing research that brings the focus to the class without making it a top-down approach where the professor must ring the discovery or the information to the students, especially within the doctoral program. The doctoral student is already a scholar who must hone his critical thinking to explore concepts beyond the class and the teacher since he or she is at a place of discovery and must submit a dissertation. It is in these ways that such concerns can be resolved.

This interview/article is available in audio via The Neoliberal Round Podcast Season 3, Episode 4 on any major podcast stream, including Anchor.fm, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Podvine, Radio Public, Amazon Music and Stitcher. You may also tune into the podcast in this article by clicking on the embed below:

 

The Neoliberal Round Podcast is a production of The Neoliberal Corporation and is hosted by Rev. Renaldo McKenzie, the author of Neoliberalism and Doctoral Candidate at Georgetown University. Renaldo is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and president of The Neoliberal Corporation, a think tank, news commentary, social media, publishing, and editing company that also provides businesses web hosting and mobile application services. You are welcome to share your articles and audio and send us a newsletter, which we will publish. Send us your feedback about how we can improve.

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Submitted by Rev. Renaldo McKenzie

Renaldo is a PhD Candidate at Temple University in Africology and African American Studies and Professor at Jamaica Theological Seminary

 

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