In His Father’s Footsteps

In His Father’s Footsteps

This traditional saying underscores one role of men in indigenous cultures across the globe and for this writer, it is also an allegory that is applicable for the multifaceted levels of responsibility the male gender must undertake in this life. For us, and for the purposes of this column, however, it is likely that we must first endeavour to uncover the very root from whence we draw the life-sap that nourishes our collective model for manhood. Our human inability to invent nor create without first having a source of inspiration, such as it is, necessitates that there be such a role model to exemplify the character, manner, speech and behaviour we are to embody as the men of our families and society. 

Where else can we begin, other than at the source of the human species; to unravel in our attempt at discovery, the thread that has woven together the warp and weft of the fabric of humanity’s original civilisation? It is this impregnable fabric that has permitted it to remain as the unrivaled manifestation of human genius. Our hope is that with this column the reader will join us in the journey of exploratory inquiry into this highly pertinent topic and perhaps find some practical benefit in what is uncovered herein for the sake of ourselves, our families, communities, society, etc. 

In the recent period of the last few decades of the modern era, the male image, with respect to what has traditionally been understood as his role and function in human society, has come under heavy attack. It has been maligned and marginalised not often in a direct way but primarily through its being undermined by the push for the deluded phantasm of “gender equality” as flagrantly espoused by the feminist movement and pervasively reinforced within the Western societal milieu. But what is this role that has been so subverted and underhandedly disparaged? How might it be seen as an impediment to the overall agenda of the establishment? And further, what could its reconstitution portend for those wishing to remember the primacy of humanity’s inestimable heights? 

Based on the Kemetic paradigm, we male devotees and disciples of the indigenous traditions must turn to the first male figure we have been made aware of: our Ancestral Father Wsr. He is our initial point of reference. However, even for the reader who may simply be looking for a traditional perspective on manhood, if you are a man, we hold this point of reference to be similarly applicable. It is Wsr, the Sovereign of the World of the Dead, the first Father of humanity, King of Kings, Merciful Keeper of Mysteries and Neter (God) with the stopped heart; the Ever-Green Neter of vegetation and fecundity whose flesh is the seed and whose blood is the water that induces its germination. It is with Wsr’s numerous qualities and attributes that perhaps many parallels can be drawn, both innate (biological and anatomical) and culturally instilled (values, education) within the male gender. 

Anatomically, it is clear that there are particular functions of the male physiology that mirror those of the First Male and some of what later became symbolic of His many incarnations. To highlight this point we must refer to the chapters of the Holy Drama where Wsr (Neter of the Preservation of Life) is deprived of the chance to start His family after being tricked by His brother Seth (Neter of the Destruction of Life) into laying in a coffin that was custom made for Wsr, which is promptly shut, sealed and thrown into the Nile river. Wsr, after being found, is later dismembered into 14 pieces only to be re-membered minus one all-essential part critical for Him producing an heir, His phallus. This missing organ, having been swallowed by a fish, was to become memorialised as a symbol of resurrection. It is through its erection and procreative function that the life of human beings is made possible (the Holy Drama CD presents more details). All males take this physiological quality from our Father Wsr. Our capability to procreate represents, like our Father, a chance to return to the World of the Living. Since every birth is considered as the return of someone from our bloodline coming to continue their evolution and the work of that bloodline, we can see how the procreative function of the male would be key in permitting this to occur. This key to the preservation of life, the foundational characteristic of Wsr’s existence, is inherited by us from Him. 

However, once we are born, mature, and eventually arrive at manhood, how do we function as men based on what we have been able to see from our Ancestral Father? The Holy Drama opens with Wsr being plotted against (by Seth) and shortly thereafter he is killed, even before His child Heru/t (represents each human being male and female) is born, and before Heru/t gets to directly benefit from His teaching. Yet even in death, our Father has secured the destiny of His progeny. What lesson can we men gain from His brief life with us up to this point in the Holy Drama and what’s more, His sudden death? For this writer, the reliance Wsr had on His companion and complement Aishat (Netert of Love), in the fulfillment of His destiny, speaks volumes. Certainly, this complementary reliance figures prominently in later parts of the Holy Drama as Heru is kept safe and alive despite the ongoing threat of His uncle Seth’s attempts on His life. It is by Aishat that Heru, Wsr’s rightful heir, is not only miraculously conceived, but is birthed, nurtured, raised and educated. And it is by Her and Her sister’s labours that Heru survives to be called upon and tested by His dying Father as a final rite of His initiation. In each of these instances, with the support of His loving companion Aishat, Wsr is showing us some of the roles we must assume as men. 

Firstly, the man is the foremost leader and protector of the family. We are the first line of defence and security for our household and by extension, society. It is in the absence of this defencive figure manning the fort, that Seth gains an advantage to advance His destructive aims, hence Seth’s attempt to deny His brother Wsr, by way of His plot, the opportunity to even produce an heir. By blocking the conception of an heir, Seth effectively disrupts the creation of lineage, legacy, and the perpetuation of life. Being the Neter that is decidedly anti-life, which for us represents Evil, what better way to ensure that the perpetuation of life and ultimately the potential for the reemergence of Goodness, is disrupted? So, men have the physiological capability and the weight of responsibility for preserving life through protecting those we are responsible for. This, we can see, Wsr has ensured by successfully establishing the first family. Then, by giving us the tools to protect Goodness, we were charged with being warriors and hunters; the hunter/warrior that must stalk and conquer himself, if he wishes to stand a chance at defending against Evil. 

Secondly, as mentioned, in Wsr’s dying moments, He makes certain that the one He is relying on to carry His blood forward is educated/ initiated properly (see Heru’s Initiation, Rising Firefly Vol. 72). What good is the survival of one’s blood if there is no education to guide one’s progeny toward that which will elevate and not bring dishonour and shame on the bloodline name? Yet, how can we foster the space for learning and the advancement of spiritual values, moral fortitude, strong character, forbearance, etc. when our family’s bodies, minds, and spirits, lack the fortitude necessary to sustain longevity? So for our nurturing wives, mothers of our progeny, backbone of the family, and those precious young lives, we put the hope of our destiny in, we must dutifully provide as our Father did in teaching us all that we need to know to survive, from farming, medicine, building, mathematics, language, writing, astronomy, purifications, spiritual activities, divination, etc. Everything, from the mundane to the transcendent, that we needed to build our world and civilisation, was considered and provided for. The burden of provision is resoundingly exemplified by the most lofty standard set by our Ancestral Father and so falls to us latter-day fathers and men. 

Thirdly, we must prepare the way. The above responsibilities are inclusive of and are precursors to making this third step possible. As men, we prepare the way. As fathers, we must ensure that should we face our demise in blazing the trail, that all is not lost. Wsr was the ultimate trailblazer crossing into the unknown and creating the Imentet (World of the Dead) to provide, yet again, a kingdom for His children to be safe from the threat of Seth’s evil ploys. So too in life we men march, often into the unknown, to chart and secure new territory, to scout out and establish new villages and farmlands in areas that are defensible, for the resettlement of our families and community when necessary. We prepare the way to spreading and sharing the values and knowledge far and wide like the eternal flame of the sacred hearth that glows ever brighter when setting alight the tinder of eager hearts and minds. Such was the mission of Wsr when he too travelled to educate humanity, bringing with Him the flame of enlightenment to illuminate the globe. 

It would be ostentatious of us to presume that we could qualify to fill such immense shoes in a single lifetime, yet here we stand obliged to try by mere virtue of our gender. We face not only the high bar set by our Father but the challenges of just being a human being in a world fraught with challenges, distractions, and corruption. The male gender has seen its share, in this respect, with the machinations of a system that is the handmaiden of the Neter of Destruction, Seth. Families are prime targets to strike in the fulfillment of His goals and men are the first line of defence. Isn’t it interesting that the modern society has managed to blur the lines of manhood unrelentingly? It has situated us in the position of fatherlessness due to the high rate of divorce, and further for the Black and Brown communities in particular, the systematic disenfranchisement of the men which it eagerly facilitates through prisons, drugs, guns, etc. The reconstitution of our basis for manhood is a threat to the political ambition of the system and the force it represents. For truly the restoration of manhood is to stand in the redemptive light of Goodness and the force that this quality signifies. We can not fight the dynamic forces of Evil with like tactics, but only by hunting it down within ourselves and being a representative of the resolve and discipline needed for this undertaking, as we point the way forward to our descendants. It is the conclusion of this writer therefore that, “The son of the hunter must know how to walk through the bush.” Our own Ancestral Father has seen to it that we know the way. 

“When you are a child following your elders and you see them walking fast, don’t give up! One day you will walk fast like them” 

- Ancestral Invocation at Tahmbo Temple