THE CURRENT PRACTICE OF SPIRITUALISM IN MODERN CHRISTIANITY IS A RETURN TO THE BASICS IN HUMAN NATURE

REV. PROF. J. J. KENEZ ANALYSES THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ROOTS OF SPIRITUALISM THAT IS NOW IN VOGUE IN CURRENT CHRISTENDOM WORLDWIDE TODAY.

THE CURRENT PRACTICE OF SPIRITUALISM IN MODERN CHRISTIANITY IS A RETURN TO THE BASICS IN HUMAN NATURE

Dr Jideofo Kenechukwu Danmbaezue, D.Sc.

Consultant Clinical Psychologist/ Existential Family Therapist,

Medical Director & Senior Research Fellow,

HAPPY FAMILY NETWORK INTERNATIONAL,

5 CHURCH STREET, FEDERAL HOUSING ESTATES,

TRANS-EKULU, ENUGU

ABSTRACT

The Current Re-emergence of Spiritualism in Christendom is a return to the basics in human nature of seeking to reduce anxiety or depression by knowing the future relying on the vagaries of prophecies that every spirit medium can see and communicate and therefore be prepared to forestall their negative effects. It started in the Garden of Eden when Eve succumbed to Satan’s deceptive suggestion that eating the Forbidden Fruit would make her as wise as God. The primordialpsychological satisfaction of the knowledge and ability to control one's future is the root of spiritualism. It is an extension of Eve's desire to be as wise as God. That was the joker the serpent used to get her eat the forbidden fruit. So you can now place a finger at the aetiology of and development of current day confused Christians having recourse to occult mediums who give them what their regular pastors do not and can never provide. Simply put; it is a return to African Traditional Religious Practices. Imported religions have failed them and our half-baked Christians are back to their roots.  

PROLOGUE:

Please permit me indulge in a pastime I developed as an adolescent in the 1960s at All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha. Though your bishop was a master actor in William Shakespeare's Plays that our school acted "in diebus illis"; meaning "in those days". The cast of AS YOU LIKE IT that was their best included Hilary Okeke, Romanus Mmuoneke, Mark Anwulora & many others my memory has failed to recall now. I lacked the recitation skills of acting, however I was one of the few that read English Literature at the Advanced Level but failed to sit the examinations as the Biafran War overtook all of us.

Here is a summary of what we shall be discussing in this ultimate article on THE PSYCHOLGICAL ROOTS OF SPIRITUALISM THAT IS NOW IN VOGUE IN CURRENT CHRISTENDOM WORLWIDE TODAY.

Hulton Archive - Stringer/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Macbeth witches are essential to the plot ofMacbeth because they provide Macbeth's ‘call to action'. Their prophesies drive his thirst for power and enable Lady Macbeth to pursue her own ambitions. Therefore, the Macbeth witches provide the dynamism that has made Macbeth one of Shakespeare's most popular and intense plays.

What I hope all my readers will note from this citation is that all spiritual mediums are double tongued, their predictions of prophecies are very woolly and could mean so many things that only their captives can translate for good or demonic purposes.

The sinister Motives of the Macbeth Witches

Shakespeare used a number of devices to create a sense of otherness and malevolence for theMacbeth witches (also referred to as the "weird sisters"). For example:

· The Macbeth witches speak in rhyming couplets which distinguishes them from all other characters in the play

· The Macbeth witches are said to have beards, making them difficult to gender

· They are always accompanied by storms and bad weather

During the play, the Macbeth witches make five key predictions:

1.                      Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor

2.                      Banquo's children will become kings

3.                      They advise Macbeth to "beware Macduff"

4.                      Macbeth cannot be harmed by anyone "of woman born"

5.                      Macbeth cannot be beaten until "Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane shall come"

Four of these predictions are realized; one is not. Although Banquo's children do not become Kings during the course of the play, Banquo's children do escape murder and could return at some point in the future. At the end of the play it is left for the audience to decide whether or not they believe theMacbeth witches.

But are the witch's prophesies preordained? Or do they simply encourage Macbeth to become active in constructing his own fate? It is perhaps part ofMacbeth's character to shape his life according to the predictions - whereas Banquo does not. This might explain why the only prophesy not realized by the end of the play relates directly to Banquo and cannot be shaped by Macbeth (although Macbeth would also have little control over the "Great Birnam Wood" prediction).

By writing the Macbeth witches in this manner, Shakespeare is asking an age old question: are our lives already mapped out for us or do we have a hand in what happens to us? Therefore, at the end of the play the audience is forced to consider the extent to which the characters have control over their own lives.

This is essential to the plot of Macbeth because they provide Macbeth's ‘call to action'. Their ‘prophesies’ drive his thirst for power and enableLady Macbeth to pursue her own ambitions.

Therefore, the Macbeth witches provide the dynamism that has made Macbeth one of Shakespeare's most popular and intense plays.

The Macbeth Witches

Shakespeare used a number of devices to create a sense of otherness and malevolence for theMacbeth witches (also referred to as the "weird sisters"). For example:

• Four of these predictions are realized; one is not. Although Banquo's children do not become Kings during the course of the play, Banquo's children do escape murder and could return at some point in the future. At the end of the play it is left for the audience to decide whether or not they believe theMacbeth witches.
• But are the witch's prophesies preordained? Or do they simply encourage Macbeth to become active in constructing his own fate? It is perhaps part of Macbeth's character to shape his life according to the predictions - whereas Banquo does not. This might explain why the only prophesy not realized by the end of the play relates directly to Banquo and cannot be shaped by Macbeth (although Macbeth would also have little control over the "Great Birnam Wood" prediction).

NOTE THAT SAME DOUBLE EDGED SWORD IS AT PLAY HERE; WITCH DOCTORS AND OTHER SPIRIT MEDIUMS ARE MASTERS AT DOBLE-SPEAK, CONFUSING THEIR CAPTIVES WHO CAN INTERPRET THEIR MESSAGE EITHER WAY

PROPER DEFINITIONS OF THE RELEVANT TERMS BECOMES MANDATROY FOR DELIMITING OUR UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE

Spiritualism is a dualist metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least two fundamental substances, matter andspirit. This very broad metaphysical distinction is further developed into many and various forms by the inclusion of details about what spiritual entities exist such as a soul, the afterlife, spirits of the dead, deities and mediums; as well as details about the nature of the relationship between spirit and matter. It may also refer to the philosophy, doctrine, or religionpertaining to a spiritual aspect of existence.^[1]

It is also a term commonly used for various psychic or paranormal practices and beliefs recorded throughout humanity's history^[2][3] and in a variety of cultures.^[4][5]

Spiritualistic traditions appear deeply rooted in shamanism and perhaps are one of the oldest forms of religion. 

Mediumship is a modern form of shamanism and such ideas are very much like those developed by Edward Burnett Tylor in his theory of animism,^[6] in which there are other parallel worlds to our own, though invisible to us and not accessible to us in our state. A psychic is to be one of the connecting link between these worlds. A psychic is defined as someone endowed with exceptional sensitivity to the occult dimension, who experiences visions and revelations. Some authors have stated only few individuals are said to have this capacity.^[7]

From the Latin 'spiritus'. Most basically, spiritualism is the belief that spirits are able to communicate with the living by agency of a medium. The earliest recorded use of the word is 1796^[8] and it was used by the prominent 18th-century spiritualist Emanuel Swedenborg. The term "spiritualism" has come to have different meanings. A broad working definition of the term would include; the multi-faceted belief in a vital principle within living beings, a supernatural or paranormal,divine, incorporeal being–force, spirit–animasanimating bodies etc.

Adherents of spiritualistic movements believe that the spirits of the dead survive mortal life, and that sentient beings from "spiritual worlds", can and do communicate with the living. Since ancient times, this has been an element in traditional indigenous religions.^[9] In today's world, it is a growing phenomenon manifesting itself in traditional indigenous religiosity on all continents through non-aligned spiritualistic groups and many syncretistic movements and within elements of orthodox religions by which it is still seen as a challenge.^[10]

Many reference works [2] also use the term spiritism to mean the same thing as "spiritualism" but Spiritism is more accurately used to mean Kardecist spiritism. Central to adherents' faith is a belief that spirits of the dead communicate with the living usually through a medium.

UTILISATION OF SPIRITUALISM IS WORLDWIDE BUT HERE LET US RESTRICT OURSELVES TO OUR CONTINENT AFRICA

West-African Kongol and Bantu tradition is generally referred to as Vodun (or anglicised to Voodoo). Spirit mediumship and spirit possession are fairly common practices in Sub-Saharan Africa, both in traditional religions and in Christian contexts.

As is the norm, the term spiritualism and spiritism are used generally and interchangeably to describe indigenous spiritualistic practises.^[61] Spiritism, spiritualism,^[62] and spiritual churches have been established in Ghana^[63] and Nigeria. Following similar trends of the syncretism of traditional spirit worship and Christianity,^[64][65] they pervade everyday life to the top of society where they play a part in politic elections, ritualizing to help politicians win elections and interpreting events in prophetic terms^[62] and are used in healing.^[66]

Kubandwa is a spirit possession cult spread all over the Great Lakes region of Africa (Rwanda, Burundi, north-western Tanzania, Uganda, Eastern Congo)^[67] past women have played an important role in kubandwa, both as mediums and spirits.^[68] Tromba mediumship features in Madagascar.^[69]

 

SPIRITUALISM IS NOT RESTRICTED TO THE OLDEST RELIGIONS NOR CHRISTIANITY FOR EVEN IN THE FAR EAST RELIGIONS THEY EXIST AS WELL AS THE NEWEST ONES

 

Islam[edit]

Main article: marabout

Spiritualism is practised but not condoned in Islamic societies. The Sufi sect of Dervishes are referred to as "Eastern Spiritualists".^[70] Likewise, the Zār cult of North Africa (Sudan, Egypt) and theMiddle East (Iran).^[71]

SPIRITUALISTIC ACTIVITIES

The phenomena of Spiritualism consists of; prophecy, clairvoyance, clairaudience, gift of tongues, laying on of hands, healing, visions, trance, apports, revelations, raps, levitation, automatic and independent writing and painting, photography, materialization, psychometry, direct and independent voice, and any other manifestation which proves the continuity of life after death.^[72]

Such universal practises and the giving of spiritual guidance, the different manifestation of spiritualistic activities were categorised by Sir William Crookes, a highly distinguished British physicist and chemist, as being;

·                    The movement of heavy bodies with contact, but without mechanical exertion

·                    The phenomena of percussive and other allied sounds

·                    The alteration of weights of bodies

·                    Movements of heavy substances when at a distance from the medium

·                    The rising of tables and chairs off the ground, without contact with any person

·                    The levitation of human beings

·                    Movement of various small articles without contact with any person

·                    Luminous appearances

·                    The appearance of hands, either self-luminous or visible by ordinary light

·                    Direct (automatic) writing

·                    Phantom forms and faces

·                    Special instances which seem to point to the agency of an exterior intelligence

·                    Miscellaneous occurrences of a complex character.

GENDER BALANCE

Women have historically had a fairly constant interest in the spirit world. Spiritualism's current popularity in the West is a result of women having more power and visibility, giving the spirit world a prominence in society that it previously had only during spiritualism's "boom" periods when men became interested.^[73]

Historically, the majority of mediums for tromba spirits amongst the Sakalava have also been adult women, usually in their forties or older and is likewise associated with female status.^[69] In general, a Sakalava ritual in which the spirits must be fed, cannot be performed if the two are not present and represented.

HERE PERMIT MY DIGRESSION TO IGBO TRADITIONAL ‘NSO ANI’ TO BUTTRESS MY CONTENTION THAT THE ROMANCE WE HAD WITH IMPORTED RELIGIONS HAVE WANED. THE MARRIAGE LOST ITS STEAM AFTER THE CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Although the pre-scientific metaphysics of the people of Biafra will definitely need updating, their Pristine Social Ethics will never need any existential change despite the whirlwind of foreign religions raging all around them!

This is not only the opinion of this author but that of many intellectuals who affirm that the corrupting influence of both Westernisation and Imported Religions will never erase the respect, adoration and loyalty NSO ANI enjoys in the hearts of liberated and self-actualised indigenes of the Igbo land! Authentic natives still live by NSO ANI in their private lives, whether at home or in the Diaspora, and transmit its mores and norms to their children by words and deeds!

To date, when all other religious abracadabra fail to heal an erring son or daughter of Biafra, resort is made to the pristine modes of cleansing the individual of the guilt he or she had earned by desecrating the natural laws of the Earth Goddess. No amount of religious imperialism or psychosocial politicisation of Igbo traditional religion can ever successfully replace the respect that NSO ANI enjoys in Biafra. This is exactly what the return to Spiritualism in Modern Christianity represents. Another way to put it is the romance with foreign religions and probably the bronze, silver, golden and diamond jubilees of our indigenes wedding to the white missionaries is over. We have woken up from our mass hypnosis; “THINGS FALL APART”

THE GENESIS OF IMMORALITY IN BIAFRA WAS THE ASSIMILATION OF WESTERNISATION SO MUCH SO THAT ONE CAN ARGUE THAT IMPORTED RELIGIONS BROUGHT OUR DECLINE IN SOCIAL MORALITY

The desecration of our pre-colonial high moral values started with the arrival of the first white missionaries in West Africa. What the natives called “NSO-ANI” was re-branded FORGIVEABLE SINS and so watered down the sanctity of religious values in Biafra. Its partner, WESTERN EDUCATION neatly completed the ‘coup de grace’ as the foreign concepts and social values of the colonialists destroyed the social ethics of the natives and rendered our pristine mores and norms ineffective. In some communities; “aping the white man’s dress code and mannerisms became fashionable and ignoring the customs and traditions of the community was seen as the criterion of being EDUCATED and MORE CIVILISED than the illiterate folks in the villages!

---------DR JIDEOFO KENECHUKWU DANMBAEZUE,

@ 30/06/2013 04:14:32 HRS GMT.

THE KENEZIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPERATIVES

1. IGBOS ARE HARD CORE REPUBLICANS WHO DO NOT SUCCUMB TO INSTITUTED AUTHORITIES EASILY. THEY ARE RESULT ORIENTATED. ONCE A LEADER FAILS TO GIVE THEM THE RESULTS THEY WANT, THEY TURN THEIR BACKS ON SUCH IMPOTENT LEADERS, RELIGIOUS OR POLITICAL DOES NOT COUNT.

2. THEY ARE SO CREATIVE THAT DEVISE ALTERNATIVES WITHOUT INCURRING EXCOMMUNICATION FROM THEIR OFFICIALCHURCH. THEY SEEK FOR EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS WHEREVER THEY CAN FIND IT.

3. THEY USE THEIR FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO SILENCE OPPOSITIONS WHO THEY ARE CERTAIN WILL NOT STOP THEM SO LONG AS THEY FINANCE CHURCH ACTIVITIES LIKE HARVEST AND BAZAARS, PAY THEIRS MAC OR TITHES AS AND WHEN DUE. FIRST, SECOND, THIRD AND FOURTH COLLECTIONS POSE NO PROBLEMS, SO WHY DO THEY NEED CLERICS TELLING THEM WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR MONEY AND PRIVATE RELIGIOUS LIFE?

4. THIS FITS THE AXIOM FROM THE LORD AND MASTER, GIVE TO CAESAR THE THINGS THAT ARE HIS AND TO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE HIS. SHEENA, NO VICTOR, NO LANGUISHED. THIS IS PRACTICALLY THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SPIRITUALISM IN CHRISTIANS RETURNING TO THEIR ROOTS. THE ONLY SOLUTION IS PROVIDING THEM SOLUTIONS BEYOND IMPOTENT SERMONS.

5. PSYCHOLOGICAL SATISFACTION OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITY TO CONTROL ONE'S FUTURE IS THE ROOT OF SPIRITUALISM. IT IS AN EXTENSION OF EVE'S DESIRE TO BE AS WISE AS GOD THAT WAS THE JOKER THE SERPENT USED TO GET HER EAT THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT. SO YOU CAN NOW PLACE A FINGER AT THE ETIOLOGY OF CURRENT DAY CONFUSED CHRISTIANS HAVING RECOURSE TO OCCULT MEDIUMS WHO GIVE THEM WHAT THEIR REGULAR PASTORS DO NOT AND CAN NEVER PROVIDE.

6. SIMPLY PUT; IT IS A RETURN TO AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS PRACTICES. IMPORTED RELIGIONS HAVE FAILED AND OUR HALFBACK CHRISTIANS ARE BACK TO THEIR ROOTS. THE ONLY OPTION IS FOR OFFICIALS OF THE IMPORTED VERSIONS OF CHRISTIANITY TO GIVE THE NATIVES WHAT SPIRIT MEDIUMS PROVIDE THEM. THIS IS WHY SPIRITUAL CHURCHES ARE THRIVING. CAN THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE PROVIDE ANSWERS?

REFERENCES;

     1-6. abstract, Prologue and Kenez Imperativesare culled from    Renascent Igbo Religion For Global Peacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01900294953147786505

7. Wikipedia Free Encyclopaedia,https://www.google.com.ng/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=spirituality+and+religion
8. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia,https://www.google.com.ng/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=SPIRITISM
9. Roman Catholic Encyclopaediahttp://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=467 SPIRITUALISM AND IYS DANGERS

10.Kenez Miscellaneous  Posts;https://www.google.com.ng/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=AGUNABU%20UMUELECHI%20BIAFRA

SEE DR KENEZ BRIEF CURRICULUM VITAE

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dr-j-kenechukwu-danmbaezue/51/393/591

https://plus.google.com/100752842609304318747/about

KENEZ PSYCHOTHERPEUTIC EPILOGUE

The narrative you find in Genesis 5, vv.21 – 24 and again in the Book of Sirach; Chapter 44, verse 16 makes a brief reference to Enoch. Read them now before evaluating my resume.

Those narratives are instructive and it might be very beneficial for you spending some time analysing their import. The following are my humble conclusions after perusing them.

1.      Enoch was an illiterate man. He obeyed the natural laws God put in his mind and the environment. Yet he was not corrupt like those around him who were described as ‘sinners’.

 2.      No one taught Enoch these natural laws that merited favour with the Almighty Creator of the whole universe even at the ripe age 365 years! Therefore the knowledge is in-born in humans!

3.      Enoch who gave birth to Methuselah, a legend that lived 969 years, was neither a priest nor a prophet, yet he was pleasing to God! So could you and I!

SO IT IS STILL POSSIBLE TO PLEASE ALMIGHTY GOD WITHOUT BELONGING TO THE WARRING RELIGIONS OF TODAY. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT ISM IS ALL ABOUT.

YOU TOO, CAN REALLY PLEASE GOD WITHOUT BEING DEEPLY INVOLVED WITH THE MUNDANE RELIGIOUS POLITICS OF THIS AGE OF FANATICISM OR SYNCRETISM.

THE SECRET OF ENOCH WAS THAT HE HAD NO IDOLS.

·        He did not worship these idols: self-pride, love-of-money, indulgence-in-erotic-pleasures, lust-for-power, food & alcoholism.

·        Rather, he obeyed all the natural laws he could decipher and was loyal to the Creator of his parents.

·        He loved his fellow human beings, took care of them and showed his concern for them.

·        A simple and uncomplicated life on this planet Earth will merit you the same reward HE got! Imitate him in thoughts, words and deeds.  That is exactly I. S. M for Global Peace!

PICTURES FOR PUBLISHER TO CHOOSE FROM;

    

IN SUMMARY, DR JIDEOFO KENECHUKWU DANMBAEZUE CONTENDS THAT NO DEVOUT CHILD OF GOD SHOULD CONSULT A SPIRIT MEDIUM. WHATEVER MERITED THE FIRST MAN WHO WAS TAKEN UP TO LIVE WITH THE CREATOR LEST HE BE CORRUPTED BY HIS PEERS IS  OUR BEST LIFESTYLE.

THE ENOCHIAN BEATITUDES

1. Blessed are those who obey all the Natural Laws in creation, For theirs is the Kingdom of God, personally guaranteed by The Almighty Creator of the universe.

2. Blessed are those who recognise that all human beings are their brothers and sisters, For their portion is the possession of the true Egalitarianism.

3. Blessed are those who know that we all share the same air, water, blood plasma, sun and moon, For this native insight shall reward them with filial love and care for others.

4. Blessed are those who realise that we all walk and plant on the same ground, For social justice and the joy of sharing shall be their everlasting benefits.

5. Blessed are those who wake up early each morning thanking and praising God, For this acknowledgement shall bring them divine blessings and peace of mind.

6. Blessed are all that recognise that equality at birth is the L.C.M. of human life, For theirs is the philosophic insight that eradicates apartheid and abrogates racism.

7. Blessed are the wise who know that we return to this human equality at death, For theirs are the social virtues and simple lifestyles it inculcates in all wise people.

8. Blessed are the genuine proponents and practitioners of true family life, For, through lovely children and happy homes, they shall inherit eternal life.

9. Blessed are all who train themselves to restrain their thoughts and guard their speech, For they will be respected by and confided in by those who interact with them anywhere.

10. Blessed are the few who have conquered their appetites for food, drinks and sex, For true happiness based on control of their will power shall be crowns on their heads.

BLESSED ARE THE TRUE DISCIPLES OF PATRIARCH ENOCH FOR

• SUCCESSFUL LONG LIVES, • GOOD HEALTH IN OLD AGE, &

• PHYSICAL ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN SHALL BE

THE ETERNAL PRIZES RESERVED FOR THEM BY GOD!