THE MANIFESTATION OF SPIRITUAL ENERGY

In understanding that the core of our humanity is spiritual energy and life force, it seems appropriate to understand how that energy is manifested in the lives of African-descent people, and other members of the human family. In viewing the different systems and philosophies of various African traditions, the spiritual essence of human being is said to exist in the spirit of the ances- tors, the biogenetic makeup of their parents, the intrauterine environment of the womb, the world of the mundane after birth, and back to the spirit world in which status as an ancestor is the goal. However, once arrived in the world where the spiritual and material join, the goal is to both search out and em- brace one’s destiny, while also leading a life that is ethically and morally proper. For the Akan, Ephirim-Donkor (1997) reminds us that they believe that prior to consciousness, children are endowed with a clairvoyance that enables them to maintain close rapport with the spirit counterparts in the ancestral world. Thus, children are both highly valued and cared for safely because of their telepathic ability and the possibility that they could be the ancestors arriv- ing from the spirit world. Once growing in consciousness and with the cessation of their paranormal activity, children enter a phase of deliberate indoctrination and education with the cultural mores, values, and ethos of African people de- signed to help them become good citizens. The goal here is to prepare young children, and subsequently adolescents for the adult world, complete with the obligations and responsibilities that accompany it. As a result of this deliberate socialization, young people begin to exhibit the characteristics that allow them to function effectively within the social, economic, political, spiritual, and psychological domains of life, managing their affairs with standards of ethics and morality.