I was reading a review in the New York Times on an ambitious exhibition that looks at the inspiration Black artists have drawn from ancient Egyptian culture, manifesting the connection they feel with this grand African civilization. I noted a mention of a Baaba Heru Ankh Ra Semahj Se Ptah, a former New York Police officer who immersed himself in an esoteric practice influenced by ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. As Aleister Crowley took imagery, terminology, practices and beliefs from what was known about the same belief system a century ago I ventured that Se Ptah might be a kindred spirit and did a little research.
As you read through this, you might consider how the Prophet of the Lovely Star and his writings were regarded by the mainstream media and overall society of his time – not to mention Egyptologists then and archaeologists today – when evaluating the relationship of between Thelemic elements derived from ancient Egypt and documented facts, then and now. Yet you find truth in his words, yes?
I found a New York Times profile which begins:
“FOR more than 20 years, he was Officer James Georges of the New York Police Department. Now he goes by the ancient Egyptian name Baba Heru Semahj.
“Mr. Semahj is the friendly pharaohlike fixture of Chinatown’s jewelry district around Canal and Mott Streets. He walks the area as if he just took a 10,000-year leap out of the Nile Valley. He greets passers-by who squint at the eye symbols and circle-topped crosses on his clothing and jewelry.
“Up in his fourth-floor space in a commercial building on Christie Street, Mr. Semahj keeps a shrine for worship and study of the ancient spirits of Kemet — the ancient name for Egypt. The space doubles as the longstanding showroom and studio for his Kemetic-themed jewelry.
“Mr. Semahj has spent most of his life studying Kemetic culture and was ordained years ago as a Kemetic priest — the first in New York City, he says.”
read the whole article: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/nyregion/baba-heru-semahj-from-police-officer-to-kemetic-priest.html.
Here’s a sample of his own writings on the Kemetic religion and way of life:
“During the wake for Dr Yosef Ben-Jochannan held at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on Thursday, April 9th 2015, Heru Ankh Ra Semahj SePtah, presiding elder of the Shrine of Ptah, called for the formation of a MA’AT MILITIA. While militias have traditionally armed themselves with weapons of violence- guns, knives, swords, etc. This MA’AT Militia will have a different purpose. We will arm ourselves with MA’AT ethical codes in order to address contemporary issues which plague our AfraKAmenta communities. Our ancient SMAI TAUWI Nile Valley ancestors left us 42 Confessions of MA’AT which we honor, and which will remain intact as written on ancient papyri. Due to the passing of time and changing of lifestyle, we people of Afrakan ascent are challenged to supplement our MA’AT ethical codes.
“Throughout “ourstory” of Nile Valley Afrakan Civilization, there were periodic internal disruptions and foreign invasions. Our ancestors governed themselves by the spiritual culture of MA’AT, SMAI TAUWI. The periodic interruptions known in Egyptology as “intermediate periods”, caused the breakdown of the Maatian order of harmony and prosperity that existed in the nation. Each time this occured a leader arose from the southern region of Nubia/Kush to restore MA’AT. With the last foreign (Arab) invasion of SMAI TAUWI in 640A.D. the spiritual culture of MA’AT became almost extinct.
“Western Egyptology is fascinated and in awe of the magnificent architecture, jewelry and art of the ancient Afrakans of the Nile yet they fail to elaborate on what they’ve discovered concerning the spiritual, ethical culture of MA’AT practiced and lived by the Afrakans of the Nile. The reason is simple; western man has been at war with harmonious nature and indigenous people whenever and wherever encountered. The ancient ancestors from the southern regions of Nubia and Kush who restored MA’AT (order), accomplish the task by invoking the Divine Creative Principle of PTAH.
“PTAH in Khamitic kosmology was referred to as the “Opener of the Way” and the Restorer of a new foundation. Today, we ancestral ascendants of this great civilization are awakening in AMENTA (the West). Our consciousness has been awakened by the works, words and legacy of our esteemed ancestors, elders, and scholars. Some of us, therefore, have made the decision to correct our present condition of spiritual, cultural and ethical exile through the restoration and application of SERUCH MA’AT – SMAI TAUWI (The Restoration of Ancestral Truth and Unity)
“We Khamurian Melanoids, visible members of a photonic race are earth’s Elders. We carry in our very skin the melanic memory of our cosmic solar/star and earthly Afrakan origins. For this visible kiss of the sun we are alternately envied and vilified. Today many among us have been effectively brain stained. In this condition we unwittingly serve the genocidal designs of the psycho-pseudo leucoderms.
“We so-called “black” people, are honest and brave enough to claim some of the responsibility for some of the conditions that assail us. High on the list are in-house divisive religions, homicides, drive-by’s, jealousy, envy and back biting. This suicidal and psychotic behavior makes a mockery of the fact that “BLACK LIVES MATTER”. If we fail to Love, Respect, Protect and Honor our own and each other’s lives, why should we expect others to care about, respect, and honor our lives?”
Here’s a podcast interview with the gent: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/magnetscrystalsandpyramids/2018/04/05/rise-of-maat-legacy-restoring-healing-balance-baaba-heru-ankh-ra-semahj.
and finally his own website: https://shrineofptah.org/.
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