Indigenous Wisdom Free Mind-Altering Substances and the Spiritual Quest: Paths of Permission, Paths of Prohibition by Ameena Ahmed Throughout human history, spiritual communities have sought methods to thin the veil between the visible and invisible worlds. Some traditions have pursued this aim through ritual intoxication, others through prayer, fasting, breath, rhythm, and disciplined consciousness. The divergence between these approaches reveals not a single spiritual truth, By The Rising Firefly • 4 min read
Social A Travelers Goal by Zebekiya Merutepiaou What do you want to be when you grow up? Where do you want to live? How much money do you want to make? One could go on and on with elaborate, ambitious illusions. None of these is the actual goal in life for the seeker working By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
Social The Dangers of Being Right By Bezsati Maheqwir Completed - SaMa’at Sometimes it's better to be wrong than to be right. Master NABA said a person who succeeds without failure or making mistakes along the way isn't a winner, and someone who may fall many times along the way isn' By The Rising Firefly • 4 min read
Social Cultural Appropriation and Spiritual Consumerism by Ibasahu Pernebsati Whiteness is not about skin color because Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a very dangerous white male oppressor, and his skin is dark in color. So don’t think this is about skin color or hating yourself, and honestly, the intellectual and emotional exercise of “hating By The Rising Firefly • 5 min read
Cultural Free The Orchard Lesson by Kemabib Dematepia I was about 10 years old on the day my elder brother and I set out with two older friends foraging for rare fruits in the jungle. After about a kilometer of trekking we located soursop, guava, rare mango and avocado trees. There was a problem; we By The Rising Firefly • 2 min read
Social The Expression of Words by Menksah Hezahadjed Words have power, especially when used precisely and within the appropriate context. My observation is that the word is often suppressed, especially when it challenges the prevailing narrative and contains truths. As the saying goes, “the pen is mightier than the sword”. By The Rising Firefly • 2 min read
The Initiate To Be Human Again by Netefi Khentimah Somehow, the beings whose roots stretch deep beneath the earth and whose branches reach toward the sky do not need instruction on how to be. The tree does not question its purpose. The fish in the ocean are not taught their nature or how to use their By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
The Essence of the Revolutionary Spirit by Tehala Pernebsati Revolution as Self-Transformation In Kebtah, we have a saying: “Revolution starts with the self.” This simple quote encapsulates a powerful concept that can transform one's perspective on life. You see, society often imposes grandiose notions that we can/should “change the world” or “save By The Rising Firefly • 7 min read
Supernatural by Ameera Pernebsati Since I was a child, I have had a fascination with stories involving the supernatural. Whether it was about fictional creatures, witches, wizards, magic, mutants, superheroes, and the like, I was always drawn to anything that seemed to have more power and ability than the average human By The Rising Firefly • 4 min read
Free THE MANUFACTURED CRISIS OF IDENTITY How Western Illusion-Creation Diverted Us From Our True Selves — And the Ancient African Wisdom That Had Already Provided the Answer by Ameena Ahmed For centuries, the Western colonial enterprise has relied on a subtle but devastating mechanism: teaching people to construct lives of illusion so thoroughly that they forget By The Rising Firefly • 4 min read
Social The Identification system imposition on the human beings Identity by Sahkana Merutepiaou Modern societies have developed formal identification systems to organize populations, administer governance, and regulate access to rights and resources. These systems—such as birth certificates, national identity cards, passports, and digital databases—are standardized, state-controlled, and designed to identify individuals within a large population. However, the By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
Social The Spiritual Awakening of Africa: A Call for Global Redemption by Hatnima Shemzura In a world increasingly shaped by division, ecological collapse, and spiritual disconnection, a quiet but powerful renaissance is emerging from the heart of Africa. Led by nations like Burkina Faso, this movement is not merely political—it is profoundly spiritual. It marks the beginning of a new By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
The Initiate Barbarism by Aama Harwood Growing up in an old mining town nestled between the Navajo and Ute reservations in Southwest Colorado, the words "savage" and "barbarian" conjure images of a history laden with violence and contradiction. I think of how settlers brought with them a vision of By The Rising Firefly • 7 min read
Ka’atibi Free Fitting into something pure by Tenihapi Hezahadjed Purification prepares us for what’s next. We brush our teeth and clean ourselves physically to prepare for a new day - but in this modern world, do we have a clear technical and logical process to clean our spirit daily? With Nature always becoming anew, and the By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
Night Fire Free Name Only One Good Thing: A Hilarious Journey Through Humanity's Greatest Illusion by Repiyah Hentkhepra Let us play along for a moment. Let us imagine that you were asked in a global panel of thinkers, philosophers, and policy makers to name just one thing; yes, one thing, that the modern world, through its many glittering towers of political leadership, has truly done By The Rising Firefly • 2 min read
Connecting with the Ancestors by Bikamen Khentimah The Maakheru, Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig, once said that the land we belong to (Meritah) is so vast, no matter how far you walk, you cannot reach the end, but if your heart is in the right place, wherever you turn will be your home. This quote By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
The Spiritual Consequences of Food Choices: How What We Eat Shapes Our Spirit by Zefisah Shemzusheta Food is not neutral. It is information, energy, and instruction. Every bite we take communicates with the body, the nervous system, the emotions, and the spirit. Long before food becomes flesh, blood, or bone, it first becomes a message—one that tells the body whether it is By The Rising Firefly • 2 min read
Perspectives on Autism: Modern vs. Indigenous by Ibsahu Pernebsati When it comes to autism or other mental health disorders/diagnoses that are given to a lot of our children and adults, Western modern society is again thousands of years behind indigenous cultures in understanding exactly what these things are and how they play a harmonious role By The Rising Firefly • 6 min read
Was it Ever Over ? by Yakubu Awal Most Africans and most people under the control of this modern system have been comfortably led to think the injustice that was perpetuated on the people of color has ended or stopped. In our history books, we are told that slavery has ended and for that reason By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
Social Free Reinstating Authenticity in Media through Timeless Wisdom by Ameena Ahmed In a world overwhelmed by media—where eye-catching headlines compete fiercely and the truth frequently gets lost amid spectacle—it is easy to overlook that communication once operated according to sacred patterns. Our social feeds move quicker than the rhythm of our heartbeats, and our focus By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
Preserving Traditional Wisdom by Fahuzer Pernebsati The journey of navigating one's internal compass is a continuous act of adjusting and re-adjusting to align with the greater power, nature. This understanding is what led the indigenous traditional culture to be able to preserve, protect and pass down through oral teachings - the By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
When the Light Was Thin: The First Sparks of the New Era still Shone by Biksaa Nessebik The lands were dark and barren. Even the simple joy of watching birds and bees dance through the morning air was fading into memory. We saw nature mostly through screens — the very screens that kept us apart, ghost-shadows of each other in a digital cave. Isolation By The Rising Firefly • 4 min read
Social A Message to Black People Part II by Ibsahu Pernebsati And those options will only be bounded by the limits of your intelligence. If you're not satisfied with the information you've been fed and look beyond the philosophies of modern society you will find nature and the principles it imposes upon existence. For By The Rising Firefly • 3 min read
The Destruction of The African Identity Part 3 of 3 The Migration from Cultural to Political Social Structures by Keniwuru Merutepiaou Colonial influence over the psychology of the African manifests in many ways. To conclude our series, let us focus on a subtle but critical example. How Africa migrated from a cultural and traditional system to a politically structured society dictated upon by external players. By The Rising Firefly • 8 min read
