Defining Ises and its Importance

Buruk Fikir!
Blessed Love my Royal Sistren.

As some of I and I prepare to enter into Sabbath once again, I offer a reasoning (from my RasTafari Book of Ises) on the meaning and importance of Ises. No woman is as strong as she can be if she doesn't have the power of Ises and Communion with JAH in her mind, body and soul. Ises is so many things - a rejuvenation, a hope, a cleanse, a thanksgiving, a joyful noise, a comfort...it is the right medicine for every ailment or the right answer for every question.
Ises was one of the most important things to Empress Menen and Emperor Haile Sellassie I as well. They prayed everyday and held the Church and priests close to Their home. A Chapel was necessary wherever They lived, so They could pray in private. Empress Menen used prayer as Her secret weapon during the war with Italy - She dedicated Her crown to the Church in prayer, for victory in Ethiopia. Her prayers were answered favourably! To me, in many aspects of Their lives, JAH RasTafari displayed honour, submission and reverence for the service of the Almighty JAH but Ises or prayer was the most personal and the most relied upon show of faith, love and duty.

So...what is prayer, why is it important for and to mankind?

      The Ethiopian Feta Nagast states that “prayer is the talking of man to the Highest God, whereby he thanks Him, praises Him, and recognizes His domain, confessing his sin and seeking on his part the way of pleasing Him” (Strauss 2002, pg. 88). This is a general summary of the different aspects and purposes of praises or worship which each individual must embrace in their Iritual relationship with JAH.
      Ises is the Rastafari word sound for “Giving Praise(s).” As the Feta Nagast quote says, we use prayer to talk to God and seek instruction or revelation from HIM. It is hence a language of communication between Isra’el and JAH where instruction, comfort and answers are received. In fact, Ises is the portal to communion with the Irit and Presence of JAH in the conscience, Tabernacle and in Earth. Rastafari know the God of Flesh and God of Irit become one through Ises, and through Righteousness. With both these Gifts of the Hola Irit, the presence of JAH Rastafari in the hearts of our flesh and Irits is made known to I and I in a healing and illuminating way. One of the greatest sacrifices of Ises, is to beseech God's goodness, healing and illuminating powers for the sake of others and not only ourselves.
       There are many verses of the Holy Bible which can describe more the relationship we have with JAH through Ises and therefore add an overall overstanding on the important purposes of Giving Ises in Isra’el. It is clear that Ises is the first pillar of the Ethiopian Hebrew Israelite Nazirene Faith and Livity because it is an act of service rendered to Jahovah out of partnership, love, reverence, humility and honesty. The Old Testament is filled with ensamples of Israelites worshipping, how they organized themselves to do such, and the reasons behind worship according to their relationship with Jahovah – think about the weeklong ceremony and vigil that brought down the wall of Jericho. The Book of Psalms is the Judahite and Levite (or throne and temple) compilation of poems and hymns of Ises. The Israelite way of giving Ises is therefore very oral and vocal, something that is communal. The Psalms state that Ises is a time of thanksgiving unto JAH, the fruit of our lips, our song of Ises, our cry, meditation and supplication.
      Thanksgiving is a sacrifice of praise. Jonah, in chapter 2 verse 9 said “I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” Solomon in Proverbs 15:8 said that “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” Jeremiah 33:10-11 also speaks about the joy in bringing these thanksgiving sacrifices into the House of the Lord in honour of the marriage of the Iritual bride and bridegroom.
     Ises as a sacrifice is therefore an important component of the Temple or Tabernacle, or in RasTafari: Taba. The House of the Lord was not built for blood sacrifice but for this sacrifice through prayer, for Ises. In the Ible it was the place where the Levites glorified the Tabernacle of Zion or the Ark of the Covenant which houses the Word of Jahovah. The Word of JAH was known in His sacred house through praise. The Taba as the House of the Lord is the physical altar structure built by man for the purpose of housing and congregating worship. But it is not the true house of prayer – the fleshly sanctuary of the Word and Irit of JAH is righteous Man and Wombman. Because man was built to manifest and serve JAH as His and Her Image, it follows that our Ises sacrifices and righteous deeds are our true incense before the Lord.
        In the Tabernacles of JAH and flesh, Ises is used for confessing our sin and seeking the ways that we could please JAH, as stated in the Feta Nagast. These are together acts of “beseeching God” and hoping that our prayers are answered by taking up the commitment to repentance. Confessing sin before JAH is an acknowledgement of wrong-doing which is a duty of every faithful member of the Church to perform in the, or in their personal Taba by means of Ises. Because we are honest enough to know that we need to confess our weakness, Ises is for many of us, about beseeching or asking God for His Holy Irit which can provide help, instruction, patience, mercy and prosperity/fortune.
       Whether Ises is given silently or while worshipping together, single-mindedness is necessary. The focus should be solely on the task and purpose at hand. Ises must be genuine and confidently engaged in.
      As mentioned, Ises (praises) or prayer is the medium through which we acknowledge the Source, course and perfection of life, the Hola Irit and the Word of JAH. Through it we are also able to spiritually connect to the Covenant of Ithiopia's Isra'el, which was carried by the lineage of King David as passed from Solomon to his Kushite son Emperor Menelik I; which was then extended to I and I Ithiopian Diasporan Beta Isra'elites through Menelik's “son” Emperor Haile Selassie I. Ises is given to Inite and Selabrate Rastafari union and communion with this Solomonic passage of the Irit of the Kristos (kr-eye-stos) and the Male and Female God-Head of Ithiopia's Isra’el. It is the moment in which I and I hail JAH RasTafari Qedamawi Haile Selassie and Itegue Qedamawit Wollete Giyorgis (Empress Menen) and acknowledge Their supremacy in righteousness as the Elect of Jahovah, Leaders of our Resurrection, Redemption and Repatriation. Ises is our freedom from spiritual and physical poverty and slavery when we use it to honour the Messianic works in Ithiopia's Isra’el.                                                 

As I and I call upon Them in Ises, I and I speak the language of the Kristos and partake in such Royal Black Ivinity. Ises is therefore for Ithiopia Afrika; the Iditation which keeps us on the right path, and the force behind our spiritual and physical deliverance from Babylon (Roman Christianity, Judaism, and White Supremacy as led by England and America).
      Rastafari must use Ises to excel in the famous quote “Forward ever, backwards never.” Ises is necessary for Rastafari to keep chanting down the spirit of Belial/Beliar or Satan, carnality, sin, death and corruption as manifested in our present time in paganism (all white and idolatrous religion) and white supremacy (mainstream), so that we may never look back upon our former wrong-doing with admiration or longing. We sacrifice the wrong in preference of pleasing the Lord God and doing what is right for ourselves and children as a race.
      There are many other worthy and important purposes of Ises that can be considered and explored not just by Rastafari, but by everyone who seeks some kind of well-being or positive reinforcement in their life.

Ises as a working power of JAH and Spirit in our lives, does many beneficial things for humanity:

• creates peace within and around I and I through Iditation and positivity
• channels the Hola Irit which creates health and wholeness in our minds & bodies
• pacifies our temper and wrath
• allows clarity and truth to shine through chaos so that our questions are answered
• helps us to change our lives and the lives of others
• gives new direction to the exiled, lost and corrupt
• builds steadfast faith over doubt and weakness
• builds hope to conquer poverty and achieve endeavours
• builds courage and strength over fear and despair, and
• adorns us with protection, prosperity and success.

                                             The Hebrew Scriptures on Ises

      All Hebrews prayed and talked to their Living God Jahovah in the Bible, and they in their histories proved the benefits of and reasons for Ises; as they exalted JAH and were able to achieve by prayer: Hannah, Elijah, Yesus, Ezra, Maryam, Moses, Abraham, Daniel, David and the list goes on. The following verses show why they prayed, why Jahovah wants and expects prayer from Isra'el, and highlight other points made previously on Ises:

This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise. (Isaiah 43:21)

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You. I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day. (Psalm 71:5-8)

He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, He shall see his face with joy,
For He restores to man His righteousness. (Job 33:26)

For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.  Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:14-15)

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. (2 Samuel 22:4)

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in

psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,  giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord [JAH Rastafari Sela]. (Ephesians 5:18-20)

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. (James 5:13)

Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding. (Psalm 47:1-2, 6-7)

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.

(Psalm 34:13)

Praise the Lord!  For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.

(Psalm 147:1)

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm 107:8)

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, In His holy mountain. (Psalm 48:1)

Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.

(Psalm 50:23)

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

(Psalm 63:3-5)

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night.(Psalm 92:1-2)

For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. (Psalm 96:4-5)

Selah!
JAH RasTafari be praised for all wisdom, word sound, works and peace imparted upon I and I Covenant Keepers of Ithiopia Hola T'sion!
Sis. Ila

 

 

An Introduction to Ital: The Original Way of Man and Wombman

 Ital is the Rastafari Word for Vital, Natural, Pure, Unprocessed, JAH-Made - not MAN-made. It is one of the most important components of the RasTa trod and identity, being the way in which I and I love, purify and rejuvenate the land and ourselves - mind, body and Irit. Ital replaces "diet" as it contains the word "die." In fact, diet is what Babylon does, and Ital is what Rastafari live by.

Ital is the substance and essence of Eden - the First Creation - it represents the Earth and Creation or "Mother Nature" before the children of men learned the art of manipulating natural resources from the Watchers (the fallen angels who lusted after the daughters of mankind and created the Giant race such as Anak, Og, Goliath).

Think about the Garden of Eden at the time of Creation - it was a rain forest watered by four rivers, nestled in the heart of Afrika - the Nile Valley region - the land of Kham, Kush and Kemet. The animals were peaceful, and dwelled in harmony. The plants, trees, bugs and the birds were untouched, unharmed and allowed to flourish in a clean environment. Life was perfect, it was good. And in that perfection, was the circle of life, or the food chain - but flesh was not on that menu! "Adam and Eve" and the rest of the animals were given the green herbs as their "meat" their "daily bread." They were vegetarians, peace-dwellers.

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Genesis 1:29-31 New King James Version).

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.  And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food....Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2: 8-9, 15-17)

Ital is therefore the original way of nourishment and eating, the cultural ideals of the First Peoples, who lived on spring water, fruits and fruit juices, vegetables, herbs, flowers, barks and roots. There were no "snacks" unless you count honey, and fruits like pineapple or berries. Nothing was prepackaged only preserved through natural processes. This way of living was natural to Man and Wombman, it was embedded in their DNA - there was no other way to survive but to till the land and reap the harvest of the fields, vineyards and gardens. 

(I often go outside of the "Holy Bible" or Ible, to find more information on the Hebrews and the True Way of Life for the Prophets, Priests and Kings - but also because the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is based upon more Spiritual Literature than the Ible - there are 81 books instead of 66, and there are also other texts that contribute to Eastern Church or oral traditions, like the original Torah, Apocrypha and Dead Sea Scrolls. There is also the Book of Jasher, and the Book of Jubilees, and the Forgotten Books of Eden - they hold all the family history of the Israelites from the time of Adam.)

The Book of Jubilees gives more insight on the day-to-day living at the time of Eden:

 And in the first week of the first jubilee, [1−7 A.M.]  Adam and his wife were in the garden of Eden for seven years tilling and keeping it, and we gave him work and we  instructed him to do  everything  that is suitable for tillage. And he tilled (the garden), and was naked and knew it not, and was not ashamed, and he protected the garden from the birds and beasts and cattle, and gathered its fruit,  and eat, and put aside the residue for himself and for his wife [and  put aside that which was being kept].    (The Book of Jubilees Chapter 3:15-16)

Although it was against the DNA or genetic make-up of Man and Wombman to kill and eat flesh, meat was introduced into the human diet very early on, as the sons of men and Giants multiplied in the Earth. At the time of Noah, the Earth was so far gone and defiled in its carnal obsessions such as flesh, blood, wine, adornment, sexual intercourse, idols and sacrifices; that all had to be destroyed. And after the flood, Noah and his tribe had to be fed - his three sons were married and had children already. As the animals multiplied, their offspring were taken as food to feed the growing nations. But with that taking, came the ritual of sacrifice - ones had to give thanks for the life of the animal, and ask its blessing before ending its life.  The Israelites were in Leviticus Chapter 11, given strict orders on what types of flesh were forbidden and allowed, clean and unclean to the body and Irit.

In today's world, Babylon, the ritual order and selection of flesh are lost traditions because the vanities and creativity of mankind have continuously developed new ideals and societies. Such progression keeps us moving farther and farther away from our true selves. Unclean meats like pork and shell-fish  are consumed daily with zeal -  but they [respectively] are heavily polluted with hormones and mercury and other sea pollutants, so though it may taste good, the long-term effects are tragic. And it is selfish to neglect the other living beings that are suffering too - habitats and animal species have been avidly destroyed era after era, as the world changed and shifted under the weight of population and economic growth. Mother Nature's population has significantly declined, She has lost many kinds of children.

Today, mankind has reached an all-time low (at least in my opinion), because it has taken that God-given Lordship over the Earth, too far. Man has wrought all kinds of abominations against his very own creation or nature or root. He transforms his sex and she her bodily proportions. All kinds of wild animals are hunted as "delicacies," killing off entire species. Forests like the Amazon are being destroyed day by day to provide paper, wood and other materials. Seas are polluted by oil, and fecal matter, while top soils are being eroded by toxic surface water run-off as more concrete structures go-up. Domesticated animals are raised in pens and injected with hormones which give them cancer. The bad soil and infected meats contribute to the cancers and other illnesses that men and women suffer from alike. Herbs are mixed with toxic chemicals to created medicines and vaccinations that fail to cure disease, and often make the body ill. Seeds are grafted to produce crops with their own built-in pesticides, and likewise carry little nutritional value. In fact, most soils, foods, medicines and toiletries today are poisonous to the skin and body, and have significantly reduced the lifespan of humans over the years. Years of using toxic products bring up all kinds of damage in older age. Food culture has also changed, and fresh produce which holds all the nutrients is cooked and killed, and made into a "side dish" instead of the main course.   "Fast food" is preferred to home-grown, home-cooked food, causing obesity and diabetes in young and old. The list of damages is endless, the Original Livity and Glory forgotten as the human race exists at sub-par, blinded by the shiny things, and pretty reflections.

I am sure I speak for Rastafari when I say that Babylon has changed the order of Man and Wombman, displacing Human Nature in pursuit of riches and development. 

And even though it seems impossible to pin-point, this fact-filled book by J. Herer, "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" shows that most of the damage came when American businessmen decided to push their new products (nylon, cotton, GMOs, alcohol, tobacco) and ban personal cultivation of the hemp plant which once supplied all American family and military needs. Along with the oppression of the "Eighth Wonder of the World" governments rigorously controlled the production and distribution of crops with trade laws, the pharmaceutical market, and the divide of town and country, upper and lower class. 

But along with the loss of health and Original Tradition, comes the loss of Human I-Consciousness, Spirituality and Harmony with Creation. Bodies are ill, and so are the minds and the souls. All three components of man are clouded over by vanity, chemical addiction and the slave-like pursuit of meaningless things, and worship of people - celebrities - who are in fact portraying what is wrong and abominable. They are the new age idols. 

All of these realities contribute to the slave life and slave mentality or culture, that Rastafari breaks away from. Rastafari is a journey to building back the ancient connection to JAH in Mother Nature, and the freeing of the mind from idolatry and carnal lusts and vanities. Balance is returned, Rationale is embraced. The Return of the I-Consciousness comes when Man and Wombman find back their connection with the Ivine Earth, and the other elements of fire, Irit, air and water. Union with the elements is union with the Seven Sacred Chakras or Irit-Energy pathways, a marriage that heals the senses, mind and soul. That means that all processed, toxic, shelf foods and beauty products are "kicked to the curb." Ital says no to the vaccinations, the shampoos, conditioners, relaxers, lotions, tampons, the fake tans, the alcohol, the pharmaceuticals, birth control, the corporations, the moral indiscretions...

 ***

My humble reasoning on Ital principles of Rastafari will continue as I branch into Ital recipes, the Alkaline Blood balance, the Nazirite and Tree of Life origins of Ital Livity.

Stay in touch and feel free to leave your contributions on Ital, there's an endless wealth of information out there and  this is the place to share it!

Bless!

Sistah Ila