Headed Serpent, and Migration to Different Parts of the World
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The Nagas, the seven- headed serpent, and migration to different parts of the world Kwame Adapa, PhD [email protected] August, 2021 The Nagas, the seven-headed serpent, and migration to different parts of the world Copyright Kwame Adapa 2021, All Rights Reserved The Nagas, the seven-headed serpent, and migration to different parts of the world Contents 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 4 2. What was the “Ghana empire”? ............................................................................................................... 6 2.1 The legend of Bida the snake, according to Levitzion ......................................................................... 7 2.2 The legend of Biida the seven-headed serpent, according to diawara.org ........................................ 9 The death of the Serpent of Wagadou ............................................................................................... 10 The end of the Soninké empire ........................................................................................................... 11 2.3 The legend of Bida the seven-headed serpent, according to mfsumareh.weebly.com ................... 12 2.4 Comparing accounts of the legend ................................................................................................... 13 3. The seven-headed snake in Lemuria/Mu ................................................................................................ 18 3.1 The number seven and seventy-seven in Akan religious and secular life ........................................ 20 Occurrences of number seven in Religion and Art in Ashanti ............................................................ 21 Occurrences of number seventy-seven in Religion and Art in Ashanti .............................................. 21 Occurrences of number seven in Ashanti ........................................................................................... 21 Occurrences of number seven in Ashanti Law and Constitution ........................................................ 22 Occurrences of number seventy-seven in Ashanti Law and Constitution .......................................... 22 Occurrences of number seven in Divine Kingship in Ghana and Ancient Egypt ................................. 22 Occurrences of number seven in At the Court of an African King ...................................................... 23 3.2 Narayana the seven-headed intellect, and the supreme creator ..................................................... 23 3.3 The seven-headed serpent in Cambodia .......................................................................................... 32 3.4 The seven-headed serpent in India ................................................................................................... 35 3.5 The seven-headed serpent in the Yucatan ....................................................................................... 36 3.6 The seven-headed snake in Canaan and Mesopotamia ................................................................... 37 3.7 The six-headed serpent in Greece and Rome ................................................................................... 39 4. Influence of the Nagas on ancient and modern spirituality ................................................................... 40 4.1 Yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Nagas, and Tantra ............................................................... 40 4.2 Daoism, the Nagas, and Tantra ......................................................................................................... 46 4.3 Buddhism, the Nagas, Nagarjuna, and Tantra .................................................................................. 48 4.4 Nagualism, the Nagas and the Naguals/Naquals .............................................................................. 54 5. Reflections ............................................................................................................................................... 55 Copyright Kwame Adapa 2021, All Rights Reserved The Nagas, the seven-headed serpent, and migration to different parts of the world 1. Introduction It is said that often a single strand, a puzzle that seems not to fit in, can be the catalyst for unraveling an incredible truth previously unknown. For me, this has been the case with the story of the seven-headed serpent or snake (I use these two words interchangeably in this paper) that was spoken of in legends associated with the Ghana empire. In this paper, I shall discuss the legend of this seven-headed snake among the people of the Ghana empire. I shall discuss it in relation to the appearance of seven-headed snakes in the legends of other people in other parts of the world, in connection with a lost continent that has been called Lemuria or Mu, and also in connection with a group of people known as Nagas, who were early proponents of a spiritual practice called tantra. I shall share with the reader a hypothesis which to me is incredible and which, if they are true, will shed light on a facet of history that has not been well-known until now. In effect, it appears to be little known that the Nagas, a people who originated in a now-sunken continent known as Lemuria, and who travelled progressively west, from Lemuria to Cambodian, Thailand and neighbouring areas, to India, and to Nubia eventually ended up in West Africa! There was a Naga settlement in what is today Senegal and the Gambia, and we can tell this through the legend of the seven-headed serpent that is so well-known and so well integrated into the history of the Ghana empire. Wherever the Naga people went, they had with them their symbol, the seven-headed snake. The seven heads were actually representative of cosmic and esoteric principles, not seven literal heads. We don’t commonly find seven-headed creatures in the natural world. The Nagas had great spiritual knowledge and were among the early proponents of yoga and tantra, a spiritual practice that can lead to enlightenment and liberation. Once the Nagas lost Lemuria as their base after this continent sank, they continued as a “mystery school” that had different names such as Naacals, Naquals, and Nahuatl. Because of their knowledge of esoteric principles, such as the occult power and significance of the number 7, the Nagas influenced the histories and the spiritual philosophies of cultures in Asia in particular, but also of Africa. In Africa, the Nagas are said to have made their way to Nubia and Egypt. Before Nubia fell to Christian and subsequently to Islamic influences, I argue that the Nagas had by then established themselves further West, in the area that later became known as the Ghana empire. These Naga people in turn influenced the peoples who resulted from this first great empire within West Africa, the Ghana Empire. Today, there are clues and hints of Naga culture and influence among several West African people, not only the Soninke people that are known to have founded the Ghana empire, but others as well, including (but not limited to) the Akan. This is the story I shall unravel in this paper. Why is it not commonly known that Nagas existed in West Africa and that they deeply influenced the peoples and cultures that have resulted in this area, starting with the Soninke people who formed the Ghana empire? I do not know. I searched to find if others had previously made links, such as a connection between the seven-headed serpent called Bida in the Ghana empire with the Nagas and Lemuria, and I did not find any prior works. Perhaps I did not look hard enough, but to my knowledge, this is the first time this story is Copyright Kwame Adapa 2021, All Rights Reserved The Nagas, the seven-headed serpent, and migration to different parts of the world being put together in this way. The legend of the seven-headed serpent has been known in West Africa for hundreds of years, but like a lonely island, this story has existed in an ocean by itself, without connections being made to it, in order to put it within a wider context and explanation. That is, until now. This paper attempts to “fill that gap” by building a case with accounts and facts that bridges this legend with known accounts and facts that reveal this hitherto unknown but deeply significant connection between the peoples of West Africa, the Nagas, Lemuria and the cultures it spawned. The connection ascertains that the Lemurian legacy lives in Africa as well, which this paper attempts to demonstrate. It is well known that the Atlantean legacy also lives in Africa. We know this from accounts by the Amazigh (i.e., Berber) people and their legends. We also know this from accounts such as Plato’s account of the demise of Atlantis, which he received from Solon, another Greek personality, who learned it from priests at Sais in Egypt/Kemet. Plato wrote these accounts in his works the Critias and the Timaeus. We also have the account of Atlantean people migrating to Egypt, that was given in the Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean. So, Africa has been a custodian of the Atlantean legacy, through the Amazigh, Kemetic and Phoenician peoples who settled along its Northern borders. Africa also is a custodian of the Lemurian legacy. This second fact is known among African indigenous secret orders, otherwise known as secret societies. For example, the late Zulu high shaman Credo Mutwa wrote in his book Indaba, My Children, that Africans