SistrenItes! March, 2006 Rastafari Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 03 QueenQueen OmegaOmega Being the Balming Mistress of Many Worlds She Charges the Powerhouse Right Now. - The Promise Key Www.RastafariOnline.com Volume 3, Issue 03 From the Editor’s Tukul Page 1 Life has taught us that wisdom, knowledge and over- Inside this issue: standing are encoded within our DNA and written into the scrolls of our hearts. It is through man and womb- man’s desire that these treasures flourish and nourish Editorial page 1 the inner man. The bible bears witness that wisemind is of gentle voice, for her ways are pleasant; even while she tests a person’s Irits for loyalty and humility. Her Celebrating the 2-3 treasures make Rulers out of man and Ivine Nurturers Life of and Healers out of woman. For these reasons, Itege Menen wisemind will not give tarry with the foolish nor be- stow her precious pearls upon the unworthy. HIM Haile 4 Wisemind is like a seed which germinates in the dark- Sellassie I Speaks ness of the womb, buried deep within the soil of one About Itege and ones soul. Mother Earth, herself, contains the soil Menen within which the seeds of life are sown. She bears the weight of Man, Woman and Child and is relied upon to give and give and give. Upon her we depend to sup- Queen Omega: 5 port the needs of man, woman and child so that we Our Mother, may fulfill the Word and be fruitful and multiply. Our Role Model Mother Earth keeps herself within the righteous order by Sis Khanysia and has never rebelled and therefore She is Itinually fertile. Ever faithful, she is loyal and thereby replen- Itege Menen 6-8 ished by the Hands of the Almighty; she does not want for anything and because of this, she does not require. Timeline Even when unconscious mankind abuses and misuses her she is able to fulfill her role and pass the beautiful Balming Mistress 8 harvest of her replenishment onto the Man, woman of Many Worlds, and child, from the beginning until Forever! She Charges the Much like I AM Irits which traveled above the waters amidst perfect darkness, life begets life within the calm, Powerhouse silent blackness of the womb. Even creation is birthed within the depths of the womb, in the perfect light, which is the fire, contained within darkness. Wombman has been blessed with the gift of participation in this In the Presence of 9 marvel of creation as she is a womb carrier; she is a Mother Earth and Daughter of the Most I – Rastafari. She, as a Righteous wombman, travels the paths of the unseen and visits the inner chambers. Her Majesty Let us keep aware that when man and woman were begotten in Africa, the mother birthplace and original Itege Menen: 10 womb of mankind, I AM said to the original Black man and wombman, “Go ye forth, be fruitful and multiply”. For this reason, all of creation supports the life within Mother Earth and Black Man, Woman and Child. For “As Sarah Was they are the seed carriers, the original nurturers of LIFE. And have held the Word within the DNA from that Abraham…” day up to now. Original concept of life- Ethiopia, Mother Earth, Birth of Man, Woman and Child; which is the concept of the original trinity. And so we come to a space of meditation within the month of March in which we rest our eyes upon Her Majesty – Itege Menen. Consort of the Most I. Mother of the nation. We sistren, in particular, look to the light of Her Majesty and we wonder within ourselves, “Who is this Wombman? What does She represent? What is Her true value and meaning to myself as a wombman and daughter of the Most I?” Due to the language barrier we, who do not yet overstand Amharic, have searched, sometimes in vain, for an abundance of written material about Her character, personality, thoughts and works. The little that we do have, we give thanks HIM. The sistren trading spiritual elevation are required to make a transition from the outward image of Her Majesty into the more internal Ites of perception, intuition and wisemind. We have to complete our search for Her Majesty from within. And as HIM would have it, through perfect wisemind and knowledge; it is my humble suggestion that this was perhaps the purpose of this destined journey all the while. Because as wombman, we most naturally rely upon our inborn intuition. Reasonings on Her Majesty will be continued throughout this Special Empress Menen March edition of Sis- trenItes, as it travels from page to page. I wish each and everyone a blessed and speedy journey to Mount Zion, all within HIM time. To Contact InI, Please Email: Give thanks HIM for this third year of production of SistrenItes Empress Menen Special Edition. Sistreniteseditor @Rastafarionline.com Sis Leah Bayaka Sellassie www.RastafariOnline.com Volume 3, Issue 03 Celebrating the Life of Itege Menen: A Biography Page 2 Empress Menen Asfaw (March 25, 1889 - February 15, 1962) was the The battle of Segelle). The circumstances of the marriage and how it wife and consort of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Empress came about are allegedly detailed in the unpublished memoirs of Ras Menen was the daughter of Asfaw, Jantirar of Ambassel. He was a Imiru Haile Selassie, Emperor Haile Selassie's cousin and childhood direct descendant of Emperor Libna Dingel, through Emperor Ge- companion, who was party to the marriage arrangements and was lawdewos of Ethiopia and his daugther Princess Enkulal Gelawdewos intimately acquainted with these events. It is also detailed in the re- and this genealogy was deleted from the official history of Etege Me- cently published Amharic biography "Tafari Makonnen, Rejimu ye nen. However, the title of Jantirar has traditionally belonged to the Siltan Guzo" (Taffari Makonnen, the Long Journey to Power) by Am- head of the family holding the mountain fortress of Ambassel, and bassador Zewde Retta. Jantirar Asfaw was one of them. The account given in the Autobiog- On the other hand, her mother raphy of the Emperor, My Life and was Woizero Sehin Mikael, half- Ethiopia's Progress, mentions no sister of Lij Iyasu (Iyasu V), and previous marriage or children of daughter of King Mikael of Wollo. Empress Menen and no such order Woizero Sehin's mother, Woizero by Iyasu, but states only that at the Fantaye Gebru, was a direct de- age of 20, they were married by scendant of Emperor Susenyos in their own mutual consent, and de- the "Seyfe Melekot" line. Empress scribes her as "a woman without any Menen and Emperor Haile Selassie I malice whatsoever". When Tafari were the parents of six children: Makonnen became Emperor of Princess Tenagnework, Prince As- Ethiopia as Haile Selassie I, Menen faw Wossen (Emperor-in-Exile Asfaw was crowned as Empress at Amha Selassie I), Princess Tsehai, his side. Princess Zenebework, Prince Ma- konnen Duke of Harrar, and Prince Empress Menen was active in pro- Sahle Selassie. moting women's issues in Ethiopia, was Patroness of the Ethiopian Red According to both published and Cross, and also the Ethiopian unpublished reports, the then Wo- Women's Charitable Organization. izero Menen Asfaw was given in She was also patroness of the Jerusa- marriage by her family, to the lem Society that arranged for pil- prominent Wollo nobleman, De- grimages to the Holy Land. She jazmatch Ali of Cherecha, and bore founded the Empress Menen School him a daughter, Woizero Belaynesh for Girls in Addis Ababa, the first all Ali, and a son, Jantirar Asfaw Ali. girls school which had both boarding This first marriage ended in di- and day students. Girls from all over vorce, and Woizero Menen then the Empire were brought to the married Dejazmatch Amede Ali school to receive a modern educa- Aba-Deyas, another very promi- tion, encouraged by the Empress nent nobleman of Wollo. She bore who visited it often and presided her second husband two children over its graduation ceremonies. The as well, a daughter, Woizero Desta Empress gave generously, as well as Amede, and a son, Jantirar Gebreg- sponsored programs for the poor, ill ziabiher Amede. Following the and disabled. She was also a devoutly sudden death of her second hus- religious woman who did much to band, Woizero Menen's grandfa- support the Ethiopian Orthodox ther, King Mikael of Wollo ar- Tewahedo Church. She built, reno- ranged her marriage to Ras Leul vated and endowed numerous Seged Atnaf Seged, a prominent Shewan nobleman, sometime in late churches in Ethiopia and in the Holy Land. Prominent among these 1909 or early 1910. Empress Menen had no children by Ras Leul are the St. Raguel Church in Addis Ababa's Merkato district, the Ki- Seged. Ras Leul Seged was considerably older than Woizero Menen. dane Mehret (Our Lady Covenant of Mercy) Church on Mount En- Woizero Menen probably met Dejazmatch Tafari Makonnen at the toto, and the Holy Trinity Monastery on the banks of the River Jor- home of her uncle, Lij Iyasu. The rapport between the two may have dan in the Holy Land. She gave generously from her personal funds inspired Lij Iyasu to attempt to bind Dejazmatch Tafari to him more towards the building of the new Cathedral of St. Mary of Zion at firmly through marriage ties. He therefore arranged the separation of Axum, but did not live to see it completed and dedicated. Woizero Menen from Ras Leul Seged, and sent her to Harar to marry Dejazmatch Tafari Makonnen.