Mel Hopkins

On 4/4/2024 at 10:44 PM, Wendy Jones said:

Here is a link to the essay, On the Bus (approx. 500 words):

I laughed out loud when you compared Stanley to a "bon bon!" I always knew I had a crush on some boy or man when I thought of them as food. I remember telling my former crush, now a very good friend, that I would "Sop him up with a biscuit." LOL

4 minutes ago, ProfD said:

Brush your teeth and tongue really well before bedtime.

 

Do not let halitosis come between a lucid dream and a funky nightmare.

 Yea and that too LOL!  Hi Brother @ProfD !

1 hour ago, Pioneer1 said:

Being a caregiver is one of the hardest jobs.
Harder than raising children.
.... because atleast with children you usually see progress as they age and it makes you feel proud of your work.

If I ever needed a definition of what it looks like to Love another - this is the best definition, "Caring for someone without expecting a return on the investment"

42 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Me and the other poster frankster agree that dreams often are gateways to other Realities.
So Lucid Dreaming is a Spiritual gift.

We all have this Spiritual gift. Some of us, however, are born into families that prevent us from experiencing it. 
 

Determining what elements I want in the dream would be like writing a story. I may have an idea for the characters or the story's setting, but I relax and let the characters reveal themselves in any setting they choose. I don't consciously decide the elements per se. - I drift off to sleep with a concept like the one I had this morning when I wanted to know more about personal stylists. If I told them what to bring or decided where we'd go, I'd miss out on going somewhere I've never been. 

The beauty of lucid dreaming is exploration. (I don't know if I have out-of-body experiences, but I do "go" to new places)

The two "dream" stylists even brought colors that I wouldn't normally wear—but even then, the colors they chose from the lavender and purple family revealed a story. The theme of my dream was "majestic," which wasn't surprising to me because my last thought before drifting off was Meghan Markle's new stylist. Lol. Still, the theme was based on information I was seeking without using a digital search engine, but a spiritual one. 

You didn't ask, but if you don't mind, I suggest relaxing by breathing before you drift off to sleep. With your eyes open, inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. (yes, be a mouthbreather for a few breaths ) Then, when you're ready, close your eyes while conscious of your breathing. Before you drift off, think of something you'd like to know the answer to but wouldn't ask anyone. Communicate the question to the DIVINE. Keep breathing while focusing on the information you want THE DIVINE to share. FOCUS on the DIVINE. Be persistent about not going into a deep sleep - if you go too deep, you will have a different outcome. (Nothing uncomfortable.  But I feel deep sleep is for healing.)

The most important thing is knowing you will get the results you desire. 

2 hours ago, Delano said:

I am finding it difficult to find people who think 

What if, "thinking is overrated?"  What if we're realizing it is feeling, imagining, and creating vibrations that makes the difference in this world.

And if that were the case what would life be like if that was our operating system?  

Note:  I don't have a clue.  I don't know if that is an answer, but I am working on "feeling" deeply to change my part of the world. 

2 hours ago, Delano said:

So true life only means whatever we say it means.

YES!!!  How many of us are bold enough to stake a claim! Even if no one else agrees. 

I waffle from time to time, but once upon a time I took my meaning of life's claim from a song. Today, I still believe it. "LOVE is life and life is living."  But in this moment, I'm only beginning to understand LOVE as THE operating system.

2 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Can you Lucid Dream?

First let me share how I define Lucid Dreaming. 
 

Quote

"Lucid dreams are dreams in which the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. This awareness can allow the dreamer to control some or all aspects of the dream, such as the setting, characters, and event."

And yes, I'm aware of my dreams - and I recall them and write them down. I had one this morning because I thought about how some celebrities hire stylists to put their looks together. So before I awoke, I summoned two stylists from my dream to get an idea of how I could update my style. I usually allow myself to do this often when I need direction or course correction. I hadn't thought about it until you asked. 

On 4/3/2024 at 7:15 PM, Pioneer1 said:

While I don't disagree with what you wrote, it should be understood that much of the weed on the streets of America today and most of the weed sold in the dispensaries around the nation is NOT real or natural Marijuana.

It is either fake OR has been genetically altered with the THC levels enhanced to dangerous levels.
This shit most people are smoking out here is making many of them psychotic.

Both you and  @frankster  make excellent points.  I took a puff when I was a teen - and never took another puff.   I'm like @ProfD in this respect. I need to be in control of all my faculties at all times. I don't even drink wine in public.   Still, if it was natural marijuana, I wouldn't judge anyone who smoked it.  I've always been able to naturally leave this dimension, but some people need assistance to with the connect with the DIVINE - so who am I to judge?

On 2/21/2024 at 7:56 PM, aka Contrarian said:

I got all wrapped up in existentialism, and once I started pondering about whether life has any meaning , the futility of it all kinda neutralized my spirit.  I even started wondering if, as Poe wrote, "all that we see or seem, is just a dream within a dream". 

OMG I've missed you, the woman formerly known as Cynique @aka Contrarian 

 A woman I used to be in a rap group with back in the early 90s now has a YouTube channel (Stephanie Danger). She asked her followers what name we would choose for our alter ego, and I decided on Contrarian. Today, I would choose "Neutral." 

During these last two years, I also questioned the meaning of life after my mother underwent major heart surgery and two of my three daughters had major surgeries, one after battling stage 3 cancer. I couldn't be with my daughter (thank goodness for dads) because my brother is severely disabled - and during my mom's treatment (I almost lost her twice), I had to care for him. 

Everyone pulled through, and by December 2023 - I concluded no one knows an effing thing. We make this bullshish up and look for followers to cosign our beliefs. The more believers we acquire, the more it becomes our collective reality.  

So, thank you, Contrarian, for remaining here in this dimension. I can confidently say that part of your mission is to remind us that the majority is nothing more than a bunch of weak-minded and lazy folks who chose to follow the beaten path instead of dazzling us with their Divine creativity.

16 hours ago, Troy said:

I would not put it past Google to depreciate websites that do not serve their ads meaning, all things being equal, Google would rank a website serving their ads higher than a website that does not.

Either Google knows this is my favorite site, or Google loves AALBC.  Case in point,  I was searching for the name of a filmmaker, and maybe there weren't a lot of results, but I can tell you I found content that I posted here earlier in the month - ranked on Google's first page.  

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

we use the term white supremacy from a contextual perspective to describe the system of racism as created and practiced by white folks in their colonization and domination of non-white people over several hundred years

Hey Brother Prof D!!! Good to see you!

You know, we indigenous, aboriginal people never called them "white" until they started calling themselves white. We never said they were supreme until they began to call themselves supreme.

Words have power.

It is better to point out what oppressors have done to a group of people than to allow those offenders to escape justice by hiding under a term that they themselves invented.

Check out what Indigenous Americans called colonizers - it definitely wasn't "white." One tribe called them out for what they did. And I agree with that as one way to keep their actions in the forefront. 

In my family, we describe people by the color of their complexion. And not once does "white" come up as a term we use. In fact, I just realized even my sorority sisters described my firstborn as "beige," to indicate she was her daddy's baby. LOL. Read my book, and you'll see I described my characters by their hue. 

But levity aside, my point is our ancestors understood the power of words, and so do those who seek to oppress.

y do.

One of the challenges with this discussion is the talk of divisions based on skin color. White is a fairly new description starting around the 17th century. In fact, there's a video circulating on social media of an Egyptian man not understanding why Immigration wanted him to identify as white - when, as he said, to paraphrase, his native description is cultural/religious affiliation and then nationality.

So you can only imagine back in ancient Africa, they would have identified by tribes/spiritual/nationality/. In fact, when I went to Rome over ten years ago, I realized it was a gathering place for all nationalities; Aset and Heru  (Black Madonna and Jesus) graced the pantheon - even the Trevi fountain is flanked by Greek "gods" when you'd think you'd see Roman deities on display. But I digress. 

Further, speaking in terms of duality is cabalistic -it is a way to support the very thing many of us rally against, "white supremacy." - there's no such thing as a supreme color/hue. Still, we make it so by supporting the very idea of it.   We are divine because we are created from the DIVINE, but we are kept from seeing it within ourselves because we've allowed the reigning plot to keep us stuck in the second dimension through the use of the language that I recently learned is DIVINE. Divinity adheres to intention. So, as you see here in this discussion, the victors take an entity with the same name - and then distort the name -and now, instead of a celebration of life - we celebrate death. Sound familiar? As we notice, this is what members of the republican party do today - "woke" that is good is "woke" that is bad. See what happens when we see things in terms of good and evil? Well, you know, because we hide and then get kicked out of the proverbial Garden of Eden with the illusion that we're separated from our DIVINITY.   But if we look upon this or any information without judgment - but rather discernment (clearly perceive), it allows us to see beyond two or three-dimensional perspectives to become receptors (meaning using more than just logic but the six senses) for knowledge, not just data. Then, we'll be able to free ourselves from this paradigm to see and communicate with the WHO we seek.

On 2/7/2024 at 1:09 AM, Chevdove said:

The Caucasus is no where near Egypt so, again, you are referencing two different stories. 

Check today's map to see how close they are and then envision how close they might have been several millennia ago.  

On 1/31/2024 at 9:51 PM, Delano said:

Which YouTube clip?

Del Astrology Channel  - This is my first time seeing this short though   

18 hours ago, Delano said:

I like balance since there are four major characters . It would be more elegant if they were the fixed signs.

Isis Taurus which is ruled by Be Venus. Which is the most feminine sign.

Osiris as Leo which is ruled by the Sun. Which represents the archetypal male and the ruler.

Horus as Aquarius which is ruled by Saturn. The Lord of time and Karma.

Set as Scorpion since it is ruled by Mars. Which represents warriors and acting on feeling.

The fluidity in this description also helps make sense of the cosmos! We sometimes forget that we are always in transit - and because of that memory loss, we are so far removed from the wonders of the universe - we're stuck.  

18 hours ago, Delano said:

The Native Americans a d the Indians both used Astrology. It had two functions one was spiritual in order to know when Holidays occurred. Since calendars and clicks were only invented in the last few hundred years. The other use was more mundane.

Yes, and so did ancient Africans! In fact, I was watching a series called The Pyramid Code. In one of the episodes, archaeologists and explorers traveled to Abu Simbel (Former Nubia) to show remains of a planetary "timepiece" created out of bedrock (I believe they said. Don't quote me)  to determine the solstices and equinoxes occurrences. Guess how I found The Pyramid Code? Well, I took your suggestion to read more on Dogon Cosmology, and I found this book review raving about both the Dogon Tribe and how they learned of them in a discussion in the Pyramid Code. 

Look at how Listening is a gift that keeps on giving. 

 Aside: I enjoyed your YouTube presentations; they are comforting and exciting. Will you update again?

Allegedly, these ancient African tribes were Matrilineal, not matriarchal. A few matriarchal societies are found in Asia -but most indigenous tribes then and today, like the Hebrews/ indigenous Americans, are matrilineal - meaning the mother determines the lineage.   

Also, Asteroth is the masculine version of Astarte,  the Canaanite goddess -here's a bit that was written about them.

"

Quote

the dread demon Astaroth, who undoubtedly stems from Astarte, the Syrian goddess of fertility. How this lush female entity underwent a transformation of personality--as well as a sex-change--has been lost to history.  It is easy to imagine, however, that early Judaic culture observed the deities of their surrounding neighbors to be demons, since their religion centered on a single deity by a different name.

Ba'al, AKA Bel,

Quote

seems to relate to the Sumero-Babylonian Goddess Belit-ili or Belili. To the Canaanites, Lilith was Baalat, the "Divine Lady." On a tablet from Ur, ca. 2000 BCE, she was addressed as Lillake." 

They were both made "demonic" because polytheism was under attack, with believers being tortured, killed, and maimed for not wanting to participate in monotheism.   

The victors write history. Thank goodness what was hidden is coming to light.  

I apologize if I came off as dismissive when I said, "complete." My statement comes from the perspective that the Documentary Thesis Statement: Ausar -Auset - Heru-Set mythology is the foundation of the World's major religions. From this view, the film scholars defended and nailed the thesis. They answered, "Did major religions model their doctrine from the Death/Resurrection/dismember/remember/virgin-birth-savior Kush-KMT- mythology? If yes, did the other religions take what they could use from the myth and claim supremacy so they could divide, conquer, and control the religion's followers while conquering territories and taking its resources?" It appears these conquerors did precisely that by first dismembering African Mythology and Spirituality, which was very popular, then - separating humans from nature, separating humans from their divinity, and separating humans from each other. "Out of Darkness: Heavy is the Crown" doesn't waiver from its thesis.  

@Chevdove, then, some of the scholars mention Hebrews in Africa. And while they don't go into detail in Part 1 - we've already heard Cush, founder of Kush, was Noah and Emzara's grandson, thereby being a Hebrew (semite) by birth. Still, all these people would be Africans - different tribes, but Africans nonetheless. Further, although this would be years later, according to legend, Moses, by any name, was Hebrew by birth but raised as an Egyptian; most likely, he would have worshipped Isis and a pantheon of gods and goddesses before converting back to his birth religion. Documentation isn't in opposition to the documentary's thesis. They do share how Christianity and Islam bring demonic evil forces into their religious equation- but again, depending upon perception, that would be another tool to control the masses. The Out of Darkness scholars agree there are poles of opposition, such as destruction/construction - as in the Heru-Set battle. However, perception allows for the necessity of these poles. The key is balance. Our cosmos shows us this with black holes (the multiverse's control-alt-delete button) and universes being born, growing, and dying. Although I wrote a book about Nephilim - I don't believe in "demonic forces"; I believe everything originates from the Divine - we're not separate from anything. Everything plays a role in our growth and evolution. 

(Aside:  @Chevdove me a perfectionist? I'm not a perfectionist, but I keep digging for information.) 

@Pioneer1 Yes, I'm aware of Africa's foundational history - as far back as even before the ice age - thanks to that chronological history from 100,000 BCE, which I found on the AfricanFront website back in 2011. The tears of joy were for these brothers and the sister and, of course, the filmmaker who so eloquently defended their thesis about African spirituality as the genesis of the major religions. So, I'm so proud of these scholars reclaiming the knowledge and returning it to its rightful place - not just in print but on film so it is accessible to a broad audience.  

@Delano Twin, astrology is the critical component of African spirituality - Isis/Auset is Virgo, and Osiris/Ausar is Leo, with some stating that Horus/Heru is Capricorn and Set is Taurus. My thoughts always return to the Dogon tribe because they were the original stargazers. Watching a documentary or reading a book without including the Dogon cosmology is nearly impossible. While I stay present, I believe that astrology can predict future possibilities. Quantum mechanics is instrumental in reminding us of the possibilities available to us, especially when stars align.

On 1/27/2024 at 8:51 AM, Pioneer1 said:

Well.....lol....something has gotten you all excited.

Hi @Pioneer1 

YEP!! I've spent this whole month watching documentaries on aliens, UFOs, spirits, and consciousness...and these documentaries every single one takes us back to Africa - I don't care what European PhDs, physicists, cosmologists, archaeologists, and neurologists appear in the documentary they send the viewer back to Africa ...and so when I found this documentary with Black scholars breaking down the mythology that gave birth to all religions...I cried.   It's not like I hadn't been reading this stuff since last century ( circa 1998), but I never thought to put together a thesis to answer the question, "What is the purpose of this mythology and how does it help us move behind the matrix?" 

Well, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz said it best..."if I ever go looking for my heart's desire, I won't go looking any further than my own backyard."   

11 hours ago, Chevdove said:

Like the Hebrews and their dealings with Canaanite people and the Hittites, etc. I think that ancient Egyptians completely ignore 

who 

that, like the Hebrews, they accepted White Supremacy and white religion into their civilization and eventually became overthrown.

Hi @Chevdove 

You need to watch this documentary - If you can access Tubi TV online - you can watch the entire video for free. If you have the time, please share what you believe they got wrong.   

These presenters are scholars in their field. I think you might be surprised by their research. Also, Scholars like Anthony Browder and his daughter Atlantis actually do field research in Egypt, which was KMT, and Nubia, which is now Sudan. They have found a priest, Karakhamun, from (what other nonBlack Egyptology scholars call ) the 25th Dynasty. https://ikgculturalresourcecenter.com/ikg-store/books/finding-karakhamun-the-collaborative-rediscovery-of-a-lost-tomb/ - I've found their research is thorough and complete, especially compared to European scholars. These Brothers/Masters are masters in African antiquity and have the missing link that Europeans decided not to include—I look forward to your review.  

I wrote this before I saw your other post. The complete interviews are on YouTube. They go into greater detail.

ASE'! "Out of Darkness" indeed!

"Beautiful! Science is only possible with nature and spirituality. Theoretical physicists are now understanding consciousness - yet the explanation of consciousness has been with us all along.
So much wisdom was shared in less than two hours! Brilliant!"


 Much respect to the Brothers and Sister who made their presentation onscreen. And much respect to the director and editor Amadeuz Christ,  writers, camera people, animators, editors, and everyone involved in this production! This documentary film is everything I needed to see after an entire month of watching consciousness-expanding films. Woo-Chile!Here is the link to Amadeuz Christ's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BuildingSe7en/videos and his shop https://these7encollection.com/collections/all

2 hours ago, Mel Hopkins said:

And if anyone knows if there's a DVD, please share. 

Never mind, I found it!

https://these7encollection.com/collections/all

Author and KMT African Antiquity Expert Anthony Browder and his daughter, Atlantis, are prominently featured in this informative documentary! I'm watching the film on the streaming channel TUBI TV. But I need this book if it's available. And if anyone knows if there's a DVD, please share. 

1 hour ago, Troy said:

Of course -- it should be the reason we all read.

This is a great answer, especially for writers! We should write about what people can't get in their lives. Even voyeurism!

QUESTION: 

1. Are you reading anything this year? 
2. If Yes, what genre?
3. Fiction or Nonfiction?
4. Is the format Digital, Audio, or Print (Paperback, Hardcover)?
5. Are you consuming the material with a digital device such as an iPhone, Android, or electronic reader (kindle, PC, etc)?
6. Are you reading the traditional way, such as an actual book in hand where you turn the pages?
7. Which is your favorite way to read now?
8. What is your preferred way to consume media content if you no longer read books?

3 hours ago, Troy said:

But in the last several months actually find my time, mostly consumed, listening to podcasts.

Oh snap, your vocation revolves around books but with little time to read!

My oldest daughter (millennial) listens to many podcasts (on YouTube). She reviews and negotiates contracts for work, so reading a book is the last thing on her mind.

So maybe my next question in #readingblack will be a survey, "Are you reading?"   If so, what genre? And how are you consuming the material? 

15 minutes ago, Troy said:

he NEA does not report on this, but I know that African American women over index in read rates.  If I have not shared this data I will.

Please share the data!   

Last year, I read two novels (both published by AALBC) and one children's book (for review and interview). I started three novels last year, two of which are classics, and I plan to finish them this year. I can't begin to count how many government publications I've read for my consultancy work. The Washington Post reports I've read 70 Articles, and if I checked, it would probably be even more for the New York Times. 

Still, this statistic makes me a bit sad. While watching a rom-com film on the Lifetime channel,  I heard this quote from the fictitious writer on why she wrote about what she hadn't herself experienced.

To paraphrase, the romance writer replied, "I write these novels to give women what they can't get in their real life."

I wonder if this is the reason why black women read. 

If you couldn't purchase a book through an independent bookseller - what stopped you?

Do you have a strategy for buying from independent booksellers?

How do you purchase digital books if the book is only available digitally?