Ancestral Bloodlines
An interview with Naba Iritah Shenmira
In this interview, Naba Iritah Shenmira who is a lecturer, spiritual activist, priest and healer of the Dogon bloodline from the Gulmu region of Meritah reminds us about the importance of keeping true to your Ancestral bloodlines. NABA Iritah Shenmira shares his candor regarding the geographic origins and reasons why so many get off track with the spiritual paths. He is the “Head Merr” (Leader) of The Earth Center Ouagadougou, and he is also “Dosso Bah” (Chief Hunter outside Meritah) of the traditional hunters societies.
NABA Iritah was born and raised among the Tem people in Togo. As a young boy in traditional culture, he entered various initiations and apprenticeships with priests and healers, enduring the rites of passage of becoming a man. Meanwhile, NABA Iritah was also excelling in his European education. Upon graduating from high school (with degrees in accounting and management) he followed his father’s guidance to further his modern education and attended colonial universities where he studied linguistics, civilisation, and African and American literature. He attended Universite de Lome then Universite de Kara before traveling to Burkina Faso – “the land of upright people” – to enroll in the Universite de Ouagadougou.
Upon Master NABA’s return to Burkina Faso from the United States in 2006 to open the initiation in Meritah, NABA Iritah seized the opportunity to follow and study under him in order to advance his spiritual growth and enlightenment, not only as a son but as a disciple. As his son, NABA Iritah dedicated his life to claiming the initiatic heritage and knowledge of his bloodline in order to carry on the missions of his ancestors. A devout disciple of his father Master NABA, NABA Iritah learned M’TAM science and the knowledge of Kemetic mystery schools. He became the leader of the first initiates at the Earth Center in Meritah. After the transition of his master to the World of the Dead, NABA Iritah assumed full responsibility of The Earth Center Ouagadougou and of the duties of his bloodline in order to sustain the mission of his late father.
From 2007 to 2008 NABA Iritah hosted a weekly radio show in Ouagadougou which exposed the negative influences of colonial culture on the contemporary mind, taught the values of traditional knowledge, and raised awareness of the principles of nature, of the universe and of the Divine World. Since Master NABA’s death in 2008, NABA Iritah has been traveling throughout the world helping to lead and guide all of The Earth Center locations, and has traveled to many existing traditional communities, working to help them fight for their right to exist.
He is the primary host of The Earth Center’s annual spiritual pilgrimage to the motherland, which helps reconnect pilgrims to their traditional roots. NABA Iritah is in charge of many charitable projects of The Earth Center on the continent of Meritah, and he is the Director of the Projects in Meritah committee that works to sustain traditional rural lives. He is the chair of the Ankhkasta Natural Healing committee in Meritah and the editor of three periodicals: the Bayuali Magazine, the Rising Firefly Magazine, and the Sunnyside Magazine. Bayuali Magazine is published in Burkina Faso and the other two in the United States. NABA Iritah has given lectures throughout Meritah, the United States and England. He has made many radio and TV appearances in both French and English.
He is now working on many projects, including leading the first Earth Center for initiation in Europe, planning a festival for temple caretakers in Togo, helping to build the museum of Gulmu civilizations, and many others.
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