A Journey through Aesthetic Realms
 
Spirituality of Colombia’s Indigenous Kogui People      
Today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms will be presented in Spanish, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

We welcome our loving audience with a lot of love to the program A Journey through Aesthetic Realms.

Today, we will explore the memories, thoughts and expressions of ancestral indigenous communities of Colombia that live in harmony where “the world’s heart beats,” keeping an equilibrium with nature. These indigenous ethnic groups are the Kogui, Arhuacos, Kankuamos, and Wiwas. They profess an endless love, respect and care of this home, the Earth, which for millions and millions of years has been a Mother that has carefully sheltered the lives of her inhabitants.

These four Indians groups of The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia are located in the northern area of South America. They have lived there for ages in a territory that covers the world’s highest coastal mountain range: The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. There, we can find all type of climates and altitudes, from the snowy peaks to the very warm beaches of the tropics. In this territory there is a great diversity of plants and animals, and the water springs and flows.

All of these happen amidst a wealthy and vital nature that is at the same time very calm and harmonious. The communities of Kogui, Arhuacos, Kankuamos, and Wiwas have the power of being the guardians and promoters of the balance of the planet, based on the different landscapes – valleys, snow tops, rivers, woods, the Caribbean Sea. Therefore the gods have given them the task of stewardship. These ancestral communities are considered the ones who were elected and responsible for protecting Mother Earth, beginning with preserving the Sierra Nevada, their territory.

The Sierra Nevada is considered to be the place where humanity was created. In the shape of a pyramid, it is a sacred and energetic place very important for all inhabitants of the planet. A mama is an elder or a priest of the Colombian indigenous community, so named according to the reach of his wisdom. The mama has the responsibility of his community, the role of spiritual and political leader, counselor and guide for multiples aspects of life in his community.

The Kogui Cosmogony talks about the creation of the nine worlds, one on the top of the other. This hierarchy of worlds is related to the nine months that a human is in the womb, and the process of evolution is explained in detail through it. During the ninth month of creation, the highest, beautiful first tree of creation, the Ceiba (tree), or Ulala or Mama (priest) Zincala, began to appear from the pure ocean. Around this cosmic axis, the four Divine brothers built the first temple and named it Alnaua.

“The day had not begun… and the earth was still loose and under the darkness. When the first man Sintána had been born, the light was made and the first day of the creation dawned...”

The four male gods began to dry the soil and push far away the ocean that enveloped them. When this was done, they met in the temple that they had built and sang, asking the Mother to gift them wives. The Mother had had nine daughters, each one of them representing a specific quality of the soil of cultivation:

sandy soil, clay soil, and yellow soil. Soon they realized that the daughters by their qualities could not promise fertility. Therefore, they asked for “black soil” to inhabit the world, the black daughter of the Mother, the good soil for sowing and cultivation. Sintána, the first man of creation, stood in the center of the temple and sang: “Indaou, now I will have my temple here.” The young woman heard the song and was charmed by the beauty of his voice.

She stood up but she did not dare to go out. Then, Sintána called his companion the wind and asked for his help. The wind searched everywhere until he found the young woman: the black soil. The wind eventually brought her to the temple where Sintána was. That was how human life began, in a temple that was built by the four men, where Sintána and the black soil, the first couple, met. They settled together and their progeny populated the Kogui world. The hills big and small, with conical form, are all temples.

They are gathered in great numbers – they are the Sierra Nevada. In each one of them supposedly exist many inhabitants, a multitude of beings there live their own secret life, similar to human beings. When we return, we’ll find out more about the Kogui people’s spiritual beliefs toward the environment. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. The Kogui are direct descendents of the Tairona, who were a pre-Columbian civilization in Colombia, thriving in about the year 1000. In 1975, the “Lost City,” a major city of the Tairona, was discovered by archaeologists. Their use of stone for construction was highly developed in building bridges, stairs, sewers, terraced platforms; they also had an incredible network of brick roads.

The Kogui made beautiful pottery, and are best known for their unique goldwork. Archaeologists believed that there are two more hidden cities of this sophisticated civilization yet to be discovered. In the modern times, the Kogui speak of themselves as being the Elder Brothers of humankind with a mission to take care of our planet. The Kogui live in an inner realm, called Aluna, of thought and possibilities. They are able to inwardly travel and see places that are on Earth, as well as places that are off this planet.

In the past five centuries, the Kogui have not changed much. They have continued to focus on the spiritual sphere. To do this, they have tried to maintain a physical distance between themselves and the rest of the population of the world. They protect their environment, and the jungle has helped them to keep people from approaching them. In recent times, the Kogui have been very concerned about what is happening to the rainforests where they live, as well as to the planet itself.

Through prophesies and messages, they are conscious of a very big change that is happening on planet Earth. They see that the state of their mountain is not well, which is a symbol of this change. They see that the world was almost destroyed due to humans’ incorrect use of nature. The Kogui felt that that the situation of the planet was so urgent, that they had to share their understanding with the world.

So, in 1988, for the first time, a Western journalist was allowed to film a documentary about their culture. In the 1992 BBC film, titled “From the Heart of the World: The Elder Brothers’ Warning,” they wanted to share their message with the rest of humanity that by misusing Mother Earth, they are causing an imbalance that will affect the future generations. The Kogi have a continuous tradition of passing down the knowledge of their past and religion through oral tradition. The mamas, that is, the spiritual leaders, are very important in their culture.

The mamas are selected at birth, and are taught from a very young age the ancient mysteries of the spiritual realm, Aluna. Secrets of life have been bestowed upon them by the ancestors, secrets like how everything in the universe appears, grows, reproduces and perishes. These mamas are raised inside the mountain in dim light, and do not eat salt or conventional foods such as meat. Thus, with a pure and simple lifestyle, they can focus on their important spiritual work. The mamas have the responsibility of making certain that the social and spiritual order of the tribe is in harmony with the universal order.

It is through this spiritual leadership that the Kogi world remains in harmony and balance. By observing the sun, moon and stars, the Kogui can understand the changes of nature and the earth, and the connection between these changes and the Kogui tribe. Through mining, deforestation, and other industrial activities, humanity has been wounding Mother Earth. If we continue our ways, the Kogui mamas warn, the world may face its demise.

With change in behavior, however, the world could continue. The Kogui said in a message: “A human being has much liquid inside. If the liquid dries up, we fall with weakness. This same thing can happen to the Earth, weakness makes you fall… If the Younger Brother keeps cutting down all the trees, there will be fires because the sun will heat the earth.” In a more recent message delivered on April 2009, Mama Pedro Juan said at the sacred site called Seishua: “Here we are on Planet Earth. I want to tell you that we all live on the same planet, and so we must all listen to the commands of the Mothers and Parents who grant us the Earth.

The Sierra Nevada is itself the natural law that keeps the world alive, and is fully aware. Nulkukeje (the essence of the Sierra Nevada) is a Lord who knows the whole of the Law. The Mother told him that he is in charge of manifesting her thoughts. Nulkujaluwa (the Sierra Nevada) is the material manifestation of the Law… Seishua (this sacred site) was also created by the Mother and knows the whole of the Law. It must warn those who are thinking of doing harm so that they understand that they cannot destroy the seas and everything that exists.

They are not the owners of the world. There is a high environmental authority, which takes the form of a high mountain, which keeps watch against the intrusion of disruption and corruption…” “Negative forces are going to continue to grow stronger, so we ourselves must continue working positively so that the consequences can be averted. We must work together with the Younger Brother... They must decide what they must do within their own territories.

Each one of us must decide what we are going to do… This is why we were born and live and this is what we declare. We invite other indigenous people and all people in the world to grasp the situation in which we now live.” Over time, more people have been listening to the ecological messages of the Kogui people. May we honor the wisdom of the indigenous Colombian people as we honor the spiritual nature of our planet.

Thank you for joining us on today’s program. Coming up next is Our Noble Lineage, after Noteworthy News. Blessed be your gentle and loving spirit.

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