Nyami~Nyami

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

 

I was introduced to the legend of Nyami-Nyami by a a Tonga elder some time ago. The BaTonga, or Tonga people live in what is now known as Zimbabwe and Zambia, two African countries which adjoin the mighty Zambezi river.

Nyami-Nyami is a giant Dragon, manifesting with attributes of both Serpent and Fish according to the elders of the Tonga people, whose ancestors lived in the Zambezi river basin since the earliest times.

Nyami-Nyami is very similar in many respects to the Naga Dragons of the Orient, the guardians of the waterways.

 

 

 

In days gone by, people all over the world used to venerate the Guardians or Keepers of the Blood of the Earth.

These Guardians were known to be Dragons, Serpents and Mermaids, being called  by many various and diverse Names and appearing in a myriad of forms in every land across the globe. These include Mami Wata spirits, Naga, Mamlambo, Simbi and Lorelei, to mention but a few . The Goddess Ishtar was known as The Keeper of the Waters and was drawn across the skies in a chariot by a pair of Dragons; possessing a twin Serpent scepter.

At every spring, stream, river and lake in the land, there would be a shrine which was kept in honour of the resident Water Spirit. This tradition continues in certain parts of the Orient.

This Water Dragon, auspicious by it’s appearance during this, the Chinese Year of the Dragon, lives at the entrance to a Buddhist Temple. Before entering the Temple, one must receive blessings and purification from the Dragon. The water issuing from the dragon’s mouth is used to ceremonially wash the hands and by contact with the blessed water, one also becomes fit to enter the sacred ground within.

Water was recognized by our distant ancestors as the source of all life, and thus was known as the very Life-Blood of the Earth.

The work done by enlightened scientists such as Dr Emoto on the actual properties and characteristics of water, which makes up around 70% of the human body and is essential to all living things on our planet, indicates the vital and sensitive nature of this Element within and without of the body.

The slightest vibration ~ a thought, word or action, including the written word and all media – affects everything within every being in the environment, which naturally includes human beings, though many would deny this fact. No-one can deny, though, that all living things are made up largely of water, which is a super-conductor of energies and interconnects all things.

 

The Ancients knew the true value of the most precious commodity of the future and so all sources and currents of fresh water were valued tremendously and protected vigorously. It was prohibited to waste, pollute or defile water for obvious reasons. Without fresh water supplies, no food crops can be cultivated and all human life will cease to exist within a matter of weeks.

Any major disturbance of the flow of the rivers, which have their beginnings deep in the mountains of the Earth and trickle into one another forming streams and then rivers, which all flow down to the Sea, would naturally have a major impact on the environment and seriously disturb the Natural Balance .

 

 

For millennia, the Tonga people lived in  harmony with the majestic Zambezi river. The vast river gorge known as Kariba was a mecca for the people to gather around and propitiate the resident Water Spirit, Nyami-Nyami, making offerings to appease the River God in order to ensure the regular cycles of fertility, offering clouds of the sweet incense of the sacred plant, Cannabis, to the Great God and the Twin Serpent, personifying Mother Nature. The first people were gifted with the knowledge of how to work with the cycles of Nature to establish a high civilization in harmony with the environment.

 

Every year, the rains would fall at a certain time in late Spring at the time when Sirius appeared over the horizon.

The people would rejoice, as good rains in the highlands would mean that the vast underground aquifers in the highlands would fill with sweet, crystal-clear water and bring the swelling of the rivers and the periodic flooding of the broad river valley, inundating the land with fertile, rich silt.

When the river had subsided to a normal level, the seeds could be sown for new crops which would grow and produce vigorously with no need for insecticides or chemical fertilization .

 

Regular offerings were made to Nyami-Nyami, as the great River Serpent would thus be appeased and so the natural forces would work harmoniously together for the benefit of the people, encouraging the right conditions for cultivation and an abundant harvest.

 

Both Nyami and Her consort, Nyami were represented as twin Serpents, the Yin and Yang energies of the Natural Universe. In this way Nyami-Nyami is practically identical to Aida-Wedo and Damballah-Wedo of the Vodoun Pantheon.

The imagery of the Twin Serpents, representing the currents of Kundalini energy within the human body and throughout Nature, is truly universal in many forms as the symbol of the Life Force. This is why so many of our Pagan Goddesses and Gods are shown holding two serpents, one in either hand.

And why the imagery of the Twin Serpents intertwined together is to be found in all areas of the world , where these were not deliberately destroyed by people from other religions at a later date.

 

Both male (Yang) and female (Yin) energies are needed to create anything on any level, and every being is made up of both currents of energy which should be maintained in balance for many good reasons.

The natural environment is characterized by curves rather than by straight lines, by circles rather than by squares, by irregular yet patterned lines rather than with regimented straight lines.

This shows the contrast between nature as in the river, and the effect that man has had on the surrounding environment.

The grand old Mississippi river

Rivers always glide across the landscape as sinuous , winding serpents  ~ truly a microcosmic reflection of the serpent energies which flow through everything.

 

As any student of metaphysics will probably know, when a Chakra, or focal energy centre in the spinal cord is blocked or damaged, one’s entire system is harmed on all levels, including the physical.

 

Unfortunately, this has happened to many of the living rivers of the world, which used to all flow unimpeded to the sea; and as the carriers and conductors of the Life Blood of the Earth, would form a vital part of the ongoing living Cosmic ecosystem which Pagans worship by the Name Mother Earth and Gaia.

 

As a result of the Industrial revolution and the subsequent expansion of populations and development around the world, increasing pressure was placed on the environment in order to fulfil the needs of the industrial machine.

Colonies were sought by the Industrialised nations to supply the factories in the North with enough raw materials at low cost.

The large rivers of the planet were dammed up, to regulate the flow of the waterways and store vast amounts of water for the increasing needs of the expanding human population, Huge , costly hydro-electric plants were built on these dams in order to charge people exorbitant amounts of money for a form of harmful electrical power which could easily be replaced by any number of alternative eco - friendly power sources, which are completely cost-effective ~ and there’s the rub…and to facilitate irrigation to grow the new genetically modified foods which were to quickly replace the original, hardy and nutrient-packed indigenous grains and other food crops.

The damming up of the rivers, though seemingly convenient for human use, resulted in a huge environmental disaster on many levels which has far more serious long-term implications.

The natural cycles of the rivers were interrupted permanently,.

This had severe and disastrous results for the entire ecosystem, from the migratory fish and other species such as the fresh-water river dolphin and salmon, which found that the passageway to the ancestral spawning and breeding grounds had been blocked off;  to the many thousands of plant, tree and animal species that could not adapt to the unnatural blocking – up of the rivers and the subsequent introduction of alien invader species such as commercial oil palms and sugar cane fields, irrigated via the dams which replaced vast areas of tropical hardwood forest. Exotic predators were deliberately introduced by the colonialists into the ecosystem, for “control” of “pests” and for the gentlemen’s sporting requirements.

Having no natural defences against these predator species and faced with a diminished living space, the indigenous fauna and flora were decimated and marginalized.

The regular cycles of the annual flooding of the river valleys and the temporary submersion of vast areas of land with water and the resulting enrichment of the topsoil layer which is vital for new and sustained plant growth, was removed forever.

Another very clear example of this is also to be found along the Nile river, which was interrupted and blocked by the High Aswan Dam. Some say that the main Temple of Isis was deliberately included to be submerged under the waters of this dam by the planners of this environmental disaster.

As the rivers were now constricted and artificially regulated by human intervention, the remaining indigenous fish and other aquatic wildlife were exposed to overfishing and exploitation, leaving only fragments of the original populations struggling to survive in a very hostile environment.

The natural balance which had existed long before this industrial revolution of “civilized” man has been severely disturbed all over the planet.

 

In the days of Old, one of the main reasons why the River Dragons were venerated by the people by acts of consciously caring for and conserving the natural environment was to avoid the consequences of neglecting to do so.

 

Deliberately interfering in the affairs of Nature is guaranteed to bring about problems, and the human race is beginning to discover of late what comes of trying to have dominion over Nature.

 

When angered , the Great River Serpent rears up in the form of hurricanes, cyclones and tornados. The increased incidence of such around the world over the last decade or so, ever increasing in intensity and frequency, are as the twitching of the Serpent’s tail.

This would have been enough to warn off even the blindest of the Ancients, who would have never tempted Mother Nature the way these ignorant people have done.

 

The remedies are simple and the damage can be remedied by those who have the power and resources to do so by taking real proactive steps.

However it seems as if certain controlling interests in the world do not want to take heed of the warning signs and will persist in raping the environment for their own selfish profit-based interests.

 

The return of Nyami-Nyami

 

 

The Tonga know in their hearts that one day, the Twin Serpents will again be re-united after being separated by the construction of the wall of the Kariba dam.

This is inevitable, as the way of Nature is that in the end,  everything always returns to a state of equilibrium.

This will mean a removal of the blockages that are disrupting the natural flow of energies within the system and will mean radical changes to the way things have been done by the patriarchal establishment over the last couple of thousand years. Just how this will happen is , well, anyones’ guess…