WHAT ARE THE MYAL?

By the Power of the Hidden, the All Seeing, and the UNIFIED:

The Myal, in this day and time, are the spiritual expression or foundation for the Great House Order, that is led by Abba. We urge those that are interested and want to share in our way of life, to email Abba at Abba@deozi.com.

A MYAL'S UTMOST CONCERN IS:

1) FAMILY - The center of all things is the family. We support the maintenance and integrity of all indigenous families and their unity. The family is the first line of togetherness and unity.

2) COMMUNITY - Some call this the Common Unity. We agree. We support indigenous families coming together with each other to help secure their legacy, which are children. This is the second line of togetherness, the spirit of unity despite difference.

3) ENVIRONMENT - We say the planet is living and is Our Mother. It is mandatory that we take care of Her environment wherever we live.

A MYAL'S RITUAL CONSIST OF:

1) THE VOW - We say accountability and responsibility is a spiritual expression when doing the work of healing for ourselves. We want maximum healing and our word to be honorable in doing so, with our peers. We encourage those that engage with us to make their dedication be seen and heard by all those around them.

2) PURIFICATION - We incorporate water, music, and the tree, as the basis of our constant change and evolution. Water is our symbol to cleanse ourselves. Music is the vehicle for maintaining harmony with one another. And the Tree, is our connection to the energy of the Unifying Force, whose best attribute is the UNIFIED. This sacred connection is through Our Mother (Planet), as well as our Elders and Ancestors.

3) TEACHING - At the center of every type of healing for every community is the teacher. We respect teaching and the discipline of pedagogy. We hold this to be a spiritual practice. A Myal supports the program and platform of all Great House Schools.

We also desire to partner with people of different spiritual orientations in order to maximize applied unifying methods. We believe in unity among all Indigenous Peoples, regardless of religion, philosophy, ideology, economics, or politics. We are convinced that partnership with each other, and respecting our differences, is the best way to proceed in solving shared communal problems. Helping Indigenous people do for themselves as well as unifying, is our utmost concern.

THE MYAL: OUR STORY
The Myal (etymologically derived from rulership in the kikongo language) are an ancient spiritual nation that manifested on the island of what is now called Jamaica [originally called Xaymaka (pronounced hi-mah-kah)] over 200 years ago. The Myal are the composition of the most ancient family groups stemming from the continent of Afrika as well as the indigenous Caribbean people. These family groups are the Congo, Garamantes, Akan, Moors, and Yamaye Indigenous Jamaicans.

We as North African Moors and Indigenous Yamaye were the original communities under the authority of the Spaniards when the island was called Santiago (by Columbus). For over 150 years did the Spaniards have control of the island, and then the British took it from them. In this process, the Moorish communities were growing and becoming organized along with the indigenous Yamaye (Over this time period the communities absorbed one another in the mountains). These communities led in the fight against the Spaniards until the time of the bondservants, of which there were Akan, the Fon, and Congo, brought by the British. Many of them escaped, and joined Nanny or Nana Sarah of the Asante, and her brothers, who came to the island of their own volition.

They were eventually called the Maroons or cimarrón, which has been defined by many as escaped animal. We, the Myal, do not subscribe to that definition and consider it derogatory. The root of the word is cima, which means mountain in spanish. We were people of the mountain, as can be seen in many of the diverse religions across the planet. The worshipped beings were people of and within the mountain.

The children of these Mountain People, as well as those that escaped kidnapping, took part in the first Yamaye, Xaymaka (Jamaican) born spiritual expression called Myal. As said earlier, Myal was/is a composite of Indigenous spirituality, which included the people of the family groups from the African and Caribbean land masses. The Congo and Akan peoples left the biggest impression in that much of the features of Myal were very similar to ancient practices of both groups.

THE MYAL: OUR PURPOSE
The Myal became the voice of the people and were the backbone of the community. The Myal were not monolithic and their expression was diverse. The focus of the Myal was Herbatology and Medicine, Politics, policing, and spirituality. Those that engaged in herbs were helpful to hospitals and assisted in healing patients. The politically oriented Myal used their organizing as a way to fight against the colonial tyranny and oppression of the British government. The Myal, as a policing force, were the ones to cleanse the community of those that sought to do harm to people residing within. And finally, the Myal, that kept the community active in spirituality, made sure everyone remembered that they were family and that they must cleanse themselves of wrongs committed and that love must be dominant in order to have a happy life. These were/are the ways of the Myal.

We, through the Great Myal Ancestor Sáaba, are a representation of the Myal in this day and time. I invite you to come and learn more about us!