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Writer's pictureLerato Mohale

Remember Your Name


June 11 1994, a beautiful baby girl is born. Her mother looks into her eyes and is filled with love naming her Lerato. Lerato is then introduced to her paternal family and is named Paulinah after her late grandmother. In the first few months of 1996, leading up to Lerato's 2nd birthday she begins to fall ill. Between the erratic screaming, temperature fluctuations, vomiting and diarrhea her parents are running from one doctor to the next with little to no help. This continues for days until an elder in the family suspects something. "Ngwana o nale phuoana," she cautiously says. Phuoana or Hloana is described as a sunken fontanelle in English. Lerato is rushed to ngaka ya seSotho who immediately identifies the problem. "Eya ke phuoana mara le yentse phoso," he says. Ngaka begins to diagnose that phuoana was nursed with the incorrect herbs by Lerato's grandmother's sister. However, the main problem was the naming of the child. He continues to explain that the child was named after her grandmother who died before her birth but was never formally introduced. This is more of a spiritual illness than physical. He dispenses a garlic root and other herbs sending the elder and Lerato's mother home. The following morning at the crack of the dawn, Lerato is taken to her grandmother's grave and is introduced to the custodian of the name...Paulinah. The moment Lerato's little feet touched her grandmother's soil the wailing stopped instantly and she was healed.

When a soul from the heavens manifests on earth, a baby is born. The first prophetic word is spoken onto this living soul in the form of a name. This name reflects an innate divinity; carrying the weight of God's glory. Our ancestors in Kemet understood the power of the spoken word because "to the ancients, the sacred names and words of power convey, both in their writing and enunciation, the spirit that they engender," [The Sacred Magic of Ancient Egypt]. It is an identity within a covenant between soul and God hence [S]He asserts in the book of Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you and I ordained you a prophet to the nations," Jeremiah 1v5. Meaning that God creates unique souls [sanctified] that are officially ordered [ordain] to be proclaimers of the will of God [prophets]. Proclaiming the will of God is to become a tangible representation of God's vision. Your name is the root connecting you to the seed of God's vision. Thus your name reveals a calling, a purpose, an anointing.


There are times where a soul experiences a rebirth in the form of an awakening. An awakening is an unearthing of who you are in God; like an onion being peeled with each layer leading you closer to your core. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you," Matthew 6v33. Seek God honestly and earnestly because uncovering one drop of God's essence reveals the whole ocean of who you are. When the truth of who you are is revealed, you are reborn and realigned with your purpose through a new name. In Christianity, this is detailed in the story of Abraham [Abram] in the book of Genesis. Abram was a faithful servant of the Lord. His purpose was to be the inception of salvation. He was the patriarch; fathering the 12 tribes of Israel the ultimate ancestor of 42 descendants leading to Jesus Christ. His DNA carried the sacrificial lamb who would lay down his life for the sins of mankind. God promised to make him a father of the nations at a time where he didn't even have one child due to the barrenness of his wife's womb. "Then the Lord brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him 'Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that-too many to count!' " Genesis 15v5. After God painted a picture of the vision, [S]He awakened Abram to his new identity...Abraham. "What's more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram; now you will be known as Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations," Genesis 17v5. His biological father had an inkling by naming him "Abram" which means "exalted father". But his Spiritual Father in the heavens renewed him calling him "Abraham - father of many nations". God gave him the name before the promise came into being. Thus, God bestows the name upon the soul and the souls steps into its manifestation through faith.


In African Spirituality, the gifts bestowed upon a bloodline are carried by a soul's last name. A last name is connected to direto, deeply rooting a soul to God's expressions in nature. Direto honours the royalty of a leopard, the strength of an ape and the agility of a snake through totems. Direto celebrates the four elements of nature: water, earth, fire and air. Therefore, a soul's identity encompasses all of God's creation... past and present. Your name is an expression of the ones who come before you, ogogo nabo mkhulu. For "I come as one but stand as ten thousand," Maya Angelou. Your name, your blood, your roots bear a gift bestowed onto you by God. The gift is passed down serving the will of God from one generation to the next. In traditional healing that is ubungoma, seporofeto, nobugedla, a soul is chosen to embody the gift of healing in this world. The journey begins with healing self, then healing the family, then healing the nation. It is a journey of learning and unlearning; a dying of self in order for you to be reborn. At a particular point, a new name is revealed uncovering a purpose with its weight resting squarely on the soul's shoulders. Essentially, it is the responsibility of the soul to step into their calling. Failure to listen to the voice of God and step into your calling yields the gift being forfeited and passed onto another soul. As much as God is graceful and merciful, alignment with God is founded on obedience with disobedience having dire consequences.


The God who created you says, "do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine," Isaiah 43v1. Seek the essence of your name, understand its depth and embody it. Wear it like a necklace, engrave it in your heart. And in times of weakness, remember who God is and who you are in God. Take the time to appreciate the depth of my words. I intentionally refer to a soul in an effort to emphasize the sacredness of the covenant. It's a promise that extends beyond the physical meaning that it's bigger than you, bigger than your ego. So ask for guidance. Ask for God to open your eyes to see He[R] vision, open your ears to hear He[R] gentle whisper and open your heart to receive He[R] wholeheartedly and obediently.





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