In part one of “Being Spirit”, we introduced various contemporary connotations of “spirit” and clarified that within the context of this article, “spirit” is framed as a knowable, incorporeal, sentient, intelligent, divine energy essence from which everything of the visible and invisible realms evolves and through which everything is connected.
This edition of “Being Spirit” extends our journey by examining the second of three perspectives that explore the evidence of spirit as integral to our beingness.
Melanin & spirit
I lead with a discussion of melanin, not because melanin, itself, is spirit, but because melanin implicates spiritness. Melanin mediates the interplay between the physical self and the spirit or energetic self, thereby evincing the sentient, intelligent quality of spirit.
From a traditional African viewpoint, we, as human beings, are an intrinsic component of a harmonic, energetically balanced universal ecosystem. As such, we are an existential aspect of the earth, its habitat, and the universe. This universal energetic resonance is spiritness, though, due to contemporary connotations, we may not ordinarily identify it in this way.
There is a saying that “we are spirit beings on a human journey”, which places the human being at the intersection of both the physical and spiritual worlds. In this sense, our physical reality is a manifestation of a spirit reality, and a spirit reality is the substance of our physical reality. This begs the question, “What is it that allows the human being to simultaneously traverse both physical and spiritual realms?”
Some scientists purport that melanin is the molecule that mediates this human-spirit interchange. In other words, melanin facilitates spiritness.
Long gone are the days when it was believed that melanin’s only function was to pigment skin, hair, and eyes.
While a cursory search into melanin still only identifies its primary function as pigmentation, just beneath this surface description lies a rich and profoundly complex account of the wonders of melanin. Experts like Dr. T. Owens Moore (1995) have taught us that melanin has antioxidant properties; that it’s believed to protect genes and repair damaged DNA; it enhances psychomotor development; plays a significant role in conception and fetal brain and nervous system development; and much more.
It is additionally noteworthy to mention that melanin is not only found in human beings, but it is also found in plants, other organisms, and in the Earth’s orbit.
However, there is another aspect of melanin that is vital to this discussion: its ability to facilitate energy transmission, or to act as a superconductor. Melanin is known to have bioelectronic properties that facilitate energy conduction. According to Moore (1995), “It is this dark matter (melanin) that maximizes the connection of myelinated human bodies to the spirit of the universe” (p.109).
Melanin is the link between the physical being and the electromagnetic energies that permeate nature and interstellar space, forming a coherent energetic ecosystem. This makes melanated people an integral part of the circuitry of energy flow between themselves, other living organisms, and the universe- this is spiritness.
Consider: Might this melanin-mediated electromagnetic connectivity be what allowed George Washington Carver to communicate with, and extract the secrets of plants, without the aid of any scientific instrument or method? Or did melanin influence how ancient Africans built pyramids with precise cosmological geometric alignment?
Melanin expert Dr. Ann Brown (2005) asserts that melanin grounds and protects Black people from the Earth’s strong electromagnetic currents. She further asserts that the Earth has a pulse and is affected by the tone of people’s thinking. So, there is reciprocity in the balance between the pulse of the earth and the thought vibration of the people. Melanated people, therefore, are integral to the earth, maintaining an energetic balance.
Regardless of whether it is due to the loss of knowledge of self or the interference of modernity, whenever there is a reduction in the resonance between the thinking of the people and the earth, the earth responds- this is spiritness.
Consider: Could this be why, according to NASA, we are experiencing an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme and unusual weather events such as droughts, tornadoes, flooding, heat, and wildfires? Could it be that the phenomenon that they call global warming is actually the Earth’s attempt to cleanse and rebalance itself in resonance with the vibration of the thinking of the people?
Dr. Edward Bruce Bynum (2005) posits a connection between neuromelanin (melanin in the brain) and spiritual consciousness. He postulates that neuromelanin bridges the individual’s consciousness to universal super-consciousness. This generates what we commonly understand to be collective consciousness- this is spiritness.
Consider: Could this be why the death of George Floyd sparked worldwide uprisings and protests? Or why white women in Oregon, expressly moved by Floyd’s cry for his mother and knowing that they would not be assaulted, used their bodies as a barrier to protect protesters from the National Guard? Could it be a growing collective consciousness, yearning for liberation, that inspires President Ibrahim Traore, who, in an interview, said he is moved by a message he is receiving from the youth?
There is no question about the multifaceted advantages of melanin and its power to facilitate energy transmission. Recent scientific advances provide further evidence of melanin’s power. Due to its ability to facilitate communication between electronic components and biological systems, melanin is today used experimentally in medicine as a bioconductor for implantable bioelectronic devices. Owing to its ability to transduce energy, melanin is also being explored in technology for use as a semiconductor in computer chips and cell phones.
It is evident that in today’s modern world, we are still discovering the wonders of melanin, but our ancient African ancestors well understood its power. Bynum (2005) notes that they called it the “chemical of the soul” (p. 49) because they understood it as the portal through which a person’s soul connects with the spirit of the universe. We may not ordinarily think of it as such, but as the power of our melanin operates in concert with the electromagnetic forces of the universe, we are “being spirit.”
To discuss these ideas further, join me at the 57th Annual ABPsi International Convention. Our theme is “The Illumination: Freeing the African Spirit.”
Photo by Jabari Timothy on Unsplash
