Spirituality Before Religions is a groundbreaking work by Prof Kaba Hiawatha Kamene that challenges modern assumptions about religion, spirituality, and science. Rather than treating science and spirituality as separate realms—or viewing religions as the foundation of the sacred—Kamene flips the narrative: Before “religions” in the organized, doctrinal sense, ancient Africans cultivated a spirituality rooted in science, cosmology, balance, and the Creator within.
This 7-chapter book explores human origins—from physical evolution and spiritual awakening to the intellectual flowering of Kemet (ancient Egypt) and Kush (Nubia/Sudan) and the sacred texts that shaped global civilization. Kamene advocates reclaiming the African worldview that sees spirituality as the “unseen science” underpinning all wisdom, while science is “seen” spirituality—tangible proof of divine principles in nature.
Below is a detailed chapter-by-chapter summary and review, followed by an exploration of Prof Kamene’s core message.
Chapter 1: Physical Evolution
Kamene opens by exploring Africa’s status as the mother continent and the cradle of humanity. Drawing on paleoanthropology and indigenous oral traditions, he explains that all humans have their origins in Africa’s Great Lakes region—modern Kenya, Uganda, Congo, and surrounding areas. Here, ancient peoples first observed the rhythms of stars, rivers, and seasons, integrating these patterns into their worldview.
- Key Insight: Early Africans balanced physical mastery (survival, technology, agriculture) with the seed of spiritual inquiry, blending material and metaphysical realities from the beginning.
- Connections: Modern science (evolution, geology) and African spirituality are not competitors, but parallel quests for meaning and truth.
Kamene emphasizes that physical evolution—the entire journey from cosmic dust to human consciousness—should be honored as a sacred progression.
Chapter 2: Spiritual Involution
The focus now shifts to the awakening of inner awareness—what Kamene calls “spiritual involution.” Where evolution moves outward, involution is the journey inward. Ancient Africans recognized the unseen as equally real and powerful as the physical world.
- Key Themes:
- “As above, so below”: Cosmic patterns reflect human patterns.
- Spirituality begins with self-knowledge: “Know thyself” is original to African philosophy, long before Greece.
- Agriculture, astronomy, and mathematics were spiritual practices rooted in interpreting cosmic order.
Kamene discusses “Tep Heseb”—the Kemetic (Egyptian) method of precise, harmonious calculation—which became the basis for science, philosophy, and government. Sacred science in Kemet meant aligning life with cosmic order (Ma’at), ensuring personal and communal well-being.
Chapter 3: Before the Pre-Word—Kemet’s Kushite Beginnings
Delving deeper into African antiquity, Kamene traces the foundation of Kemetic civilization to even older Nubian/Kushite cultures of Central and East Africa. Long before written doctrines or temples, people lived in harmony with nature, honoring both male and female principles and venerating ancestors.
- Main Point: Kemet (Egypt) didn’t arise from a vacuum; it was the product of millennia of spiritual and scientific evolution in Africa’s heartland.
- African Unity: Civilizations grew by sharing sacred wisdom up and down the Nile, not by domination.
Kamene’s scholarship is supported by linguistic, archaeological, and oral evidence, emphasizing that all global spiritual traditions are indebted to these original African blueprints.
Chapter 4: The Kemetic (Egyptian) Dynasties and Their Texts
Kamene moves into the era of classical Kemet, outlining its dynasties (pharaonic periods) and the emergence of written texts—pyramid texts (oldest known religious writings), coffin texts, and funerary traditions. He highlights the “Sed Festival,” which focused on balance, renewal, and the king’s unity with divine principles.
- Sacred Texts: Kemetic writings were not just religious—they encoded science, philosophy, cosmology, ethics, and theology.
- Law of Ma’at: The principle of truth, balance, and order governed every aspect of society, from architecture to law.
Kamene argues that Egypt’s astonishing civilization—medicine, mathematics, architecture—was powered not by religion in the modern sense but a spiritual science grounded in cosmic observation and respect for the Creator within and without.
Chapter 5: The Word—Kemetic Texts and the Memphite Theology on the Shabaka Stone
This chapter centers on the “Shabaka Stone,” a Kemetic text that records the Memphite Theology. Here, Kamene discusses how the spoken “Word” (logos) was regarded as the creative force in the universe—a precursor to Judeo-Christian ideas of the Word creating the cosmos.
- Memphite Theology: Ptah (the Creator) brings the universe into being through thought and speech—a profound parallel to Big Bang cosmology and quantum observation.
- Science Meets Spirituality: The Memphite text blends metaphysics (the word) with practical reality (science), showing that language, consciousness, and physical creation were seen as inseparable.
Kamene reminds readers that ancient Kemet viewed science, spirituality, and everyday life as one seamless whole.
Chapter 6: After-Word
The “after-word” is a meditation on the continuity between ancient wisdom and modern dilemmas. Kamene discusses how the legacy of African spirituality was disrupted by invasions, colonization, and the spread of dogmatic (often exclusionary) religions, which displaced cosmic balance with hierarchy and division.
- Call to Action: He urges people of African descent—and the world—to reclaim spiritual science, embodied in harmony with nature, holistic education, and restorative culture.
- Wisdom for Our Time: Ancient tools for balance—Ma’at, Tep Heseb, reverence for the Creator within—are urgently needed in an age of environmental crisis and social alienation.
Chapter 7: Final Word—Where We Go From Here
Kamene closes with a vision for the Age of Aquarius, which he calls the “Age of the Feminine Principle.” He links black holes, solar energy, and cosmic birth to the feminine, creative power present in both cosmos and humanity (especially in womanhood).
- Unity and Regeneration: The book argues that, as humanity faces ecological and social crossroads, the only path forward is a spirituality that reunites science, the divine feminine, sacred ecology, and personal self-knowledge.
Conclusion: Science must rediscover its spiritual roots, and spirituality must re-embrace its basis in empirical wisdom. This is the foundation for a renewed, harmonious, empowered future.
The Message Prof Kaba Hiawatha Kamene Wants to Convey
Kamene’s book is an urgent, liberating call:
- True spirituality precedes religion: Organized religions are Young compared to Africa’s ancient cosmic wisdom.
- Spirituality and science are twins: Science is the visible dimension of unseen spiritual truths. The split between reason and reverence is a modern illusion.
- You are divine: The God within—Universal Source, Supreme Being—is not separate from nature or self. All people must look within and recognize the Creator living through them.
- Balance is the goal: Harmony with cosmic law (Ma’at), respect for nature, and nurturing the divine in oneself and others is the path to thriving.
Two Laws of Cosmic Spirituality:
- Love/Respect the Creator within you. Know you are the Creator having a human experience.
- Love/Respect the Creator in Nature as you do within.
Kamene’s hope is for a return to these roots—uniting personal divinity, scientific exploration, cosmic ecology, and global community. By “seeing the Creator in the mirror,” humanity can overcome spiritual chains and leap into an age of self-knowledge, balance, and lasting peace.
Why This Book Matters
- Restores African contributions to global civilization, science, and religion.
- Bridges the gap between modern science and authentic spirituality.
- Offers a holistic, healing worldview needed for our divided, ecological, and spiritually hungry era.
- Invites all people—regardless of background—to explore their deepest, original connection to the divine, nature, and each other.
FAQs
Q1. What is the main theme of Spirituality Before Religions?
The book explores how spirituality forms the foundation of all religions and sciences.
Q2. Who should read this book?
Anyone interested in spirituality, African history, or the connection between science and consciousness.
Q3. What is the Shabaka Stone?
It’s an ancient Egyptian stone inscribed with the Memphite Theology, explaining creation through divine thought.
Q4. How does Kamene define spirituality?
As unseen science—the study of the inner universe that complements outer scientific exploration.
Q5. What is the ultimate message of the book?
That humanity must return to its spiritual roots to truly evolve—uniting science and spirit for global harmony.