Changing roles of gold the noble element

Pathisa Nyathi, Opinion
NOT so long ago I developed some strong sense of enquiry about gold.

I knew that the importance of gold has been changing over the years.

Today it is associated with money.

Gold reserves are a measure of a country’s monetary worth.

However, that only came much later although in Egypt gold acquired that role thousands of years ago.

I do not know exactly why I developed the desire to know more about gold.

At a tender age, when I was still spiritually pure, I used to dream about gold.

I used to see the precious glittering metal on stones in the river.

With my physical eyes, I had never seen, let alone handled, the noble metal.

Only when I visited the Natural History Museum in Bulawayo did I see it.

I failed to resist the urge to research on gold in particular during the ancient times when it was not used in money exchange.

At mature age, I do from time to time receive reports from people who dream about me having bullions of gold.

Ironically, I remain as poor, if not poorer than a church mouse.

That reinforced my desire to get to know more about gold.

I have been reading about stories relating to some aliens who arrived on our planet in search of gold, not for monetary purposes.

These aliens are said to have been coming from one of the planets that circle the sun.

The planet Nibiru is within the solar system that is a part of the Milky Way Galaxy.

The people in question regarded themselves as gods and they were keen to mine gold on earth where it was found in large quantities.

The inferior gods did the laborious work of mining until they complained.

That complaint led to the creation of a lesser species of humans who replaced the gods as miners of gold.

Only last week President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda announced that large quantities of gold had been discovered in his country.

In the Bible, we read about the Queen Sheba (Saba) who got married to King Solomon who is said to have been getting gold from Africa.

In Rider Haggard’s book, the gold mines were said to be located between the rivers Zambezi and the Limpopo.

During the partition of Africa that was driven by the lust for gold and other minerals, Cecil John Rhodes’ imagination was fired up and he was keen to establish a British sphere of influence stretching from the Cape in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt.

As we know, in 1890, he sent his forces to occupy Mashonaland on the promise of gold claims his British South Africa Company was going to advance to the volunteers.

Within some short space of time there was disillusionment as gold was not found in quantities that they had anticipated.

In their colonising minds, they were certain the promised gold was somewhere in Matabeleland, where King Solomon’s gold mines were located.

The state of Mthwakazi (Matabeleland) faced all manner of political machinations and shenanigans all calculated at occupying what had hitherto been an independent state.

Gold and the colonial project were like Siamese twins.

However, by that time gold had assumed a different meaning.

The Anunnaki, the people who invaded Africa and came in crafts not very different from the NASA crafts such as Apollo 11, the importance of gold took a higher meaning and significance.

In Sumeria, we are told there were cities where these crafts, zvitundumuseresere landed.

Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi President was killed at the time when he was sponsoring research towards identifying and unveiling the lost ports that were launch and landing pads for the Anunnaki who introduced inter-planetary travel.

The space travellers introduced a new civilisation to our planet, particularly the African continent.

Interestingly, some of their flying crafts were saucer-shaped and I began wondering if modern day wizards who fly in winnowing baskets were not inspired by these ancient Anunnaki gods from Planet Nibiru.

Gold was exported to Nibiru with a view to altering the atmosphere of the small planet.

When the Anunnaki lived on earth, they experienced short life spans because of the shorter cycles on earth.

The need to alter longevity was because of that problem – short lifespans.

Gold came to their rescue.

A science laboratory was set up on Mount Sinai where gold was reacted with other elements and the result was a powdery talc, which was ingested.

That seemed to elongate the lifespans of the new arrivals.

Apparently, iSanuse Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa tells the story of the Mutapas at Great Zimbabwe who too used gold for the purpose, not only for elongating their lifespans, but also the conduct and quality of their rule.

Rulers were regarded as divine in those days.

Ingestion of powdered gold talc was believed to give them wisdom in the conduct of their rulership.

Consumption of gold gave them the requisite wisdom as they went about their royal tasks.

I thus began to appreciate the role of gold back then and why now it is associated with royal spirituality.

The spirits of Kings are linked closely with the ancients from whom they derive ancient wisdom and knowledge.

It comes as no wonder at all why royal rulers had scepters made out of gold.

In fact, today you find bangles of various metals such as copper, aluminium, and amalgams such as bronze and brass.

These items came in some instances as trade goods.

Upon death, some of these items were interred with the remains of the people who used them in life.

Then they became funerary items or grave objects.

Further, the items migrated from the mundane concrete realm and entered the spiritual realm.

The bangles that the spiritual hosts or mediums wore were believed to impart certain qualities to them beyond linking the living with their dear departed (now in spiritual form) who, in physical life, used to wear the items.

Bangles were not something new.

They had, from time immemorial, been used as part of adornment.

Baked small clay balls were used in place of the glass beads that came much later through trading with the Portuguese and Arabs-Ama-Iti who were slavers of the African people.

Ostrich eggshells were also used prior to importation of glass beads.

It was during the importation of trade goods that gold was exchanged for these and Africans began mining the noble element. Gold was not then associated with monetary value.

Mapungubwe Hill located at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers and made of red granite gave a good example of how the rulers (bohhe) who lived on the hill top used gold.

A gold scepter was retrieved from royal burials.

A rhinoceros covered in gold foil was also retrieved.

Gold had entered the spiritual realm as a grave item.

Gold beads replaced glass beads among the royals.

Gold beads had a stronger appeal than glass beads.

Royalty who controlled trade and exacted duty from traders began using gold as beads.

Gold was then perceived as riches, chuma in the language of the people who lived on and around the hill.

Now we have people who are Tshuma in Matabeleland who say they are Golide (Ndebele for gold).

The best known among them is Lovemore Majayivana Tshuma. Tshuma, now rendered with an isiNdebele spelling, is a reference to gold which was used as beads.