Video by: HandZaround
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWNQoY47Ha8RYW1Ftol92dQ

Ethiopia Rising - ኖር ፤ ሀገሬ

Our languages alone suffice to spark a flare to our curious heart, Ethiopian languages are very unique, because they have their own philosophical ideologies and connection with music, spirituality. It's almost by design to express the emotions of the soul. 

Take an example, the way we traditionally greet, bow down full of respect uttering "ኖር" (Nor).

I don't know how many of us have asked the question what "ኖር" or this performance really meant. But I'm sure majority of us have been a victim of the occasional slap and "ባለጌ" (Balege) that followed when we didn't perform it correctly. 

When I found out that it meant "I see the God in you" I felt a strange chill in my spines. This for me was one of those spark flares amongst many others. Whether that is verifiable or is a good subject for a debate, plays very little significant if any at all. The fact of the matter is that it was there all along and we were never conscious of it.

Ethiopia is so much, much more than we have ever been told. We were brought up with undoubted sense of identity and unquestionable love for our country, culture and respect for one another. however, I never knew what it meant to be Ethiopian until i starting entertaining my curiosity consciously. 

Whether by forcing myself to read Amharic books or changing my whole music genres to Eskista, Guragigna, and any suitable candidate description my mind could still pull out from the old dusty Amharic vocabulary shelf, I felt an unstoppable force pulling me to connect to my roots, language, and culture, to find out more, to look into the history of my ancestors, to their languages, music, intelligence, spirituality, lifestyle, culture, thinking, mental staus and to know who they were.  

Through finding who my ancestors were and what they stood for, i am filled with hope and courage. They stood for Faith, Hope, Love, Honour, Dignity, Peace, Charity, Spirituality, Freedom and Discipline. Values of higher consciousness. True characteristics of a nation of Kings and Queens.

I am proud to be Ethiopian not because I was told to be, but because, now I have started to see how much I didn't know myself. 

The journey to finding your ancestors will always end in finding yourself.

እራሱን ያወቀ : ካምላክ የታረቀ::

(He who knows himself, is in accordance with God)

My people are my country, me and whom I call you and them are Ethiopia just as well. 

Now, I want to say, this time consciously and fully aware of the meaning of my tradition;

ኖር ፤ ሀገሬ