Two approaches Ancient Africans used to teach Leadership and the way to Mysticism were formalized group studies and customized refined studies. Customized Knowledge was attained through the process of Reflection and Meditation (quieting the mind) until one reached one's Real Self, where Truths were received from the Sublime Universal Energy. 

      Each person had to discover his/her own way to Mysticism so as to reach the Afterlife. Group Studies were as follows. Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic are disciplines of a moral nature, by means of which the irrational tendencies of a human being are purged away (James, p. 28). Of necessity this requires knowing their meanings. Grammar is learning those aspects of the language which allow one to extract meanings more reliably than not. It also instructs students in the art of speaking well to the public and in speaking well to visiting scholars. Rhetoric is about the way “signs” influenced people. It focuses on the thoughts and ideas of instructions from the African Sages needed for the pursuit of Ma'at.

        Whereas Rhetoric embraces the study and art of verbal style, Grammar is important for spotlighting the nuances of speech.  A good public speaker is considered an artist because eloquence is based on the judicious use of language, propriety of tropes and metaphors, and the sincerity with which a person delivers a speech (Asante, Egyptian Philosophers, p 57). To prepare for public speaking (meaning “of the people”), Ancient Africans focused on Values and ways to present opinions inside a logical and consecutive presentation of thought-- a study and practice called Dialectic (“the act of knowledge”).

       The process of reasoning was referred to as Discourse and its preparation was also about the best step-by-step (Rational Thinking) approach for speaking in public. When discourse and dialectics were delivered in a moving, forceful and eloquent manner-including meanings and signs familiar to the people--it reached the status of Rhetoric. Rhetoric on a formal occasion was considered an Oration. Those who orated with the greatest effectiveness in the most pleasing manner earned the title of an Orator. Logic helped determine which best word to speak-- the proper selection of which shortened the distance between the message of the messenger and the people's understanding of both.

        Arithmetic is concerned with numbers and their operations allow for calculations to be made. Its ideas and techniques form the foundation for all of math. Geometry and Arithmetic provide keys to one's inner being (particularly to one's Real Self) and one's physical self because they deal with the sciences of transcendental space and numeration.  This means they can take the student beyond all concepts of time and space so as to be outside the limits of human knowledge-a realm where they could thereby relate to a divine force (Bailey, Common Sense). Astronomy dealt with the knowledge and destruction of latent forces in man and the destiny of individuals, races, and nations. Music (or Harmony) meant the living practice of Philosophy (i.e. the adjustment of human life into harmony with God) and the living practice of math (since philosophy is math put into words).  When one's Soul becomes identified with God, it hears and participates in the music of the spheres (James, p. 28). To summarize, Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic (i.e. Dialectic) train the student to become a living witness of the Divine Logos (i.e. God's Universal Reason-Thought and Creative Utterance and Power) (James, p140).

Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.