Excerpt from the GAN Doctrine
Practicing a tradition is good if it can be utilized in our current environment. Studying other traditions is good for our study and understanding, but it is not our law.
When we as a people moved into a new space & time (environment), we became a new people with a new way of life.
When people are taken away from their old environment and brought to a new environment, there are practical traditions that are retained and new traditions that are developed. After a period of time, our new culture becomes our new tradition. Consequently when one’s environment changes, one’s way of life changes, therefore the culture has been modified and so have the traditions.
The term culture is connotatively used as a way of life. Etymologically speaking, culture dealt with the tilling of the ground. In antiquity, the non-agriculture way we used the term culture was to describe the process of the development of the soul. Thus, in antiquity the culture of a group of people was their way of interacting and communicating with themselves, their surroundings, and their God.
Thus, when one brings or adopts a spiritual system from a different environment, the old traditions of the spiritual system should be modified, and new traditions developed for the current environment. The traditions coming from spiritual systems that are brought into a new environment that are useful or practical, should be retained and those that are not should be discarded as obligatory.
First and foremost, culture should be about the development of the community in general and individual souls in particular. For this reason, we have developed a system called Ẹṣegan (GAN) philosophy. GAN (pronounced Găhn) philosophy pertains to the philosophical perspective of the Ṣàngódaré (pronounced Shăngo dă ray) Institute, which provides the medium for bridging the gaps between science, religion, and spirituality.
GAN has seven levels of interpretation, however here I will only speak on three. GAN is an acronym for Geometry, Astrology, and Numerology, but GAN in GAN philosophy has an esoteric meaning. GAN is a Yorùbá word that signifies “undeniably” or “very much”, which is part of an elision that forms the Yoruba word ẹṣegan (pronounced ěshāygahn). Ẹṣegan denotes extreme thankfulness. It consists of the words ẹ ṣe gan, which can be interpreted as: you exceedingly performed beyond expectations. Therefore GAN philosophy quintessentially expresses boundless gratitude to ancestors who provide an undeniable scientific corpus -- complete -- with absolute certainty.
The GAN approach is the study of the arts and sciences such as mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, music, comparative religions, mythology, language and etc., along with meditation and Asanas (Yogic postures). This approach is what the Bantu Kongo people of Central Africa call walking the seven directions, the seventh being the inner journey. This leads to Nganga, the seventh level of interpretation of GAN philosophy. Nganga is a master, a priest, a leader, and an herbalist, i.e. a bringer of healing, balance, and harmony into the community. The Nganga is a doer, a creator and contributor to the betterment of society.
The GAN education encourages the study of the MANY in order to understand the ONE. Analyzing nature, signs and symbols, the student removes the veil of ambiguity and embraces the philosophical thought of the interconnectedness of all things. The investigation of linguistics and etymology develops in individuals the skills necessary to penetrate millennia of codified wisdom, traditionally misinterpreted and misrepresented as literal history.
Ṣàngódaré Fágbèmí Odừtólá Epega, Oloye Alatunṣe (Christopher W. Brown)
Ifa Priest & Astro-Numerologist