The Beauty and Importance of 3/4's Refinement

Peace. My name is Queen Victorious Lanasia Earth. I came into the knowledge of myself in August 1998 and have embraced and loved every milestone, sidestep, misstep, and achievement along the way. My blog today will focus on wearing "3/4's" and "refinement" and how to embrace and accept the beauty and responsibility of being a Queen.

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"God loves to see his Original Woman in 3/4's..."

I remember hearing a sister say this at the International Earth Conference this past weekend in Pittsburgh, PA. And, of course, there were lots of headwraps and locked tresses nodding in agreement with smiles on their faces. We continued to speak about the Original Black Man (yes still being "man") may look at the women with the cleavage bustling and butt cheeks jingling from outside of their shorts, however, would this be the same woman that he would bring around his children, or bring to meet his Mother? When the Original Man knows his place in the Universe, he wants a Queen who knows and accepts hers... and all the beauty and responsibility that comes with it. This brought to mind the gross misconceptions I had when I came into the knowledge of myself 10 years ago and how I thought I would have to dress like Old Mother Hubbard to show the knowledge that I had accepted into my life. Not, that I dressed provacatively before that, however I immediately felt a sense of limitation, prudeness, and dullness. That fact is, when I first began my journey of refinement (one which I will forever be on), it took me years to find my sense of style while still reflecting the 120 degree of knowledge that I've absorbed. It took me, observing and speaking with other Queens, Earths, and Original Women whom I'd come to love and respect to figure out my sense of style.

First, I needed to really ask myself - what is "3/4's"? What is "Refinement"? For every Queen that you ask this question, you will get a different answer. For me, the answer has changed at least 120 times since I started asking it to myself. Before answering these questions, I had to take myself through the specific degrees in 120 lessons that are resourceful in answering these questions - at least for self. For you, it may be various scriptures in quoron or bible, or something your mama said that time when she was tearing up your behind for wearing that revealing tube top she told you not to, or just plain old common sense. The reality is, regardless if we know ourselves as Queen, Earth, Goddess, or not...we know that what we wear will determine who and what we attract. The important thing is that as "refined" sisters, sisters of consciousness, with knowledge of self, who KNOW our place in the Universe, and our importance to the wealth of our children, families, communities, and NATION, would want to outwardly express that knowledge through the clothing we place on our bodies. "3/4's" refers to the fraction makeup (three-fourths) of water to land on the physical planet Earth. Our lessons teach us "The earth is approximately covered under water approximately ¾ of its surface." I refer to the water being our wisdom, or the outward expression of the knowledge we possess, through the clothing I choose to put on my body. In essence, 3/4's is the essential physical makeup of clothing (water) to skin shown (land). This is extremely general by definition. "Refinement" is taking 3/4's to the next level. Refinement is the process by which we make what we know better, more elegant, more significant, and even more personal. It is purposeful definition of whatever it is we are dealing with - diet, habits, education, and our clothing. All of the Queens I know wear 3/4's, yet each have their own sense of refinement. Their own purposeful definition of how they see wearing a crown, their long skirts or slacks, their business attire for the office. The key thing for me is that 3/4's and refinement work together... yes, they can (and do) exist independently of each other, however the grace, beauty, and importance of how we express ourselves in this culture encomasses a fine balance between the two.

"If you want to know the wealth of your Nation, look at the Women."

If you want to know the wealth of your Nation (community, nuclear family, children), look at the Woman. When we substitute the word "Nation" with something more personal to us, does it give you a better understanding of not only dressing respectable, but also cultural, divine, dynamic, and beautiful? The responsibility that I uphold with knowing and understanding what and who I represent continues to demand that I strive to live and dress as a righteous original Woman.


What are your thoughts, questions, or comments on dress, 3/4's and/or refinement?? Do you see a difference between what is 3/4's and what is refinement??

PEACE

Eboni Joy Asiatic Introduces You To The 14th Degree's Interactive Cipher... This blog's for you...

“The 14th Degree and Beyond, Inc. is dedicated to furthering and nurturing the strength of Original Women and children by sponsoring, facilitating, and educating, through classes, publications, and events, throughout the community…"

(Articles of Incorporation, 2001)

"THERE IS NO BEGINNING OR ENDING..."

SEPTEMBER 2008

Peace Family!

Oh where to begin… I’m Eboni Joy Asiatic, one of four members of The 14^th Degree and Beyond Inc.’s not-for-profit Board of Directors and magazine’s staff. The staff of the Original Thought Meta-Zine asked us to bond with them in order to elevate the Black woman’s collective consciousness, strengthen our bonds, and destroy the tension. So, this blogspot has been established for you, not just to read, but for us to openly converse with each other on issues affecting us as original women – so-called women of color, sistas of the Afrikan Diaspora, the true Asiatics – for us to share in our ideals on how to be better mothers to our young, better wives/Earths to our men, better at keeping house, more skilled at holistic health practices, more apt to adopt refined diets, build a support system for each other, evolve as community builders, and do all of this by empowering each other through the expression of our own original thoughts – those that are distinctly female oriented! My fellow staffers – SciHonor Devotion, Victorious Lanasia, and Queen Civilized Zag – voted me, to my own chagrin (smile), to be the first to spark a build on this here forum, and I will be moderating the board this week until the 31^st of the month, and so… this blog’s for you!

Ideally, you’ve already read our home page about who we – The 14^th Degree – are and what we represent as a collective, so I’ll just give a brief introduction of myself before I spark this collective conversation. Since we always feel the need to categorize each other, I’ll say that I have been reppin’ the Nation of Gods and Earths for more than 11 years, however, I don’t confine myself to that school of thought or organization alone. My ideals have been shaped and activism heavily influenced, dating back to childhood, by Islam and the NOI, Black Panthers, Atheism, the MOVE Organization, Pan Afrikanism, Black Nationalism, Socialism, Anarchists, Taoism, Buddhism, Rastafarianism, the FTP Movement and more. I consider myself to be a staunch humanitarian, a minimally productive community activist and organizer, an animal rights activist, and a half-assed vegan. I am without question, an early childhood development specialist, educator, holistic health practitioner, social commentator, poet, rebellious daughter, dedicated auntie, nurturing Godmother, loyal sister, loving Queen, and mother of civilization in more ways than one. While I’m at it, let’s keep it all the way live – I’m that no-holds-barred kinda sista who attracts with my directness and passion, as much as I repel when some confuse those traits with being tactless and overly emotional. So, although I will strive to be on my bestest behavior (lol) – here’s my disclaimer – these words are my own, so find no blame in my fellow staffers. As the intent of us all will never be to offend, degrade, embarrass or hinder. Still, brace yourself, and be as open, honest, forward and direct as I know I’m gonna be… but, as I, do it in love… understanding the intent and purpose is ALWAYS to awaken minds, broaden horizons and bridge gaps!

So, enough about me already… good grief!

These labels we place on each other, these boxes we put each other in, we do it based on our individual perspectives gained through observation and experience. However, we – well, let me speak for self – I find that I don’t always consider how another defines herself. I may condemn a sista for coming in the name of “Earth” when she doesn’t fit into my ideal or standard of what it is to BE an Earth. Heck, even to say that that ideal IS a standard teeters the border of self-centeredness. But, I don’t stop to think that her definition of “Earth” ain’t necessarily like mine. I hear a lot of us, sistas who supposedly look like me – with the natural hairstyles, cosmetic free, vegetarian/vegans, in the colorful floor-length skirts and modest blouses – criticize sistas for how they look – wearing shorts, short skirts, or shirts that flaunt their ta-tas, straightening their hair, wearing make-up, rocking tongue rings. But does how a sista dress, wears her hair, and makes-up her body (be it with cosmetics or ornaments) TRULY define her character, her intellect, her righteousness, her civility, and whether or not she is an active participant in the salvation of the Black family? This question is not rhetorical!

In fact, of these desirables (and please, in your response, don’t hesitate to define them as you see them) – to be of good character, intelligent, righteous, civilized, and a community builder – which, if any, is the most important… which, if any, will bring the most relief to our aid? And in considering the answer to these questions, keep in mind that I said “our”, meaning the collective, the whole of original peoples of the Afrikan Diaspora.

I point this out, that I’m speaking about us as a collective, because our responsibility as women is all too often relegated to our Kingdom/Queendom (our individual homes) and our immediate families. Even for my fellow Earths of the NGE, we call ourselves “Nation Builders” – building for the benefit of those who come in the name of Allah, rather than for the Universal Black Family. When our lesson, the Student Enrollment, states that “the Original Man” is “God of the Universe”. And when we take on the title Earth, we are consciously deciding to reflect the righteous Black man who has knowledge of himself, his origins in this world, and his responsibility to man, woman and child. So, in reflecting him, I always considered my responsibility to be to the Universal Black Family, rather than the mere confines of my/our respective households, the men we lay down with, the brothers and sisters we share parentage with, and the babies we carried in our womb.

So, the question I’ve been leading up to, the conversation I want to REALLY spark is – what is the woman’s role in community activism and organizing, in universal building, in teaching the youth whom we did not birth and getting back to the basics of “it takes a village to raise a child”, in reaching and teaching sisters who may not look like us on the outside but have the same potential as us when it comes to taking action (also, learning from them and welcoming correction as well), in respecting, nurturing and loving our brothas even if they are not our “man”, in breaching the threshold of our adopted nations, organizations or schools of thought in order to reach, teach, uplift, train, organize and move/motivate to action the people in the streets, the folks who do not have “knowledge of self”, the folks who don’t even have any concept of character, intelligence, righteousness, civility, nor community building regardless of their outward appearance, those who are the most endangered of species (Black boys, Black youth), those who are the most in need of the healing powers of The Earth, so that – as one of my favorite poets, Margaret Walker, said – “a race of MEN now rise and take control”???

I look forward to the exchange!

w/Love,
Eboni Joy