Queen Afua: Heal Thyself

Queen Afua: Heal Thyself for Health and Longevity (A&B Publishers Group, Brooklyn, New York 2002) The first edition was published in 1991.

One of the main benefits of this book for transitioning raw foodists is that it does not call for 100% raw diet but for a natural way of living together with purification through fasting.

"Heal Thyself Declaration of Independence:
I have the power to create in my life what I want and need. Purification of mind, body, and spirit is the key. Within this natural way of living and being, I choose not to cut, nor radiate, or drug my disease away. Instead, I wash, pray, fast, juice and bless my dis-ease away."
- Queen Afua
This is a highly spiritual take on the raw food diet and live juice fasting, but it includes some cooked natural dishes and herbal remedies as well.

This was one of the very first books I read on raw foods, having got the recommendation from a You Tube video. It is a very inspirational piece of writing, although for some it may be too focused on the spiritual/ energy/ religious side of the raw food culture. For those not fazed by this, I highly recommend this book.

Queen Afua heal thyself

A quote from the Preface, written by Dianne Pharr:

"Prepare yourself, for this is no ordinary book. You have in your hand excerpts from a journey to "holiness". The light that channels through the author into the following pages is a love offering to your health. Read and be well."

Queen Afua healed herself with raw foods by purely following her intuition - which led her to meet some influential teachers, notably the African-American herbalist Dr. John Moore.

"I learned that these problems were a result of a bad diet, inner rage, depression and not being able to express things I needed to express. When we heal, we must be prepared to heal physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We want complete healing."

Her own healing started when:

"A quiet voice inside my head said, 'Eat only lemons, grapefruits, and oranges and drink warm water.' I did this for 28 hours, and all of a sudden, mucus was being expelled from everywhere [...] After about 24 hours of releasing this way, I was able to breathe normally. My eyes became white, my skin stopped itching and I was emotionally at peace."
"My healing made me realise [...] that my people, and others who choose nature, no longer have to suffer, and that freedom, spiritual, physical and emotional, is at hand."

The key ideas put forward by Queen Afua in 'Heal Thyself for Health and Longevity'

  • If you live juice fast one day for every year you have lived so far, your 3rd eye will open and you will hear the voice of your intuition loud and clear. You can break the days up into a series of shorter fasts.
  • Ingesting chlorophyll (the green colour in vegetables and seaweed) daily can change the world:
  • "I would go so far as to say that if a community, a country, or even the world consumes chlorophyll consistently (1-2 times a day): we would see an end to world famine, dis-ease and war."
  • Meat, dairy, processed foods and sugar cause most of the health problems.
  • We must maintain high and clean thoughts to allow the healing of our planet and societies, as well as our physical selves at many levels, including the cellular level.
  • Forgiveness to yourself and others is key.
  • Your home is your place of refuge and a place where you can recharge, and gain balance and peace. You should make your home a sacret place through natural scents etc. She includes practical advice on decorating and arranging your home.
  • Eat according to the sun's rhythm: heaviest meals when the sun is at its highest.
  • Healing baths and exercise are major components of Queen Afua's live juice fasting method.
  • Fasting and prayer are the highest divine law and will help transform the planet into higher frequency.

Queen Afua provides very inspiring advice together with practical everyday tips and long-term programs.

Queen Afua lays out her 365 days to purification plan where the year is divided into four cycles of four segments each:
  1. 21 days of vegetarian natural living
  2. 21 days of live-food cleansing
  3. 21 days of live juice fasting
  4. 21 days of advanced natural living (combination of the above three)

The book includes menu examples, recipes, recommended readings and it promotes community-level organisation for 1-day fasting shut-ins and other meetings. There are also poems and prayers which to me, personally, were less interesting, but may well inspire others. There is a chapter on addictions and advice on how to break them, therapies including detoxifying clay packs on the body and green juices. There is also a chapter on holistic love-making.

The many herbal remedies for various ills may be very helpful, but generally, it seems to me that this ancient knowledge only works if the herbs are consumed raw and if the person is a raw foodist - for our societies' stimulants and toxins can often overpower the balancing effects of natural herbs.

This book gave me the spark to become a raw foodist, together with: "Zakhah: The Joy of Living Live: A Raw Food Journey". I have not yet undertaken the 365 days to purify myself and I feel I will do better by creating my own purification plan. I like the idea of dividing the year into cycles of different ways of living, however.

Also, the idea of juice-fasting one day for each year of your life has stuck with me and I hope I will be able to achieve this within a few years.
(I have begun a series of juice feasts, which are an easier version of a juice fast - link to my diary and conclusions above.)
I will write back to report whether my third eye opened or what it may mean to "transform into pure light"(!) if these things did happen... But I have a long way to go...

There is much to cherish here, although perhaps slightly confusingly organised. The amount of practical advice sometimes gets a little overwhelming but can also ensure that one can go back to the book year after year.

You can follow the image link below to preview the book, to read the customer reviews or to purchase from Amazon.

Queen Afua's son (Supa Nova Slom - 'the Hip Hop Medicine Man') is a 'chlorophyllian', walking around New York City with a bottle of green juice at hand at all times.

They both seem to have the full endorsement of Erykah Badu, who is very involved with the scene. Queen Afua herself runs the 'Queen Afua Wellness Institute' ( QueenAfua.Moonfruit.com ) and lectures and practices healing within New York and the rest of the USA.

Queen Afua combines ancient Egyptian practices with contemporary raw food and other health knowledge.

Dr John E Moore, whom Queen Afua mentions as one of her mentors, was a Director of Herbology at the Tree of Life bookstore of Harlem, as well as working at 'Heal Inc.' in Detroit and 'The Wisdom Temple in Harlem'. He combined Indian, Mexican and native Black herbal lore in his teachings.

There is also an endorsement on the book from Dr. Llaila Afrika ( DrAfrika.com ), the author of 'African Holistic Health' as well as from Noriega, the rapper.

You can see parts of SupaNova Slom's documentary: Holistic Wellness for the HipHop Generation by following the link..

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Queen Afua: Heal Thyself for Health and Longevity: View on Amazon

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Ulla is the Editor of Cheap Health Revolution, covering natural remedies and health solutions. Read more about Ulla and this website here: "About CHR"

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"Your body's ability to heal is greater than anyone has permitted you to believe." - Unknown