Reclaiming the Afro Divine Feminine (ADF): An Autoethnography of Healing Intergenerational Trauma Among Ojiji (Black Foster Care) Children

Abstract

This dissertation introduces the Nommo Gates of Healing, a new Afro-Indigenous framework created by Lakeisha A. Lucas, designed to address intergenerational trauma and post- traumatic slave syndrome (PTSS) experienced by Ojiji children, Black foster children in the United States. This Dissertation draws from African cosmology, Depth Psychology, and Indigenous traditions, by bridging autoethnographic storytelling, ritual, and ancestral memory. It explores how the suppression of the Afro Divine Feminine (ADF) has contributed to emotional fragmentation, identity loss, and systemic displacement in Black families. Through a multisited ethnographic and ritual methodology, including ceremonies conducted in Ghana, Bali, South Africa, Egypt, and Thailand, the researcher identifies 30 thematic findings across more than 85 data points, identifying the energetic imbalance between the ADF and the Afro Divine Masculine (ADM) as a root cause of collective trauma. This research has positions healing as a return to elemental, communal, and ancestral balance. The Nommo Gates of Healing offer a cyclical and energetically balanced approach to holistic healing. The framework moves beyond gender binaries, suggesting that all beings hold ADF and ADM frequencies equally. The framework argues that both frequencies must be harmonized to restore wholeness. This work presents ADF Healing Science as a new academic field and spiritual-psychological practice that can inform therapeutic models, spiritual care, and trauma recovery for Ojiji children and beyond.