Depression

Series: Retraining the Mind

Delivered by: Michael Mitchell aka Light Productions

🔹 Introduction: The Battle Within

Shalom and blessings, my beloved family. Today we step into a battlefield—one not fought with swords, but with thoughts. One not waged in the streets, but in the soul. It’s the war called depression. And to retrain the mind, we must first understand the battleground.

Depression is not just a mood; it is a mental, emotional, and spiritual warfare. As it says in Proverbs 18:14, “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?” (Ethiopic Canon). Depression is the wound that goes unseen.

But we are not powerless. We have the Word. We have the Spirit. And we have the divine truth that sets us free.

🔹 I. The Nature of Depression: Scriptural and Historical Framework

In 1 Kings 19, we find the prophet Elijah under a broom tree, begging God to take his life. He was victorious just a chapter before, calling fire from heaven. But now—he was empty.

📜 1 Kings 19:4 (Ge’ez Text):

“It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”

This was a prophet, a man of great miracles. Depression can strike anyone.

Talmudic wisdom (Berakhot 5b) teaches that suffering can refine the soul like fire purifies metal. But when we stay in suffering too long, it corrodes instead of refines.

📖 Psalm 34:18:

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

In Ethiopian Orthodox theology, depression is not a sign of weak faith but a call for deeper alignment with the will of YHWH.

🔹 II. Depression in an Esoteric and Scientific Light

Esoterically, depression is a disconnect between the nefesh (soul) and the ruach (spirit). In Aramaic tradition, the word for soul—nephesh—represents desire and vitality. When that disconnects from our divine ruach, or breath of God, a spiritual void emerges.

From a scientific lens, depression can involve neurotransmitter imbalance, especially in serotonin and dopamine. Spiritually, this is echoed in the chakras, especially the solar plexus (will) and heart chakra (love). When blocked by trauma or grief, we are left in darkness.

🔹 III. Depression and the Power of the Tongue

📖 Proverbs 18:21:

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

In Hebraic culture, naming is powerful. To “call those things that are not as though they were” (Romans 4:17) is not fantasy—it’s prophetic activation. Every Hebrew name had function. When we call ourselves “broken,” we are speaking a curse. When we declare ourselves “healed,” we align with divine truth.

The Aramaic word for “word” is miltha—it means not just speech, but manifestation. To speak is to create. Depression feeds on silence; healing flows through confession.

🔹 IV. A Holy People in a Hostile World

📖 Leviticus 20:26 (Ethiopic):

“And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.”

To be holy doesn’t mean being elitist—it means being set apart for purpose. In Phoenician and Beta Israel traditions, holiness involved preservation of ancestral wisdom. In Kemetic thought, to be in ma’at (order) was to reflect divine justice and harmony. Depression is anti-order, a seed of isfet (chaos).

But order is reestablished when you embrace sacred identity. You were not made to wander aimlessly. You were not made to live in the shadows of unworthiness.

🔹 V. Reclaiming the Name of God: Linguistic Power and Identity

In Western colonial theology, “God” has become a generic title. But when we return to the Hebraic name YHWH, or the Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (“I Am That I Am”), we remember that God is not only Being—it is Becoming.

To align with YHWH is to become what you were destined to be. In Hebrew, the verb bara (create) is reserved only for divine action. But in Aramaic, the nuance deepens. The term abra (as in abracadabra) means “I create as I speak.”

This isn’t myth—this is divine etymology.

🔹 VI. Cultural Hierarchies and the Hebrew Legacy

The Hebrew people, historically, were innovators—from Noah’s navigation to Solomon’s temple, from Ethiopian monasticism to Sumerian agriculture. Compared to Greek and Roman cultures that borrowed, repackaged, and renamed, the Hebrew ethos preserved the spirit of divine wisdom.

To be sacred today means to continue that legacy—in innovation, love, and transformation. We cannot claim sacredness and remain in cycles of depression. We must break the yoke.

📖 Isaiah 10:27:

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away… and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.”

🔹 VII. The Way Forward: Call to Action

1. Speak life daily. Declare health, peace, and order.

2. Fast from negativity. Replace every complaint with a praise.

3. Relearn the Name. Study YHWH, Adonai, El Shaddai—not just “God.”

4. Build community. Depression thrives in isolation; healing thrives in communion.

5. Be holy. Choose to live with sacred order.

🔹 Closing Scripture

📖 2 Timothy 1:7:

“For Elohim hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

🙏🏽 Closing Prayer

Abba YHWH, we come before You, not as the perfect—but as the seeking. We ask You to deliver us from the depths of depression. Pour Your ruach upon every mind in this place. Let Your love be the balm in our wounds. We speak healing. We declare peace. We destroy every lie that told us we were unworthy, unloved, unseen. Let Your sacred name be a strong tower. Rewrite our story. Reignite our joy. And teach us to retrain the mind through the power of Your Word and the light of Christ. In the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, Amen.

📚 Works Cited & Bibliography

• The Ethiopian Orthodox Bible (Ge’ez Texts), Ethiopian Tewahedo Church

• The Talmud Bavli, Berakhot 5b

• The Tanakh (JPS Hebrew-English)

• The Aramaic Peshitta New Testament

• Proverbs, Psalms, Isaiah, Romans, 1 Kings, Leviticus, 2 Timothy

• “Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek” – Thorleif Boman

• “The Hidden Treasure That Lies in Plain Sight” – Jeremy Shorter

• “Lost Tribes and Promised Lands” – Ronald Sanders

• “Masonry and the Ancient Mysteries” – Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma

• “The Ethiopian Prophecy in Black American Letters” – Roy Kay

• “Kebra Nagast” – Translated by E.A. Wallis Budge

• “Psychiatry and Religion” – Carl Jung