Synopses & Reviews
Among the Dagara of Burkina Faso there is no distinction between the natural and the supernatural: The living converse with ancestral spirits, and those with the proper knowledge routinely travel to other worlds. Malidoma Patrice Some was born in a Dagara village, only to be abducted as a small boy and taken to a Jesuit mission school, where for fifteen years he was harshly indoctrinated in European ways of thought and worship. When he returned to his people, he had to undergo an initiation so rigorous that it might have killed him. Instead, Malidoma's passage between two worlds resulted in an assignment to convey his people's knowledge to the West, leading to this book of rare healing wisdom. Of Water and the Spirit is a remarkable sharing of living African traditions, offered in compassion for those struggling with our contemporary crisis of the spirit.
Review
"This vivid autobiography takes readers into a world of black magic, palpable spirits, walking dead people, force fields, transdimensional journeys a world as strange as anything in imaginative fiction." Publishers Weekly
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"[I]llustrates the profound culture clashes between Western civilization and indigenous cultures." Library Journal
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"What's most compelling here is the insider's account of white religious colonialism in Africa, as well as the sense of what it's like to be a man of two cultures with contradictory versions of reality." Booklist
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"[A] beautifully written and personal story that grapples with questions of identity and tradition that affect us all." Kirkus Reviews
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"Malidoma has kept faith with the ancestors and with his own heart. His journey is a shimmering 'misiing piece' in the story of the earth." Alice Walker
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"Here is a man who has experienced [ancient initiation] in our time. The spiritual depth of African culture becomes clear." Robert Bly
Synopsis
A renowned healer and shaman's life-changing journey of discovery, healing, and wisdom
"Malidoma has kept faith with the ancestors and with his own heart. His journey is a shimmering 'missing piece' in the story of the earth." --Alice Walker
When he was a young boy growing up in Burkina Faso, Malidoma Som was taken from his village and brought to a Jesuit mission school, where he spent years being harshly indoctrinated in European ways of thought and worship. In this vivid and paradigm-shifting memoir, Malidoma recounts his journey home--and his initiation into the healing traditions of the Dagara culture, where the natural and supernatural blend together, and every person is encircled by family, community, and the wisdom of ancestors.
By turns humbling, harrowing, magical, and transcendent, Malidoma's spiritual awakening imparted ancient wisdom that he would spend the rest of his life sharing with others around the world--as an antidote to alienation, a tool for self-transformation, and a bridge between cultures and worlds.
Synopsis
Maliodoma Patrice Some was born in a Dagara Village, however he was soon to be abducted to a Jesuit school, where he remained for the next fifteen years, being harshly indoctrinated into european ways of thought and worship. The story tells of his return to his people, his hard initiation back into those people, which lead to his desire to convey their knowledge to the world. Of Water and the Spirit is the result of that desire; it is a sharing of living African traditions, offered in compassion for those struggling with our contemporary crisis of the spirit.
Synopsis
"A vision that encompasses two worlds and weaves the lessons of both into a fine tapestry."Clarissa Pinkola Éstes.
About the Author
Malidoma Patrice Somé, born in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) West Africa, is initiated in the ancestral traditions of his tribe, and is a medicine man and diviner in the Dagra culture. He holds three master's degrees and two doctorates from Sorbonne and Brandeis University, and has taught at the University of Michigan. He currently devotes himself to speaking and, with his wife, Sobonfu, conducting intensive workshops throughout the United States.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Slowly Becoming
Chapter 2: A Grandfather's Farewell
Chapter 3: Grandfather's Funeral
Chapter 4: A Sudden Farewell
Chapter 5: In the White Man's World
Chapter 6: Life Begins at Nansi
Chapter 7: The Rebellion Begins
Chapter 8: New Awakenings
Chapter 9: The Long Journey Begins
Chapter 10: The Voyage Home
Chapter 11: Hard Beginnings
Chapter 12: Trying to Fit Back into Village Life
Chapter 13: The Meeting at the Earth Shrine
Chapter 14: My First Night at the Initiation Camp
Chapter 15: Trying to See
Chapter 16: The World of the Fire, the Song of the Stars
Chapter 17: In the Arms of the Green Lady
Chapter 18: Returning to the Source
Chapter 19: Opening the Portal
Chapter 20: Through the Light Hole
Chapter 21: The World at the Bottom of the Pool
Chapter 22: Burials, Lessons, and Journeys
Chapter 23: Journey into the Underworld
Chapter 24: A Mission in the Underworld
Chapter 25: Returning from the Underworld
Chapter 26: Homecoming and Celebration
Epilogue: The Fearful Return