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AFRICAN SPIRITUALITY Podcast by Malidoma Some (RIP)

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For the elders in his village, Malidoma Some’s (1956–2021) life in the West was preordained.  As Malidoma related in his recent book “Of Water and the Spirit,” he was taken from his tribe at the age of 4 by Jesuit missionaries, who intended to make him a priest.  At 20, he rebelled and went back to his village.  But he could not speak his native tongue, was hardly recognized by his family, and was regarded with considerable suspicion by the villagers.  After much discussion by village elders and undergoing his tribal initiation, Malidoma, whose name means “be friends with the stranger/enemy,” was told that he would fulfill his destiny by living his life in the West as a teacher of African ways and wisdom. “The village will be reborn,” the elders predicted, “in the heart and soul of the culture that is destroying the village.” Under their spiritual guidance, Malidoma pursued a Western education.  He held doctorates in both political science and literature.

Malidoma taught that it is unthinkable to separate daily life from ritual contact with the unseen world of spirit, or to pursue political change without ongoing spiritual development.  Africa’s inherent wisdom of marrying daily life to a spiritual worldview, Malidoma suggested, may prove key to healing our own cultural catastrophes in the West.

Malidoma Some will be deeply missed!  His legacy & teachings will live on!

CoCreAvatars have written a deeply moving tribute in their newsletter for Malidoma Some, linked here:

https://consciousyouthglobalmovement.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Its-never-too-late-to-reach-out-to-the-ancestors.pdf

Listen to his recorded teachings here: https://soundcloud.com/mackboogaloo/sets/african-ancestral-wisdom-dagara

Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman [book review]

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OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

 

By Malidoma Patrice Some

Note: A highly CYGM-recommended book to read on African Spirituality.

A powerful spiritual autobiography of a walker between indigenous and modern worlds.

Book Review by Frederic & Marry Ann Bruss and sourced from:  https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/view/7051/of-water-and-the-spirit

OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT book review

Malidoma Patrice Some was raised in a village in Burkina Faso, West Africa. He is a medicine man and a diviner in the Dagara culture. He also holds three master’s degrees, as well as two Ph.D.’s from the Sorbonne and Brandeis, and for three years taught literature at the University of Michigan.

His name, Malidoma, means he who is “to be friends with the stranger/enemy.” Some’s mission in life has been to create pathways between the African tribal world and contemporary Western culture. He is a genuine pathfinder in a time when these two alien worlds can benefit immensely from each other’s knowledge.

Malidoma Patrice Some’s autobiography, Of Water and the Spirit offers an incredible behind-the-scenes look at the Dagara people. He was singled out by his grandfather, a priest, leader, and counselor for 50 souls, to serve the tribe in a special way. But before he could move forward in this mission, Malidoma was kidnapped from home by a French Jesuit missionary who had befriended his father. For 15 years, Some was cut off from his tribal roots as he was trained to be a priest. However, he escaped from the seminary at age 20 and in a 125-mile trek through the jungle returned home.

Read more Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman [book review] ›