Ritual: Power, Healing, and Community

An absolutely fabulous book, which reads like a novel. Malidoma brings a lot of wisdom, and really get's you thinking. The contents of the book has it's application to life, but certainly also to leadership and the corporate world. If you only want to read one of his books, I definitely recommend this one.

Malidoma Patrice Somé, author of Of Water and the Spirit, describes a broad spectrum of ways in which rituals can be helpful. His perspective is that of a shaman trained in the West African Dagara cultural tradition, now living and teaching in the US. He eloquently shares his experiences of powerful shamanic healing practices. For Somé, rituals are potent interventions on many levels. At the social level they are forms for expression of religious beliefs, or communal celebrations. Rituals affirm our connection with our community. A healing ritual may draw together relatives from the immediate and extended family, as well as from the community at large. "Where ritual is absent, the young ones are restless or violent, there are no real elders, and the grown-ups are bewildered. The future is dim." (p. 12) Industrial society has lost much of its awareness of rituals. "Indigenous people are indigenous because there are no machines between them and their gods. There are no machines barring the door to the spirit world where one can enter in and listen to what is going on within at a deep level, participating in the vibration of Nature. Where machines speak in place of gods, people are hard put to listen, even more hard put to vibrate with the realm of Nature." (p. 17-18) Healing rituals, properly performed, are tools to achieve specific healing effects. People performing the rituals may enhance the power of the rituals through their innate gifts for healing, through their learning in apprenticeship the ways of a shaman, and through the assistance of various natural energies and spirit assistants. This is a book to be savored, rich in healings on many levels.

This man has considerably more skill both as a thinker and as a writer than the average philosopher, or anthropologist, or even 'New Age prophet'. He really lays everything bare, like it or not, about the advantages of living in a subsistence community (as against our modern society). And further, he explains how the rituals work which those folks use to maintain links with the spirits of their ancestors, as well as with the earth and with each other. Malidoma's brief but cogent exposition on the reasons behind how animal sacrifice works would flay apart the average modern-day monotheist's supposedly reasoned rants against such practices.His chapter-length analysis of the Dagara's typical 3-day funeral ceremony is probably the most cogent dissection and analysis of a societal function that I have ever read, and coming from a true insider makes it that much more accurate as well as poignant, and believable. There's not a wisp of mere speculative cogitation coming from this man.This book opened/cleansed my eyes and my soul about African culture at least as much as Gary Snyder's 'Earth House Hold: Technical Queries to Fellow Dharma Revolutionaries' did as regards Asia, way back in 1969. I tend to think that those who approach this discussion with an open mind and heart will find themselves changed in very profound ways, not necessarily painlessly, but possibly, very thoroughly, and for the better.I met Mr. Some and his wife, and worked with them for a couple of hours around 12 years ago at a Michigan Medicine Wheel Gathering hosted by Sun Bear and his Bear Tribe. He is all that he seems, and then some. His laughter and sense of humor have almost a madcap quality that seems to reach far into the Otherworld, maybe even stemming from there. Yet he still feels to be very localized/grounded in the world of flesh and bone, as if the two (this world and the 'next') are not all that remote from each other. He's fun to be around, in addition to being bathed with a glow of dynamic, benign power.

I cannot stop reading Malidoma Patrice Some's accounts of his life and the lives of the Dagara people of Burkina Faso. The strong linkages between community, spirit, rituals, and individual growth are compelling and very engrossing. I first read "The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community," with awe and a realization of the connections that my own people lost when my ancestors were transported from this part of the world by slave traders.However, Malidoma, through works like this one, opens our eyes to the possibilities that all is not lost to us, and that even in this modern westernized culture, there are ways in which we can begin to make some of those connections again, through the way we relate to community and our loved ones.I found the chapter titled "a ritual sampler:The funeral and language of grief especially interesting and thought provoking.I can hardly wait to read more of your books Malidoma. Thank you.

I first read Of Water and Spirit,5 years ago, and was moved and totally absorbed by Malidoma's account of his most amazing life journey. And I just recently read his third book, The Healing Wisdom Of Africa, and now this, his second book.There are similarities you will find in this book and The Healing Wisdom Of Africa. But this book, has many more personal accounts of his experiences with Ritual,and with his Grandfather, a powerful influence in his life. He gives a very in depth description of the Death ritual, which caused me to reflect upon the funerals I have gone to, and the vast difference. I found myself wanting to attend a Death ritual,with the Dagara, if only to participate in the togetherness of such a moving and human ceremony.He shares with us the depth and detail of a culture that has so much to share and to teach everyone. I for one, feel blessed to have been exposed to such wisdom and beauty through Malidomas writings.