The Healing Wisdom of Africa :The Healing Wisdom of Africa :
Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community
by Malidoma Patrice Some
Hardcover - 320 pages (October
1998)
J P Tarcher; ISBN: 0874779391
Synopsis:
In The Healing Wisdom of Africa, Some writes of the generations-old traditions and knowledge of his people, the Dagara, a group known throughout West Africa for their healing abilities and spiritual practice. Explaining how the Dagara accumulate firsthand knowledge of deep spiritualist and healing powers, Some also shows how the most important aspects of their village life revolve around ritual, community, and ceremony. Some teaches ceremony and rituals that enable Western readers to begin the healing and initiation process, discovering genius within themselves and finding life's true purpose. In the larger scheme of creating community, the author details the power of gathering and of engaging in traditional rituals of fire, water, earth, and nature. Through The Healing Wisdom of Africa, readers come to understand that the life of indigenous and traditional people is a paradigm for an intimate relationship with the natural world that both surrounds us and is within us.
Reviews:
A Reader from Tallahassee, Florida ,
March 11, 1999 Phenomenal!!!
I have read this book along with all of Malidoma's works. I believe Malidoma
has one of the best skills at articulating the problem that Western/European
reality has posed on the rest of us. I personally do not use the specific
rituals that he recommends because I have rituals that my own culture prescribes;
however, I think any person that is ready to take a spiritual advance need
to read this book and put his suggestions to practice. I have met Malidoma
and found him to have a beautiful spirit filled with wisdom and the innocence
of a child. I believe that anyone can trust what this teacher has to say.
I also recommend this book for all priests and healers in the world because
Malidoma has touched something that need not be ignored if we are to heal
ourselves and others. Thank you Malidoma.
A reader from Richmond, California ,
February 17, 1999 Malidoma Some addresses himself to spiritual healing
In his latest book, Malidoma Some talks about how the wisdom developed over
millenia by indigenous people in Africa can be used to deal with the very
real psychological and spiritual impoverishment of the West. He says that
while the West has an abundance of material goods (taken in large part from
the natural resources that belong to all living creatures), Africans possess
the capacity of enriching their own lives by communicating through rituals
on a continuous basis with what he calls the "other world", the
world beyond the material senses, or what Carlos Castaneda would call the
"human inventory". Some recommends getting in touch with our ancestors
and keeping them in our lives by devoting shrines to them and opening a
dialogue with them. This makes particular sense to someone who has lost
someone close and feels a great lack between the material message that the
person is dead and therefore gone, and the feeling that somehow one has
not really disconnected. Some also recommends frequent grief rituals (not
just when suffering a loss but all the time) to keep the spirit in tune,
and purged of the daily wear and tear of living. It is a wonderful book:
humane, wise, well-thought out and very well written. A real joy for someone
looking for a new way of dealing with life.
Tino from Sonora, CA , February 5, 1999
A tremendous gift...TEN STARS!!!
This book clearly offers the insights and wisdom that many "Western"
readers seek for the creation of community and healing rituals. Malidoma's
writing is inspiring and personal. I felt not only a deeper understanding
of the Dagara way of life, but also of the commitment and dedication Malidoma
has in offering their wisdom for healing the ills of the modern world.
I was left with a sense of embarrassment and shame that for all the complexities, distractions and damage that we have brought down upon the indigenous cultures of the world, that this wonderfully generous and caring man would offer us healing rituals in return.
I would hope that all who read this book will take its message to heart and work to incorporate the healing rituals that are described into their lives. I sincerely believe that the survival of both the modern and natives cultures depends on it.
A reader from USA , December 2, 1998
One of the clearest books I've read on African World view.
Malidoma Some', gives a clear explination, of the African World View, as
seen thru the eyes of the Dagara people. It's a book of philosophy, spirituality
and culture, presented for any reader tocomprehend. This book opens the
doors to a greater understanding of African culture.
A Reader from logan, ohio , October 21,
1998 if he's brilliant in his 3rd language, he must be brilliant
i have not read this yet, but just spent a week with malidoma at a conference
for youth and mentors. the man is brilliant and lives as he writes. his
use of tribal and ancestral wisdom crosses barriers of race and culture
and brings much needed healing.we are lucky the dagara elders sent him here
to share the old ways
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