The Healing Wisdom of Africa

Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community

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A revealing exploration of traditional healing practices, by a renowned shaman and scholar

Bridging ancestral wisdom from West Africa with the challenges of modern life in the West, this acclaimed book offers a wealth of insights into indigenous knowledge and how it speaks to the chronic problems of our fast-paced, disconnected world.
 
Drawing on his lived experience within the Dagara culture as well as his extensive studies and teachings, Malidoma Somé’s observations on healing, community, and ritual present powerful ways to become more connected—to the natural world, to the intergenerational village that can mentor and support every person, and ultimately to the truest, unmasked parts of ourselves. 
 
“Profoundly wise and fascinating…Malidoma Patrice Somé has delivered an incomparably meaningful gift to us wanderers and seekers in the West.”
—      Alice Walker

“An amazing bridge over the chasm of modern isolation. Malidoma reawakens the rituals of the heart. This is profound, brilliant, and accessible medicine for us.”
—      Jack Kornfield
The Healing Wisdom of Africa Introduction: Living in Two Worlds
Part One: Healing in the Indigenous World
1. Healing, Ritual, and Community
2. The Healing Power of Nature
3. Indigenous Technologies
Part Two: Relationships of Healing: The Community
4. The Value of a Healthy Community
5. Mentors and the Life of Youth
6. Elders and the Community
Part Three: Understanding Ritual
7. The Elements of Ritual
8. Dagara Cosmology and Ritual
9. Preparing for Ritual
Part Four: Rituals of Healing
10. Fire Rituals
11. Water Rituals
12. Earth Rituals
13. Mineral Rituals
14. Nature Rituals
Part Five: Healing in the Western World
15. Initiation: A Response to Challenges of the West
16. Maintaining Community through Ritual
Index
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. View titles by Malidoma Patrice Some

About

A revealing exploration of traditional healing practices, by a renowned shaman and scholar

Bridging ancestral wisdom from West Africa with the challenges of modern life in the West, this acclaimed book offers a wealth of insights into indigenous knowledge and how it speaks to the chronic problems of our fast-paced, disconnected world.
 
Drawing on his lived experience within the Dagara culture as well as his extensive studies and teachings, Malidoma Somé’s observations on healing, community, and ritual present powerful ways to become more connected—to the natural world, to the intergenerational village that can mentor and support every person, and ultimately to the truest, unmasked parts of ourselves. 
 
“Profoundly wise and fascinating…Malidoma Patrice Somé has delivered an incomparably meaningful gift to us wanderers and seekers in the West.”
—      Alice Walker

“An amazing bridge over the chasm of modern isolation. Malidoma reawakens the rituals of the heart. This is profound, brilliant, and accessible medicine for us.”
—      Jack Kornfield

Table of Contents

The Healing Wisdom of Africa Introduction: Living in Two Worlds
Part One: Healing in the Indigenous World
1. Healing, Ritual, and Community
2. The Healing Power of Nature
3. Indigenous Technologies
Part Two: Relationships of Healing: The Community
4. The Value of a Healthy Community
5. Mentors and the Life of Youth
6. Elders and the Community
Part Three: Understanding Ritual
7. The Elements of Ritual
8. Dagara Cosmology and Ritual
9. Preparing for Ritual
Part Four: Rituals of Healing
10. Fire Rituals
11. Water Rituals
12. Earth Rituals
13. Mineral Rituals
14. Nature Rituals
Part Five: Healing in the Western World
15. Initiation: A Response to Challenges of the West
16. Maintaining Community through Ritual
Index

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. View titles by Malidoma Patrice Some