Malidoma Patrice Some
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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Self-Help -> Self-Esteem
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> World Literature -> Mythology -> General
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> World Literature -> Mythology -> General AAS
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
Profoundity of experience coupled with very skillful writing 5 out of 5 stars.
19 of 19 people found this review helpful.
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.
Editorial Review:
The stories within these books have the poignancy of new discoveries as well as the unworn imagination of the ancestors. The commentary has the sharp edge of modern thought and the intricacy which results from the intellect being woven through the ritual complexities of tribal life. The purpose of constructing thresholds that bring this world together is to find the powers that can heal the rends in tribal as well as modern communities. --Michael Meade, from the Introduction Versed in the languages of psychology, comparative literature, as well as ancient mythology, healing, and divination, Malidoma Patrice Some bridges paths between the ancient tribal world of the West African Dagara culture and modern Western society. Ritual is written with wild imagination, careful critical reflection, and intuitive insights that will force the reader to encounter the world anew.
