African
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
“You always carry within yourself the very thing that you need for the fulfillment of your life purpose.”
—Malidoma Some’
The Dagara, a tribe indigenous to Burkina Fosa in West Africa, believe that every child is born with a life purpose. In the village, that purpose is revealed by the elders before the child is born through a process of divination. The community then supports each person throughout life in order to keep that person on a clear path, aligned with his or her purpose.
People in many other parts of the world are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to receive the wisdom of the Dagara people through the teachings of Malidoma Some’, who lives in his village part of the year but travels much of the time, bringing these teachings to share with the world, writing books, lecturing and creating global community. Malidoma has several degrees from universities in France, and has written several books, including Healing Wisdom Of Africa, Of Water And Spirit, and Ritual: Power, Healing, And Community (1998). He is also an initiated tribal elder and shaman, whose life purpose was divined to be that of sharing the well preserved Dagara wisdom with the world. The elders predicted, “The village will be reborn in the heart and soul of the culture that is destroying the village.” And Malidoma was preordained as the bridge between the different cultures. He has a vision of a new global tribe, of people all over the planet awakening to what indigenous peoples have never forgotten: “community” includes all beings, plants and trees, earth and stones, rivers and oceans, stars and planets, animals and birds, and the unseen ones as well, the ancestors.
In his teachings, Malidoma speaks eloquently about community, and what it really means to be connected deeply and intimately to your environment and the beings around you. He also communicates about the desire for home, and what this means at a deep level. He compares our hunger for land and resources in the west with our great desire for home, and our unguided, unconscious expression of this longing. A major part of his teaching is the importance of ritual in community and personal life. He teaches the language and flow of ritual, as well as the underlying purpose and energy of ritual. He tells us that there are basically two kinds of ritual, and he calls them “radical ritual,” and “maintenance ritual.” Radical ritual is enacted for life passages, including birth, death, illness, grief, depression, or other major times of change. Maintenance ritual is often more private, and reinforces direction, life purpose, and the changes implemented through radical ritual.
At www.malidoma.com/Malidoma/ritual.html, there is an excerpt from a workshop given by Malidoma and Sobonfu Some’, in which they describe the difference between radical and maintenance ritual: “A radical ritual is a ritual that has something in it that is extremely demanding emotionally, physically, and you name it. The purpose of a radical ritual is to replace one state of the self with another state. For instance, a person who is suffering from a major emotional problem or disorder requires a radical ritual. How you can give a radical ritual is to put that person into a massive emotional experience. What that does is momentarily disconnect the person from the problem he or she has. The issue is to take that moment, to fill that space that is left because of the disconnection between the person and the problem and fill that space with something else. That way when that problem returns to the familiar place it will find it occupied, and so it is going to have to fight. After a radical ritual I have heard people saying things like, ‘I notice something new is happening to me. My life has changed. I don’t know what is going on, but something is new.’ Yes, of course! That’s what radical ritual does. It is for a person who is in need of reconciliation with a big issue such as “can’t enter into a relationship. It’s a pain in the neck; it’s scary. First of all, that person needs to be confronted with the reconciling element, like water, in a radical way. What is radical water, for instance?”
“Sobbing is a result of radical water. If you dump that person into very cold water… Like in the snow. Lay her down in snow and cover her up with snow for two days or something. Or at least a few hours. Whatever is going to come out of there will feel really weird. At that time, if there is a whole circle of people to hold that person and then lift that person out, sing lullabies, tell that person that she or he is the best in the whole world…
“A maintenance ritual is where you make sure that whatever you have, for instance a car, is subject to the three months or 3,000 miles regular revision change of oil, filters and so forth. You recognize the fact that something is going on in you, and with water you just cleanse yourself again. It is not the same as radical cold water. It’s maintenance water or regular water. Splash yourself with it or something like that. That will do. These two rituals are different but related in a way. They are related because maintenance rituals are a derivative of radical rituals. They are appropriate only after a radical ritual has happened. Maintenance rituals can be done individually as opposed to a radical ritual that is done in community. More often than not, a community that gets together should be mostly concerned with radical ritual.”
The power and importance of ritual is central to the teachings of Malidoma, and he tries to communicate how ritual weaves the people of his village together, and how there is no distinction between everyday life and spirituality. All activities are approached with intention and care. The ancestors are always considered, as are all life forms. He emphasizes that most of the time, the people are engaged in some phase of ritual, and this is why this culture is so resilient. Here is another excerpt from his workshop on ritual, found at http://www.malidoma.com/Malidoma/ritual.html: “In tribal communities and in villages, what supports life is not the economy. It is not the mass production or lack thereof. It is basically rituals. How can rituals support a community? That’s a big question. To comprehend it you have to get out of the economic thinking that is common to capitalistic cultures. Ritual can support a community because it nourishes a part of the self that is very important for the nourishment of the physical body. There is something in us that if it is not nourished; no matter what you eat you are not going to be full. What you need in order for your body to be feeling full even with the lightest meal or the smallest dish is something that you can find in ritual. If it is well done, whatever you eat thereafter is only a completion of the nourishment cycle. This is one of the reasons why 70% of village time is spent either preparing for or doing or recovering from ritual. This large amount of time says something quite interesting. It has something to do with the fact that maybe they are placing a very large importance on feeding the soul as a condition to feeding the body. This is also why they can survive in the middle of tremendous, serious scarcity. In a context in which you have no supermarket and no grocery stores, and you have to wait every five days for a market day to occur so that you can buy something (if you do have some coins in your pocket), how do you conceive of filling up your refrigerator which you don’t have over there because there is no electricity, no running water, no nothing? What happens is that the whole idea of nourishment is conceived totally differently. There is a certain meal that the body and the soul can share together which is not available in supermarkets or grocery stores or department stores or catalogs or in anybody’s house. I have come to notice that it feels to me that maybe the consumer society has replaced soul nourishment with the spread of chains [franchises] or supermarkets. It feels to me that any person who is interested in matters that have spiritual content to it should therefore reconsider seriously the whole business of ritual.”
Malidoma teaches that when people are born into the village, they are considered to be a fire person, a water person, an earth person, a mineral person, or a nature person. The year of birth (specifically the last digit) indicates the predisposition toward one of the types, and which type you are tells how you how will relate to and contribute to the community, and helps indicate what your purpose might be. This is part of the teaching from the Dagara wheel, which contains all these elements. The different types of people are described as follows;
“The formation of any village, at least that we know of, is always based on some kind of cosmology, cosmologies that help people find out where they came from and where they’re going. This is all based on the quest for people’s identity, because without it it’s very hard to live a life that is focused and motivated. What you have here is a Dagara model of building identity, or building community and creating a viable relationship with the spirit world.
“That’s why people in the tribes or in villages are divided into these five different categories, which are based on the understanding that the universe is made of five essential elements. Those elements are intertwined in such a way that it makes it possible for people like us to live in it. Our daily challenges are based on how we dance with these elements. Pain is the result of ignoring one or several of them, and the feeling of groundedness and focus is more connected to a balancing or a proximity to balancing these elements all together. But the most important thing in it is the possibilities or the availabilities in this so-called Wheel of giving us some very substantial knowledge about ourselves. When you know who you are, you know how to dance, and then everything else perhaps becomes not as threatening as it looks. We are finding out what your essence is, the kind of place from which you are contributing to this world. Then you need the other four elements in order to help you do that. That is also important to know. These elements in their order start with Fire, and then go as Water, and then move on to Earth, then to Mineral, and then Nature.”
Fire: Fire is associated with spirit, and fire people are often the ones who connect the community with the ancestors. Fire is the primal energy, associated with the emotional self, the intuitive self, the dream self. Fire people are the dreamers and channelers of ancestral wisdom for the community. Fire people are born in years ending with 2 or 7. For instance, if you were born in 1962 or 1967, you are a fire person.
Water: Water is associated with equality, and with enhancing connection and flow between people. Water people are the peacemakers, cooling the fires of conflict. Water is about soul, and reflections of truth. Water people can show others what their truth is, can help guide them toward their purpose. Water people are born in years ending with 1 or 6.
Earth: Earth is nurturance, sustenance. It is the womb, the ground, the anchor. It is the feminine spirit incarnate. Earth people take care of everyone, and create sacred space, protecting the community. They are often strong personalities, who are practical, dependable, and unconditionally loving. These ones are the “salt of the earth.” Earth people are born in years ending with 0 or 5.
Mineral: Mineral is truth, and communicating truth. It is translating and connecting, in order to build and create reality. Mineral people are the communicators, with powerful cellular memories. They are the storytellers, the oral historians, the ones who pass on wisdom to the people through story. Mineral people are born in years ending with 4 or 9.
Nature: Nature is magic and transformation. It is inevitable change. It is about birth, growth, life, and death. It is cycles, seasons, and mystery. It is the creation of life from the void. It is the trickster, the coyote, the unpredictable. Nature people are the magicians, the witches and wizards. Nature people are born in years ending with 3 or 8.
In his village, there would be opportunities for people of each group to get together, work together, and share ideas. They would be a clan. Each clan focuses on their area of expertise, and this helps to create a very strong community structure. Within this structure, people feel secure to express themselves. Everyone has their place, and everyone knows who to go to if they need some specific help. Children come in knowing who they are, and they feel very relaxed and comfortable. Although someone may be a certain type of person, this does not mean that the other elements are not important in their life. The other elements help to bring balance and harmony to the life of the person. A fire person might choose to live close to the water, or to marry a water person, to balance the fire energy. Whatever your type, it is good to think of ways to use the other elements to compliment your life. Ritual is a great tool for balancing all these aspects personally, and in community.
The teachings of Malidoma Some’ are very hard to contain in this small section of the course. They are so profound and practical at the same time. It is also very hard to paraphrase his words and teachings, for they are so unique. His work is highly recommended for further study. I am sure the ancestors would agree.