November 7-9
Ritual is the practice of staying in touch with the spirit world, with nature, with the ancestors, with ourselves and others, and with the gods. Malidoma believes the ancient self within each of us hungers for the transcendence that ritual offers, for ritual is a technique for connecting with our souls. In many activities, the body experiences joy, whereas in ritual, the soul has the fun. The soul is the core part of the self, while the spirit acts in the world. Just as a child can play when given the appropriate toys, so too, the soul can play in the presence of the natural world when given a sense of connectedness, purpose, and community.
One of the things we yearn for is to be part of a tribe. In our bones, we all carry the deep memory of our tribal roots and need the life-giving process of initiation into a thriving community. In the African village, initiation helps young people recognize their inborn destinies and adult purposes, to the benefit of both individual and community. Western civilization is suffering a great sickness of the soul, which can't be cured in a few days, but can be made better. We can create rituals appropriate to our own culture, we can begin to feel connected again.
Much of the pain, isolation, and wounding that occurs in our culture is the result of having cut ourselves off from the many energies and spirits that form a natural part of our lives. Malidoma speaks of tribal and transcendental experiences in down-to-earth, Western terms that are nonetheless startling, original, and urgent. The way forward involves the blending of ancient indigenous wisdom within the context of modernity. This collaboration between the old and the new yields meaningful, lasting, and positive results. Rivaling the strength of science and technology, Malidoma's tribe, the Dagara, have cultivated deep insight into how communities and individuals communicate their abilities to interrelate with natural forces and create sustainable abundance and relationships with all.
We'll explore how rituals heal and design and perform them together. We're microcosms of the world we inhabit, so we find the marks of this dysfunctional culture in us, but we're also infused with the divine. Our separation is illusory and our reconnection to the healing forces of nature and of spirit is always possible. Young people 13 and older who want to attend are welcome at half their elder's fee.
Malidoma Some is a fully initiated medicine man, shaman, and diviner among his own people, the Dagara, in Burkina Faso of West Africa. When he was four, Malidoma was taken to the seminary for 15 years. He returned to the Dagara and underwent a harrowing month-long initiation ritual in the wilderness. His name translates loosely as be friends with the stranger/enemy, and his elders sent him to bring his people's wisdom to the West. A gifted healer, lecturer, and teacher, he holds doctorates in political science from the Sorbonne and in literature from Brandeis, but he considers his traditional initiation into ancestral knowledge his true education. His widely acclaimed books are Ritual: Power, Healing, and Community and Of Water and Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman.
"Malidoma has kept faith with the ancestors and with his own heart. His journey is a shimmering `missing piece' in the story of Earth." Alice Walker
"Ritual is the greatest and most detailed book on ritual that I have ever read." Robert Bly