Of Water and the Spirit—Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

by Malidoma Patrice Somé

Rating: 4 (3 votes)

Tags: Set in Burkina Faso Male author

Of Water and the Spirit

Description:
Maliodoma Patrice Some was born in a Dagara Village, however he was soon to be abducted to a Jesuit school, where he remained for the next fifteen years, being harshly indoctrinated into european ways of thought and worship. The story tells of his return to his people, his hard initiation back into those people, which lead to his desire to convey their knowledge to the world. Of Water and the Spirit is the result of that desire; it is a sharing of living African traditions, offered in compassion for those struggling with our contemporary crisis of the spirit.

Reviews:

Read Around The World Challenge user profile avatar for Suroor
(1 year ago)
01 Sep, 2023
Malidoma Patrice Somé, was born in a village in Burkina Faso in the early 1950s when it was still a French colony called Upper Volta. The book covers Burkina both pre- and post-independence. What makes this interesting is that he was schooled by French missionaries but returned to his village and became a shaman. He is a part of two worlds: the traditional Burkinabe one and the Western ones; the world of the supernatural and the one of rational thinking.

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