Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Somé Essay Example for Free

Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Som EssayWith Of Water and Spirit Malidoma Patrice slightly has written a very interesting, engaging autobiography in which he details his life as a gentleman lifetime amid two different lifestyles the traditional life of his multitude, the Dagara, who live in hobnailed Burkina Faso, the former French Colony known as the Upper Volta, and the life of a highly ameliorate African man with two PhDs who travels without the western nations writing, lecturing, and teaching some his people and their relationship between the normal world and the spirit world. According to nigh his first name Malidoma means be friends with the fantastical/enemy. The Dagara believe a persons name has an affect on the his life so they name their children something that will eternall(a)y remind them of their mission in life. approximately, then, is here in the West to tell the world about my people any way I can, and to take back to my people the know ledge I gain about this world (Some 1994, 1). Some was named Patrice when he was baptized by Jesuit priests at the insistence of his father who had reborn to Catholicism.The attitude of Some and the Dagara people is very interesting. Instead of feeling hatred against the white men who had colonise the verdant and basically enslaved the people while stealing their land and resources, the Dagara are concerned about all people, including the white people and are convinced that the West is as endangered as the indigenous cultures it has decimated in the name of colonialism (Some 1994, 1). They believe that western cultures abandonment of functional spiritual values has made the West heave with a sickness of the soul (Some 1994, 1).Some was basically kidnapped from his tribe at the age of four when he was taken away to study at the Jesuit shallow. At the time the Jesuits were trying create a native missionary force to help in converting the people of Upper Volta. Prior to being kidn apped Some had spent much of his childhood with his granddaddy, a great leader of the Dagara. His grandfather taught him many of the stories of the Dagara people, their spiritual beliefs, and their history.Somes grandfather emphasized the close spiritual relationship of the Dagara with the world, the land, and the spirits of their deceased ancestors. The Dagara believe there is an important corporation between an individual, his people, his land, and his god. Somes grandfather could not understand the Catholic Churchs attempts at missionary work throughout the world, . . . allow me tell you that a God who would send his people away from their land must be imbibition a very strong wine all the time (Some 1994, 29).At the time of his death, Somes grandfather told Some that the ancestors had designated Some to follow the white man so that you may serve as the eye of the compound, the pinna of your many brothers, and the mouth of your tribe (Some 1994, 40). Somes grandfather also t old him that he came back to the tribe he would face strange to the Dagara, he would only be part Dagara and would have to undergo the month long founding in the wilderness to become a member of the tribe. Somes time at the Jesuit school was unpleasant.The priests very much beat him while they were teaching him as if the beatings would reinforce the lessons and have him confirm to the Jesuit teachings. When he gradatory to the seminary school at Nansi he had similar experiences and often found that he lived outside of himself. He would make his thoughts go away from my body so that when the first blow fell, I he was not even informed of it (Some 1994, 114). Some resented the way he was treated and found himself rebelling against the method of instruction.This rebellion reached its climax when Some was cardinal and became involved in a physical altercation with one of the priests. During the struggle the priest fell through the window and landed in the dirt outside. Consequent ly, Some ran away from the school to consecrate to his plate. His journey home took him eleven days since he was forced to walk the entire way. Ironically, on his journey, Some learned that the country had gained its emancipation from France in 1960 and such forced schooling had come to an end.Since Some was about four- familys-old both when independence occurred and when he was taken away from his people to attend school, he could have returned to his people long ahead (Some 1994, 153 99-156). By the time he returned to his village, the Jesuit missionary priests on the hill were gone, although a day school still existed. at one time Some was in his home compound, he found he no longish fit it with his people. He had forgotten how to speak the language the village had changed with independence. His people were not comfortable with him there, nor was he comfortable with them.Consequently the elders decided he should undergo the Baor, the month long initiation, to quiet the whit e man in your soul . . . so that his soul would come back home and . . . stop being a stranger to yourself and to us (Some 1994, 178). Some describes his spiritual initiation in detail and tells how he was able to return to the Dagara. Once he had returned fully to the Dagara, Some found that he was again not comfortable living with his people because he had not yet completed his mission that his grandfather had told him about and that his ancestors had assigned him.Once again it became necessary to leave his people so the he might be friends with the stranger/enemy. This is what Some continues to do today through his writings and lecturing. However, he is careful to return to his home every year to make certain he reconnects with his home and people.BibliographySome, Malidoma Patrice. Of Water and the Spirit Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman. New York G. P. Putnams Sons, A Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam Book, 1994.