Of Water and the Spirit is more than simply an account of Malidoma's life and initiation, it is a detailed description of the worldview of a Dagara man, who is forcibly subjected to traditional Western thought for fifteen years and then returns to his home physically, at first, but spiritually only once he goes through initiation, or what the Dagara call the Baar. Malidoma's recount of his story, being very similar to the storytelling of an African Griot, uses amazing imagery that allows the listener to sincerely experience his thoughts and actions and the things he sees, hears, and feels throughout his early life up to now. I find many elements of this work very interesting, but a few constant threads of the story truly engaged me. I am fascinated by the recurring mention of issues surrounding his name and by the consistent application of magic in his life and the life of the Dagara people. My name, Nicole, is derived from the word for "victory" in Greek. Although I feel I do have a distinct purpose in life, I have never referred to my name's meaning in order to know it or remember it. Malidoma means "be friends with the stranger/enemy" in the Dagara language and this is Malidoma's mission in life. He told the elders of his identity and purpose on Earth when he was a soul taking on human form in his mother's womb. On the third day after his birth, Malidoma was named as such because it is a constant reminder of his purpose. Malidoma had to tell the West (the stranger/enemy) of his people. Through Of Water and Spirit, Malidoma is fulfilling his purpose in life. What is even more intriguing is that, in the Dagara culture, when a baby is born he or she is not considered a new being, as it is believed in Western culture and religion. He or she is considered a being from the other world who has entered this world, as a human, in order to carry out a mission. The name has taken on a great spiritual significance in Dagara culture. In Western culture magic has been traditionally viewed negatively. The word often conjures up images of witches, spells, cults, and dark rituals. As Malidoma displays, in Dagara culture, along with most traditional African culture, magic is viewed positively and is at the core of religion.
Everything is constantly changing over time and one of the things that has changed drastically is our society's view on Witchcraft. It started out as being a regular religion but was more negatively talked about as the years went by. Society’s view on Witchcraft never really changed but our morals as people did. We have accepted that it is a religion and
Water is symbolic of the life cycle as the continuous, repetitive movement is symbolic of the Buddhist view of samsara. Within Buddhism, samsara is defined as the continual repetitive cycle of birth and death that arises from one grasping and fixating one’s self and experiences. Specifically, samara refers to the process of cycling through one rebirth after another within the realms of existence. The uninterrupted cycle of death and rebirth without a choice is called ‘cyclic existence’ ("Buddhism Beliefs |About Buddhism”). In lê thi diem thúy’s The Gangster We Are All Looking For, water permeates through the life cycle concerning life, death, and the dual-meaning of resurrection representing both rebirth and the manifestation of ghostly
It is also said that a boy has been given birth in one family and in
Experiencing new worlds and encountering new dilemmas, magic, wisdom, truth: all of these elements characterizes the context of the book Of Water and Spirit by Malidona Patrice Some. Here, magic and everyday life come to an affinity, and respect and rituals are necessary tools to survive. The author portrays the Dagara culture in a very specific way. This culture makes no differentiation between what is natural, or "normal", and what is supernatural, or magical. Ancestors compound the core of communities and individuals. These higher beings are present in ordinary life activities and actions. They constitute the connection between this world and another.
“Babies”. Is a documentary made by the Thomas Balmés. It offers a window on the lives of four infants in four completely different cultures. This is not a usual kind of documentary; there are no narration, no subtitles and actual dialogue was very minimal. The film explores childhood rituals, enculturation, socialization and parenthood. I will try to explore each of these themes and try to make the case that behaviors, values and fears are learned not something congenital. It has, in my opinion, comparative perspectives and different methods in rearing children in different societies. It achieves this by cutting the scenes in certain ways to show the differences between these different children. For example, in one part of the film, both Bayarjargal (the Mongolian child) and Mari (the Japanese child) were playing with their pet cats and then the two scenes were edited to a shot of Ponijo (the Namibian child) looking interested in flies. The four children developed in somewhat similar ways. However, there are differences in their behaviors due to the enculturation by seeing their parents or siblings who were doing what they thought to be the norms and the obvious landscape in which they are brought up. Two of the kids were born in rural areas (Namibia and Mongolia) and two were born in urban areas (the United States and Japan). The mothers of these infants were interviewed and chosen to be in the film
Shamanism has not been a concept with one succinct definition. However, there have been varying extents of specificity within the definition. Mircea Eliade defines shamanism as an archaic technique of ecstasy. In Graham Harvey’s Shamanism: A Reader, he does not unify to one specific construe of shamanism in his writings, preferably he establishes the ambit of controversy and diversity between various definitions to foresight the extent shamanism has in comparison to other definitions. Shamanism, History, and the State by Nicholas Thomas and Caroline Humphrey debate that people have been corrupted with finding one definition of shamanism that they no longer take into account the controversy within the definition. The authors argue that there are two aspects of shamanism that include power and knowledge. More over Atkinson in her writings Shamanisms Today gets ridiculed for defining shamanism in a broader sense. Atkinson defines shamanism as having two main concepts: the psychological state of shamans and the therapeutic value of shamanic healing. Atkinson thinks that the identification of shamanism in relation to altered states of consciousness has become so strong that the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. To this point, it is learnt that shamanism has a broad range of definitions that begins with an altered state of consciousness and can be as specific as identifying the type of altered state, paradigmatic experiences and a shaman’s ultimate goal. The skepticism of the definition leads to the speculation that these traditions have an original source.
Many different forms of medicine are currently practiced in the world. In fact, as our text states, “in all cultures, some people have become recognized as having special abilities to treat and diagnose health problems.” (Miller 107) Without argument, phytomedicinal and supernatural healers are two forms of medical treatment that have been around for longer than any other, regardless of culture. It has been estimated that shamanism has been practiced for over ten thousand years (Tyson 3). Native American and Celtic healers are often known as shamans.
Through the Harry Potter series starts off relatively pleasant and more as a children’s story, the series soon turns grim and might even be considered a horror story by some. Magic in the wizarding world of Harry Potter and it is not viewed at negatively because of the positive ways it is used throughout the series, but what about the negative ways? “The fight between good and evil, embodied most strongly in the characters of Harry and Lord Voldemort, emerges as a centerpoint for the story line” (Patrick and Patrick 222). Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are wizards and witches who use dark magic to kill and torture those that disagree with their views. These wizards and witches relentlessly use the unforgivable curses in the series such as the: cruciatus, killing, and imperious curse. These curses are unforgivable and also illegal in the wizarding world and the display of torture and murder are harsh acts for young viewers. Christopher and Sarah Patrick go on to say in “Exploring the Dark Side”, that this is “the kind of evil in which serial killers engage directly parallels that of Lord Voldemort (Patrick and Patrick 230). The use of dark magic, murder, and torture are all reasons why the Harry Potter films and books can be hard for young viewers to comprehend and therefore may be of ill
This has been called the realm of the relative and from a shamanic perspective as well as a scientific one this is absolutely true. It is also often overlooked and ignored, although this is one of the biggest mistakes that one can make. Why is this? Let us first look at it from the scientific or Ordinary Reality perspective.
Birth is an amazing ability. It is a uniquely female power. The Theogony provides a portrait of the struggle between the sexes for control of the womb. Men attempt to gain access to birth by monitoring and grasping control over what leaves the womb, through sexual force, and by destroying the powerful mother-child bonds. Nonetheless, women retain autonomy. Sheer force of will, as Hera’s birth illustrates, deceit, and strong mother-child bonds preserve female power of procreation. Through birth women influence and control the course of human (or deities) destiny. Through their wombs women gain powerful agency.
In sub-Saharan Africa, thousands of languages, cultures, and geographical regions helped influence our African society. The ways in which we produce our artwork, spiritual ideals, and ritual performances are organic and raw. From the tropical regions of Congo and Ghana, to the arid regions of Mali; I pass through the global gateway into a domain where the Western world lost its roots and artistic imagination and grandeur. Africa appeals most to me for its ability to create a realm where the living, dead, and artistic ideals come into a single unit of tranquil philosophy.
Magic originated with paganism, which was a pantheism view; they believed in more than one god. When the Christian church took over paganism they deemed all there practices and rituals to be satanic and that they used demons. The church had a monotheism view; they believed in only one god. The threat to the church was the notion of gnosis; that an initiate could unveil the
... middle of paper ... ... Throughout the story he changes physically, mentally, and emotionally from a young child to an old man, which makes him a dynamic character. He became a very dynamic character because he found a need for materialistic things such as statues and homes such as Xanadu, his large home on a vast plot of secluded land.
Therefore, this paper is aimed to present in brief the general opinion about beliefs on witches and witchcraft which is synonymous among most African societies. Besides, it will consider some incidents related to witchcrafts as well as Christian response to witchcraft before conclusion
From Europe and Africa to the end of Asia and the regions beyond the ocean known as America , " Dark Arts " have become so notorious and frightening, that the mere mention is able to sow the fear and panic to its defenceless victims. Modern man reacts to the sounds of witchcraft either with mockery and humorous outbursts or suspicion. Magic cloak of prejudice and superstition that surrounds Western societies is increasing systematically day after day.