Of Water and the Spirit Quotes

“The power of nature exists in its silence. Human words cannot encode the meaning because human language has access only to the shadow of meaning.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

“Grandfather used to call the rain 'the erotic ritual between heaven and Earth.' The rain represented the seeds sown in the Earth’s womb by heaven, her roaring husband, to further life. Rainy encounters between heaven and Earth were sexual love on a cosmic scale. All of nature became involved. Clouds, heaven’s body, were titillated by the storm. In turn, heaven caressed the Earth with heavy winds, which rushed toward their erotic climax, the tornado. The grasses that pop out of the Earth’s warm center shortly after the rain are called the numberless children of Earth who will serve humankind’s need for nourishment. The rainy season is the season of life. Yes, it had rained the night before.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

“Among the Dagara, darkness is sacred. It is forbidden to illuminate it, for light scares the Spirit away…. The one exception to this rule is the bonfire.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

“Wealth (among the Dagara) is determined not by how many things you have, but by how many people you have around you.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

“… for there are times when disobedience heals a very ailing part of the self. It relieves the human spirit’s distress at being forced into narrow boundaries. For the nearly powerless, defying authority is often the only power available.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé , Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

“To be a leader, or the helpmate of a leader, you have to first die as a person, and Mother was mourning for her approaching death as just a simple village woman.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

“... our law says you do not hurt someone unless they hurt you.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

“...the sweat of one person has significance only when it serves everybody.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

“Questions are the mind's way of trying to destroy a mystery.”
― Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman