Sobonfu Some, African Wise Woman

"It is always challenging to bring the spiritual into the material world, but it is one of the only ways we can put people back in touch with the earth and their inner values."

The above words are from Sobonfu Some, African wise woman, shaman, and gentle spirit to all that is. Sobonfu has been a bridge between her Burkina Faso village and the western world. She has been instrumental in obtaining money, through her Walk for Water campaign, to dig wells so that the people of Burkina Faso may maintain kin domains. Growing and finding food in the natural environment has become a constant concern for these villages of indigenous citizens as the government takes away land forcing movement beyond the eco-environment for which they are familiar. You can visit Sobonfu's website to get more details on her projects. I highly recommend her books. I have read all of them and play the CD set just to hear her voice, a voice resounding with truth, joy, and love. Below is information about her latest release. If you know someone who works with children, has children, or is thinking about having children, direct them to her book.

Welcoming Spirit Home: Ancient African Teachings to Celebrate Children and Community

In this elegantly packaged book, Sobonfu Somé shows how today's parents can learn from the Dagara tribe's teachings and explains why children are considered the soul of every Dagara village. And how each child, in the African view of things, is valuable and irreplaceable. Along with elders, they are the VIPs of tribal life. In order to illustrate just what this means, Somé outlines nine rituals connected with the incoming soul of a child enacted during preconception, pregnancy, the birth process, and afterwards. These rituals accent the child's purpose and his or her meaningful role in the context of the community. After reading Welcoming Spirit Home, you'll want to give more attention and intention to the celebration of your children's birth, growth, and role in the larger community. Ritual, on these pages, is the sacred path to what Somé calls "continuous prayer." "This is a teacher who can help us put together so many things that our modern Western World has broken,"
-- Alice Walker, Author of The Color Purple.

http://www.sobonfu.com/

http://www.sobonfu.com/books/index.shtml