Spring 2015
E-Village News 
Responding to the Call of the Ancestors


Greetings Village!

In the previous Earth year of 2010, Malidoma was invited to participate on the panel "Indigenous Wisdom & Contemporary Science" during PeaceWeek---a global tele-summit event that culminated on the United Nations' International Day of Peace of that year.  On the panel he shared wisdom and insights regarding our interconnectedness with Nature and Earth that are valuable today.

We hope you enjoy the following excerpt of that discourse!

Peace & Blessings!

Radical Interconnectedness  

Panel Question: How would you personally and from your tradition, characterize this time, this historical cycle we're in?  What does your tradition and your personal insights tell us about radical interconnectedness, and what causes or perpetuates disconnectedness or fragmentation?

 

Malidoma's Response: 
This is of course a complex question; it comes in different parts, the first one being the notion of interconnectedness, which according to my people, it begins with an understanding that we are part and parcel of Nature. That Nature is the place of our belonging. That connection will therefore extend itself to the Animal people, the Plant people, and the various shapes of the land to include valleys and mountains, and all of these to show the complexity of connection.

Inside of that is the whole notion of community, which not only incorporates all of the above, but also includes the Ancestors.  And so with that we get the notion that interconnectedness expands itself from this world to the Other World, meaning that if something is not working in one world, the other world is eventually going to suffer from it.
   
Therefore, overall this time is characterized as a time of great shift, a time of great transformation in which more than ever individuals are called upon to deploy new awareness about the inevitability of connectedness, because that is indeed the source of a smooth transition, a smooth transformation to whatever state we're being called into.  
 
In these moments, one central thing becomes the theme---it is consciousness to the archetypal mother, which is the Earth, calling us to review our relationship with her, calling us to see the various ways in which we are still connected to her or not and use that as a starting point to reach out to our Ancestors for ways of healing and ways of transforming that will be less painful.

In the end, what we are left with is that our disconnected- ness or our fragmentation has a lot to do with a great deal of lack of attention, including taking too much for granted. The damage or the way in which we've been treating the Earth, the way in which we've been treating Nature is a signal that actually translates into the way in which we look at each other, the way in which we relate to one another.

Fragmentation or lost of community directly comes out of the forgetting of disconnection with Nature and with the Earth that once made her the mother that showed us how to be with one another. And in this context of great change and great transformation more than ever we're being asked to wake up to the Earth Mother and to seek advice or counsel from her.
 

AncestorAltar11
Communing at the Ancestor Shrine
Panel Question:
Please share your top, critical insights, wisdom, practices, and other resources for healing and peacemaking in these dire times.

Malidoma's Response:

A shrine to the Ancestors is a good start, no matter what! More importantly is the interaction with the shrine.  That means that once you've established something like this, make sure that at least every morning before you get out into the world, go to that shrine, and brief the Ancestors, brief the grandmothers and the grandfathers about what you're going to do during the day, ask for their support, ask to be escorted, to be protected in this treacherous day so that you can return home in one piece---don't make any assumptions.

 

While you're at it, a shrine to the Earth, an Earth shrine, which is simply made of, what I would suggest, the earth [dirt] from where you were born, looking like a little mound, that you use as a point of entry into communicating with the Earth because she is the one that provides sustenance, nurturing, and a sense of belonging for all of us human beings living here---so that in times of scarcity, as is the case in this world, you can go there and continue to ask Mother Earth for nourishment---nourishment of the spirit, nourishment of the body.

 

 

 

 

Ask Malidoma is BACK!!
Malidoma Sideways
We're happy to announce Ask Malidoma! is returning to E-Village News.  This feature will, once again, allow readers to become active participants in our E-Village community.

Send your question to [email protected].  The question and the response will be posted anonymously.  Malidoma will choose and respond to the question with the widest appeal, or the question that is most-frequently asked.  He is eager to respond to questions on the following:  Dagara spiritual traditions & cosmology, the elements, nature, divination, ritual & community, inter-dimensional beings & worlds, kontombli, the role & benefit of ritual sacrifice, ritual application for daily living, initiation, shrines, ancestors, etc.
 
Space to respond is limited so please focus on asking questions that will serve the greater good, and not questions on Malidoma's personal and private life.  Please understand that no matter how important you feel your question is, Malidoma cannot answer every question.

We are excited about bringing this feature back to E-Village News.  We invite you to participate in helping us reconnect with you in a more spiritual and engaging way!
 

Upcoming Events

Ritual Healing Village (RHV):  The Elements of Nature
June 8-14
East Coast Village (ECV), Cherry Plain, NY
Tuition:  $1,525
Meals:  $25/day
For more info & to sign up, click here


Private Divinations, @ ECV, Cherry Plain, NY
June 9-13
(Morning appointments only)
For more info & to schedule an appointment, write to [email protected].


Private Divinations, Graz, Austria
June 23-24
For more info & to schedule an appointment, write to [email protected].


Ritual & Systemic Constellations Workshop
June 25-August 1 
P�llauberg, Styria, Austria 
SEMINAR FEES:

EUR 650,- + 20 % VAT (EUR 780,-)

Early-bird:
EUR 560,- + 20 % VAT (EUR 672,-)
For more info & to register, write to [email protected] or see www.apsysraum.org.   Also, see flier here.


Private Divinations, Bad Bevensen, Germany
Wednesday, August 5
For more info & to schedule an appointment, write to
[email protected].


Healing Relations to Forefathers Workshop
August 6-9
Bad Bevensen, Germany

Course Tuition: $450 U.S. dollars cash directly to Malidoma, 120 Euro workshop fee transfer to Caduceus Zentrum (cost does not include meals & accommodations).

Registry:  Please email us to get your bill & confirmation, plus a bring-along list.

Venue:  Caduceus Zentrum, Niendorfer Weg 5, 29549
Bad Bevensen, Germany

Telefon:  05821-477 129
Fax:  05821-477 130
Email[email protected]
Websitewww.caduceus.de


Ritual Healing Village (RHV):  Predator & Protection
September 9-13
East Coast Village (ECV) Cherry Plain, NY
Tuition:  $895
Meals:  $25/day
For more info & to sign up, click here.


Globe Earth
There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth.  We are all crew.
~ Marshall McLuhan, 1964