Malidoma Patrice Somé

Malidoma Somé

Malidoma Patrice Somé (born 1956) is a West African writer. He was born in Dano, Burkina Faso, among the Dagara.

At the age of four he was kidnapped by Jesuit missionaries, to be raised in their boarding school, and given an education. The missionaries were attempting to train black Africans who might convert to Christianity. He ran away from the missionary school when he was twenty, by which time he had forgotten his native language. In order to be able to communicate with his people, he underwent an arduous process of "relearning". He took part in a month-long Dagara initiation process.^[1][2][3]

The Dagara believe that each person is born with a destiny, and he or she is given a name that reflects that destiny. The name Malidoma means "become friends with the stranger/enemy". Malidoma Patrice Somé believes it is his destiny to come to a western audience in friendship and tell them about his experience of being torn away from his people by westerners. His book, Of Water and the Spirit, is his attempt to describe that journey from outsider to mediator between two worlds.

Somé holds three Master's degrees and two doctorates from the Sorbonne and Brandeis University. He has taught at the University of Michigan.^[1]

Somé conducts seminars and retreats in Oregon and throughout the world.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Somé, Malidoma Patrice (1994). Of Water and Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman. New York: Tarcher/Putnam. ISBN 978-0874777628. 
2. ^ Somé, Malidoma Patrice (1993). Ritual: Power, Healing and Community. Portland, OR: Swan and Raven. ISBN 978-0140195583. 
3. ^ Somé, Malidoma Patrice (1998). The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community. New York: Tarcher/Putnam. ISBN 978-0874779912. 
4. ^ Somé, Malidoma Patrice (2007). "Malidoma.com". http://malidoma.com/. 

External links

• Bio
• Home page
• How to Be a Man: a Video Interview with Malidoma Some by elephant journal
• An interview

Persondata
Name	Some, Malidoma Patrice
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Date of birth	1956
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