[Adta] Ancestralization Ritual With Malidoma Somé -upstate NY

[Barbara Chutroo]

Ancestralization Ritual With Malidoma Somé
Blue Deer Center, August 29-September 2, 2007 

“There is probably no greater service that we can do for ourselves, our 
children, our communities and our ancestors than to help the spirits of 
our dead loved ones return safely and peacefully to their ancestral 
home”…Malidoma“

  Dagara people’s main job is to look the dead in the face, to treat 
their bodies not as remains but as temples of grace and beauty 
continuing from this world to the other. People grieve the passing of 
loved ones, though in this grief they stress beauty and community and 
continuity. The handing over of the loved one to the realm of the 
ancestors is what we call ancestralization”. It allows for a sense of 
completion in the vast array of duties following the passing of a 
person. In this five-day event, we will address this issue of 
fulfilling our duties toward the dead in the interest of transforming 
restlessness into rest, discontinuity into continuity and homelessness 
into homecoming." -Malidoma Patrice Some´

  There are many souls in the west who are waiting to be assisted in 
their journey to the spirit world. This series of rituals, based on 
Dagara tradition, is designed to help them make that transition. We 
will spend Wednesday evening through Sunday morning planning and 
participating in various rituals specifically choreographed to assist 
the spirits of the dead make their journeys back to the spirit world. 
The rituals will also assist the living in letting go, in a powerful 
way, of attachments that might keep souls bound to this earth plane. 
The Dagara believe that the deceased can become powerful allies once 
they are fully "at home" in the ancestral realm.

To register, contact the BDC: info at bluedeer.org or phone 845.586.3225. 
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