(From the article linked above)..In the West, “it is the overload of the culture they’re in that is just wrecking them,” observes Dr. Somé. The frenetic pace, the bombardment of the senses, and the violent energy that characterize Western culture can overwhelm sensitive people. ………..
With schizophrenia, there is a special “receptivity to a flow of images and information, which cannot be controlled,” stated Dr. Somé. “When this kind of rush occurs at a time that is not personally chosen, and particularly when it comes with images that are scary and contradictory, the person goes into a frenzy.” ………….
Dr. Somé believes that he encounters this situation so often in the United States because “most of the fabric of this country is made up of the energy of the machine, and the result of that is the disconnection and the severing of the past. You can run from the past, but you can’t hide from it ….
“Unless the relationship between the living and the dead is in balance, chaos ensues,” he says. “The Dagara believe that, if such an imbalance exists, it is the duty of the living to heal their ancestors. If these ancestors are not healed, their sick energy will haunt the souls and psyches of those who are responsible for helping them.” The rituals focus on healing the relationship with our ancestors, both specific issues of an individual ancestor and the larger cultural issues contained in our past. Dr. Somé has seen extraordinary healing occur at these rituals.
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Thanks Humble Joe for the link to the article. Its too easy to dismiss other ways of seeing things, even though they have links to aspects of every culture. The way people are treated in the west offers no opportunity for healing, only temporary avoidance and who says sanity means being well adjusted to a sick society? Just because we are so far down an alley doesn’t mean that’s the only way, even if there is no going back there is absolutely a going forward and it takes a clear mind to perceive it and the way there. Even if pharma offers a crutch to making it back to mainstream, don’t believe that’s a cure, and to say its all just a case of chemical imbalance is to play straight into Pharma hand. So its like saying a man who fell of his motorbike and broke his leg is suffering with maladjusted infrastructure of the bone, no more no less. Not too helpful even though it may be factual. To contrast the African healer’s interpretation with the ever-expanding American DSM shouldn’t lead to his ridicule. Its uplifting to hear someone with a differently conscious view on it.
Peace.
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