Many of you know that I have done extensive training with Malidoma Somé and in my work with him have learned a lot about creating a space of fun and welcoming for the ancestors. When we do ritual, it’s usually in a very festive atmosphere. Good beverages, oftentimes a cigar, and always drumming!

I recently read an interview with Malidoma where he talks about spirituality and seriousness. Here is a small excerpt from the interview that I thought was very interesting, and definitely worth putting some thought into. Needless to say, these words of wisdom from Malidoma can come in handy in each of our lives!

Playful Spirits

Interviewer: Some people make an assumption, often unconsciously, that any spiritual practice worthwhile needs to be serious and somber. Can you speak to the role of play and fun and spontaneity in ritual work?

Malidoma: You must understand that the other world doesn’t know anything about seriousness. The issue at hand is that anytime I’ve had an encounter with the other world, and I mean that literally—we have little people in my culture that we call Kontomblé—every time you meet them, they’re playing around. They look like irresponsible people jumping around, finding you rather funny looking and serious. So it has led me to wonder: where do we inherit this solemn attitude, in fact, associated with the word “serious?” I tried to understand it by way of trying to find out whether there is an equivalent in Dagara of the word “serious”—there is none. There’s no word for “serious!” The closest word to it is literally translated as “red eye!” It’s funny! But this is as serious as it gets! Because “red eye” means you can’t close your eye, you’ve gotta keep it open, because you might miss out on something! So there is a direct connection between ritual and fun and also play. Where does it come from? We can see it in children whose world is all about play and the choreography of it. Why do we grow up and find this rather childish, as if childish is less important than solemn and serious? I really would try to do be more playful just to see whether in fact there is a greater chance of success than this seriousness.

The bottom line is the further away from the sacred a culture grows, the more serious and solemn they become. That simply suggests that the closer a community or a people get to the sacred, the more access to joy, playfulness, and a lot of laughter! So it’s up to us to choose. Modern culture seems to understand that. Even the corporate world understands that. That’s why they have such a time as “Happy Hour!” Every time, everyday between four and five is a happy hour where the drinks are cheaper, but it’s only between four and five. After that everybody’s back to seriousness—I’ve got a problem with that! The playfulness associated with work has been shrunk so much down to an artificial happy hour that you cannot even be playful or come close to happiness without the help of a couple of glasses of heavy duty liquors! That means the genies of laughter and happiness are becoming really thin, and we’re approaching the idea of laughter and joy from a serious deficit and that’s why we need the substitute of liquor in order to make that happen.

That being said, the fundamental piece is for us to look at ourselves from the perspective of the amount of joy that we’re willing to bring into our lives—how much of that is in there—and to raise the question that puts a balance between what we are able to achieve and the amount of joy that accompanies the initiative towards that achievement. Are our failures due to a rather pathologically seriousness given to life? Or are the things we fail to achieve associated with a deficit in joy due to too many repressions and repressed things within us that are blocking the channel of joy? These are pertinent questions that we should ask ourselves. We just can’t make a laconic statement saying, “Well there’s not enough joy; there’s not enough laughter; there’s not enough playfulness!” We have to associate that with our productivity, with our capacity to muster healing and transformation in our culture and see whether it is not the reason why we have an industry called “entertainment.” In other words, in order for you to laugh, somebody must be over there making a fool of himself so that you can giggle a couple of times! The point is that it’s revelatory of a deep apology that is keeping us away from each other, keeping us away from the healing power of joy and laughter. Anyway, I don’t want to be too serious about it! (laughs)

The Benefits of Random Laughter

Interviewer: Malidoma, as we come to the conclusion of our interview, is there anything you would like to share about what’s bringing you joy or passion or excitement currently in your work with spirit and with your teachings?

Malidoma: What I do brings me a deep sense of peace inside. The core of what I understand as joy is a deep inner peace, the kind that is really hard to put in words. It has less to do with random laughter and superficial socialization; it has to do with a deep sense of joy experienced whenever change in the right direction is seen in a person in whose life I have intervened. The truth is I derive tremendous pleasure in it, and I think that this is something that everybody should be entitled to. This is radically different from entertainment—I’m not entertained by that, I’m overjoyed by it! At the same time, I can sense the pull to grief and I take that as a sign that my heart is not closed, and that I derive joy! It is the contribution to the sense of peace, which for me is authentic.

I stay in this work, regardless of its turmoil and the fact that, as I said in the beginning of this session—that I hear more bad news than good news—but I stay in it simply because one healing at a time is proportional to a massive influx of joy and peace inside of me. This is something that I see being needed by most everybody in this field who end up taking what they’re doing too seriously and as such become a prisoner of very bad weather that they’ve chosen to lock themselves into. People say my lectures are too funny; that whenever I start teaching something, every minute I’ve got to add a little joke in it—I can’t help it! Just don’t take things too seriously! It is true we’re all in pain, but sometimes you laugh at pain, and pain gets panicked! You start looking at pain with the strange eye of the clown and the pain says, “Usually this is not how these people behave!” And then the pain wants to go somewhere else!

It is important to realize the healing aspect of this whole thing. For me, after gauntlets of 15 years in this work, I realize the best healing for me is humor, to stay within the field of humor. I think this is something that people should entertain. Let’s get together and crack ourselves up with all kinds of things, because in the end, it is this inexplicable sound coming out of our throat chakras that sends a message to all—that which wants us to look so weighed down by the bad news, that it can then enjoy watching us. The minute we’re cracking up in front of it, then we start creating tremendous discomfort in it. And that’s a show of our capacity to heal each other, as opposed to waiting for some kind of salvation agent to come down with a basket full of it to toss around—that doesn’t work. Or if it works, only a few benefit from it and the rest are left even hungrier than before. So for me this is what I’ve ended up embracing because my own salvation, my own well-being rests on that. And I hope it can expand sufficiently to affect as many people as possible. Contagious laughter is healthy!

Thank you, Malidoma, for your words of wisdom!

I love the comments that I received from my first posting about our full moon fire ceremony that took place this past July. Since then I have had the opportunity to do several sessions on those who were present for that electric experience. It is amazing to me even after all these years how powerful and transformative the drum is.

Healing the Ohana

Toby rips it up on a full moon!

There were several people that night that laid under the drum for a few moments of healing. And as each of them came forth, it was clear that the intention of the full moon was to heal the family—or ohana as we say in Hawaii. The other drummers that were present did a great job in holding a container for the people who needed healing.

If you look to the right side of the picture there’s a gentleman with a pair of jeans on a grayish blue shirt. This is Chris Hayden. He is the anchor here on the island for 5 element drumming. Chris took an interest  in this work after seeing me at an expo here on Kauai a few years ago. Since then, every Friday night he and many of his friends gather to practice the 5 element rhythms. It is my intention this year to have them as my backup band for my appearance at the expo.

Joined by Sound Healing Students

Toby drumming with sound healers Tibo, Lisa, and Debbie.

One of the awesome aspects of this particular night is that in front of the fire with their drums resting on the blankets were 3 attendees of my sound healing workshop. Immediately to my left, in the gold colored shirt, is a wonderful man from France named Tibo. It was a pleasant surprise when I found out the amazing synchronicity that he and I shared. He is involved in a long-term study with my dear friend and brother Malidoma Somé. This event is hosted by a couple of my friends that I met at the 4 Winds Society. His wife is attending a graduate school that I worked with many years ago. And Tibo, in addition to being a very proficient drummer, is also a great  didgeridoo and flute player. In fact, his teacher is good friends with my friend John Dumas. It is a very small world!

In the middle of the three, wearing the purple top, is Lisa from Cincinnati. She came into profound power during the workshop that allowed her to step aggressively and confidently into the drumming we did the evening of the full moon ceremony. I met her some time ago during one of my journeys to Cincinnati, and look forward to seeing her again as I visit there more often.

On the far right, with a bunch of orbs coming out of her head, is Debbie. She is from the Chicago area, and with her husband, Marty, owns one of the premier labyrinth building companies in the world. Debbie is already an experienced healer with other disciplines, but after our time together in Tucson, Arizona for the Earth Walk event, she decided to take the sound healing course.

Rhythm & Unity

The sound healers putting their skills to work.

I was not sure how things would go at the full moon ceremony when almost everyone who showed up had a drum or an instrument of some sort. Although people come with good intentions, sometimes it can be challenging over the wind and the fire to hear each other and stay connected. That was certainly not the case that night. Once the rhythm started, the students got their groove on and the whole group unified and created an amazing place for healing transformation.

It was also interesting to watch the way the fire held the energy of the group. When the rhythm would increase in intensity, the fire would rage, pop, and expand. As the energy would cool down, the fire would be more subdued. It was an evening of connecting to the community, connecting to the planet, and experiencing the dance between the sound of the drum and the rhythms of nature.

Everybody did a great job. I’m very proud of you all! And thanks to the ohana for welcoming us mainlanders by helping us feel so welcome and included in your community.

Tori on the djembe

Some of the time here on the island spontaneous occurrences present themselves. One night, my friend Terry Kingen was visiting me with his daughter, Tori, and she spotted my drums lined up along the wall. Being very curious about this, she asked to hear what they sounded like. What came from that was about 3 hours of a wild drumming jam session!

Tori had never drummed before in her life, and it was so amazing as she began to play and the rhythm touched her heart. Her hands began to move and she picked up every single rhythm we played that night perfectly!

Terry was laying down the basic beat, holding the steady foundation, as I ripped it up a bit and helped Tori focus on the rhythms. Another friend of ours from the island was playing along as well. It was so fun to feel the vibration in the walls of the house, and see the joy on the faces of not only those of us who are playing, but Terry who was watching his daughter coming to such joy.

Magic Desserts Complement The Rhythm of the Drum

Drumming jam session at Toby's Hawaii house

Another joyful experience of this evening was the  unexpected visit by my friend Danny Hashimoto. Danny had been on an outing to the beach and stopped by the house on his way home . . . once again loaded with his magic desserts and sweet delights!

I will say it was also a bit distracting watching Danny pull these amazing treats from his cooler setting them beautifully on the counter awaiting our consumption. But we drummed on, laughing, smiling, getting into the rhythm of the drum, the rhythm of community, and the rhythm of the island. The drumming continued until everyone’s hands were so sore they couldn’t feel their fingers. There was so much laughter and fun.

Kauai: The Island that Creates Community

One of the things that the island does is creates community. People come together, and even if they have never met each other, they become instant friends. In the same way that the island welcomes everybody to its magic, that magic seems to draw everyone to each other. And the spontaneous merging of energy occurs. Family occurs, community occurs.

Danny Hashimoto and Toby Christensen

One of my dear friends, Malidoma Somé, from Burkina Faso, West Africa, talks often about how people in the village will spontaneously unite, just to enjoy each other and bring the rhythm of the drum or the song of the voice or the sound of the Balaphone to the people in the village. It is wonderful to experience these kinds of spontaneous events in a world where most things are planned and organized. I want to especially thank Danny for bringing his magic to our party and making a fun, spectacular time even more dynamic and spectacular!

I hope that next summer many of you are here on the island for the workshops that I will be offering so that you, too, can experience the magic of the island, the spontaneity of community, and the true feeling of aloha!

Stay tuned for more adventures throughout my visit to Kauai!

Nechema Robinson, director of KinderWorld Tracks, recently spoke with Toby about his life and healing gifts. The following is the final excerpt from this three-part interview.

Toby’s Influences & Heros

Nechama: I’d be interested to hear who your childhood heroes were, [and] who do you look up to now?

Toby Christensen

Toby: My first and most profound influence, musically, were The Beatles. I remember seeing them on The Ed Sullivan show. I saw Ringo up on that stage and knew that’s what I wanted to be. I then later fell in love with the likes of Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, and many of the jazz greats.

Although I had a very tumultuous childhood, my father has always been a very big hero to me: [he’s] very calm and wise.

The other person that has influenced my life tremendously all through my childhood and into my adult years is my uncle Mike Flo. He was a very successful businessman, and at 90 years old continues to be a very positive influence in my life.

I would say Wayne Dyer is another huge influence. He was the first presenter of what we might call “alternative” perspective in my life. I had a tape set of his back in the early ‘90s, and I’m pretty sure that I wore those tapes out listening to them over and over and over again!

Nechama: I can understand how so many people would want you as an influence in their lives. Your life is a testament to the possibility of a kind of broad-spectrum success that seems to require no compromise. Would you agree?

Toby: I would certainly like to think so! My work centers around people coming into and claiming their power! No guru in my world: I help people become their own guru

Nechama: Yes! I have noticed that in your message over and over again. Clearly, I am not the only one who finds that appealing and empowering.

How Drumming Can Help Parents & Children

Nechama: Many of my readers believe that playing with rhythm has benefits for their children. Does your work relate to anything you enjoyed doing as a child? Are there children in your life? If so, how is your relationship to them affected by your work?

Toby: I would agree with your readers very much! I started drumming when I was about five years old. It is a gift that I was born with. My entire childhood was filled with music, and drumming is the one area of my life where I was supported very strongly by my family. I do not currently have children in my life, however I work with children from time to time, both young children and adolescents.

When I was raising my stepson, it was interesting as my work shifted from the more “ordinary world” things—such as the coffee business and a restaurant—to the more “otherworldly” business that involved the drumming. He was a little uncomfortable with what to tell his friends [about what] his stepdad did.

One time, I was hired by fashion designer Donna Karan to do an event at her flagship store in Manhattan. My stepson, Adam, came with me to that event, and as he saw some of his favorite movie stars dancing and enjoying my drumming, it gave him a whole new perspective. It was a way to bridge ordinary and non-ordinary reality.

Finding Rhythm

Nechama: I love that story! What do you think are the most significant benefits of giving children the opportunity to play with rhythm? And, if you could give one tip to parents looking to maximize that opportunity for their children, what would it be?

Toby: I think the biggest benefit [for children] is the benefit of self-expression. In our culture, we are constantly programming the restraint of freedom and a conduct that is predicated on how other people will perceive us. So, self-expression is something that the drum facilitates beautifully.

When I had my restaurant, I had African décor, and there were drums sitting around on the floor. Every once in a while, someone would bring a child in and they would head immediately for the drum and start banging on. The parent usually would run frantically to make sure that the child did not hurt the drum or disturb anyone. Usually, that was the time when I would start an impromptu jam session with the child! The patrons loved it!

Let your child be free! That is the most profound tip I could give. So much of our restrictive behavioral conduct has hugely damaging effects when a child comes into adolescence. Most of the time, substance abuse and “inappropriate behavior” are just a way for our children to fight against a repressive cultural system that denies them their genius. In the village where I’ve studied, my teacher Malidoma Somé says each and every person is born a genius. It is the job of the village or community to acknowledge and support the genius that resides in each and every person. Let your child be a genius and let that genius shine!

Nechama: And that just might be my favorite story of all!

Thank you, Toby, for an absolutely riveting interview! I hope we can do this again some time. I will certainly be following your work. Please don’t hesitate to contact me for any reason. Would you like to say anything else before we say good-bye?

Toby: It was an honor to be interviewed by such a skillful and conscious being. Thank you! I look forward to further contact. Be well.

Thank you to Nechama Robinson, MA, director of KinderWorld Tracks.

I am pleased to present Homecoming, a celebration of dance and joy.

Inspiration for my LP Homecoming came following a reunion with my dear friend and brother Malidoma Somé. We spent many years separated from one another, walking our separate paths. Our reconnection after all that time sparked great joy in my life, rekindling an energy that remained dormant for years.

Malidoma and I recently traveled to Africa together where we had spent time 15 years ago. It was an amazing trip, full of magic and inspiration. That journey re-established in me a feeling of my indigenous self.

Homecoming is a celebration of the joy Malidoma and I experienced through reconnection. Done in the style of ecstatic dance, the intoxicating rhythms and powerful beats are infused with multiple layers of tribal drums. The intense pace and vibrant energy of Homecoming is reminiscent of my experience drumming under the stars in the beautiful village in Burkina Faso.

I invite you to turn it up loud! Dance, drum, and enjoy!

I’d like to extend a very special thank-you to Tanis Wells for creating the beautiful original artwork for Homecoming. Beautiful job!

Listen here for a sample of Homecoming!

Homecoming

This rhythmic and energetic LP is now available for sale. To purchase Homecoming, please visit my shop.

Supporting AVIELA, Inc.

I’m also excited to announce that 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the Homecoming LP are being donated to AVIELA, Inc. a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization founded by Malidoma.

Here’s some information about AVIELA, Inc:

Meaning “It is all good and well intentioned,” in Dagara, AVIELA, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization created to offer us the opportunity to express our gratitude to the West African elders, diviners, healers, and shamans who have been generous with their time, knowledge, and dedication to the ancestors, and to those supporting Malidoma’s work, dedicating their time and energy, often without any compensation or acknowledgement. The work they do for us in the modern world often requires that they take time from doing the work to keep their families fed.

AVIELA provides a container for saying “thank you” in a monetary way. AVIELA allows us to become a greater part of the global village by making a direct contribution to those who contribute so much to the work of spirit. Our dollars become the “loaves and fishes” that feed those who keep alive the connection with the ancestors. All contributions, small and large, make a difference in Africa.

By purchasing this download you are making a contribution that will change the lives of the people of West Africa! Thank you!

Drumming in Africa with Malidoma Some'

People ask me all the time, “How did you get into doing what you do?” I was recently on HayHouse Radio on John Holland’s Show and it came up again so I’d like to share with you a bit of my story…I call it…

What Zombies Taught Me About Transformational Drumming

Toby Christensen, here. In 1999, I had the privilege of traveling to Africa and living for a month with the Dagara tribe. I immersed myself in their culture and cosmology, experiencing both profound rituals and their realities of day- to-day living. It was an amazing experience.

Malaria Times Two

Returning home was pure culture shock. I arrived in the U.S. with two strains of Malaria, so I was going in and out of 105- degree fevers twice a day for about ten days. It was a very difficult time. As I began to recover, I started to have a recurring dream.

Before describing the dream, I’d like to share that when I was a young child, I used to have nightmares about zombies coming to get me in the night. I’d scream at the top of my lungs for my parents to come and save me. These were horrifying dreams, and they happened many times.

Lucid Dreaming Nightmare?

OK, back to 1999. As I recovered from Malaria, I began to have a recurring dream. I was standing in the middle of a grass-covered football field surrounded by a huge but deserted sports stadium. It was nighttime, but the arena’s overhead lights illuminated the field. I was lucid, knowing who I was and that I was dreaming.

As I stood in middle of the field, I began to wonder what I was doing there. I became aware that I had my djembe strapped on. All of a sudden, the grass before me began to push up to form a small hill. Then the newly created mounds of earth began to tear apart and these filthy, rotting hands clawed out of the soil. A monster crawled out of the hole, stood, and stared at me. It was just like the zombies in my childhood nightmares.

I Stood Over the Zombie and Began to Drum

Doing Ritual With The Elders

The zombie flailed toward me, his arms outstretched. As he got closer, I could see that his right eye was decomposed, hanging out of his skull. He stumbled right up to me…but instead of me feeling any fear, screaming, and running away, I instinctively started to drum. As soon as he heard the drum, he laid down on his back in front of me. Somehow I knew to stand over him and begin to drum. The rhythms I played weren’t of any specific form; just intense, intuitive patterns that arose in my dreaming. As I drummed, he began to be restored. After a spell, he jumped up, looked me in the eyes—his eyes clear and filled with life—and said, “thank you.” Then he ran off, vibrant and transformed.

As I stood on that football field, the scene continued to repeat. These mounds would push up from the surface, boney fingers would tear open the green grass, and the zombie would run toward me. Paradoxically, I remained relaxed and centered. When they arrived, they would lay down and I would restore them to perfect health by playing rhythms on my djembe. They’d jump up, connect with me in gratitude, and run off. The scene would repeat until I awoke.

Just Another Pizza Dream?

Rousing from my dream state, I sat up in bed and said aloud, “What the heck?!” After pondering for a minute or so, I assumed I must have eaten something strange for dinner. (I sometimes refer to that kind of experience as a “pizza dream.”) Well, the following night I drifted off to sleep and once again became lucid. I had the exact same dream. When I awoke, I began to sense that I must have been receiving some kind of message.

In The Sacred Cave

“The Ancestors Are Giving You…”

The third night I had the same dream. When I woke up, I decided to call one of my trusted African teachers. At that time, was working with Malidoma Somé. I called and reached him looking for direction and sympathy, sharing my dream of drumming over zombies and watching them be fully restored.

My teacher, in their African way, said, “I can’t believe it! You don’t get it! You are being shown exactly what you are to do!” they took a deep breath and continued. “Toby, the ancestors are giving you clear instructions. You are being shone one of the gifts that you can bring to the world. You are being given an aspect of your life’s purpose.” They paused, and then said in an even stronger voice, “And I don’t want to talk to you again until you are doing it!” Then they slammed the phone down and a dial tone met my ear.

We Can Take Action Without Knowing All The Details

Malidoma and I

I trusted My teacher’s potent advice and decided to take action. I didn’t know what I was doing, but that was OK. What I did know was that in the dream I drummed over people…well, zombies…and they would get better. During that time, I was taking a shamanic training course. On my lunch breaks I would ask people, “Could you lay down and let me drum over you and afterward tell me if you feel anything?” Most people agreed and I stood over them, playing on my djembe whatever rhythms somehow felt correct. I was surprised when people began to share stories of powerful transformations. I had no mental frame of reference about what I was doing. I was simply drumming as the dreams had shown me.

He Was Dying of AIDS

A woman who reported a profound breakthrough from one of these early sessions referred a friend to me who was dying of AIDS and had been told he had a very short time to live. When we met, he shared that his viral count was over 40 million and his T cell count was virtually undetectable. He could only  get out of bed a day or two a week, and then, for only short periods of time.

We did a drum session, and afterward he was energized, sensing that some of his health had already been restored. We ended up doing a series of sessions, connecting every week for a month, every two weeks for three months, and then once per month for a total treatment time of six months. After our drumming work together, his medical tests showed his viral count was zero and his T cell count was 870. We were amazed and profoundly grateful for the healing that occurred. I still hear from him regularly, and his healing status is always stable.

The Fire Of The Drum Burns

Doors Open

Those early sessions opened the door and the phone started ringing with people wanting to experience the transformational, healing power of the drum. I worked in my local region throughout the rest of 1999 and 2000, began traveling part-time in 2001 to 2003, and then sold my restaurant and coffee shops in 2004 and began to travel full-time. In 2009 I traveled three hundred days, sharing the Healing Drummer work far and wide.

I’m humbled by the enthusiastic response to Healing Drummer Private Sessions. I can’t tell you how great it is to connect with so many people and be of service by doing what I love.

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed answering a number of questions about the Healing Drummer Private Session work. I hope you find the information helpful, and please let me know if you have any questions. My contact info is at the end of this special report. I’ll be delighted to provide any information you need in order to decide if you would like to schedule a time to work together.

Check me out at www.healingdrummer.com and to schedule an appointment shoot me an email to toby@healingdrummer.com

Stay tuned for Part II there is more to come.

Only one side of the story

A View From A Window

In my previous postings, I have shown you aspects of my travel, accommodations, and activities that I participated in on my recent adventure to Africa. What I want to do now, is to address an aspect of the culture that I found to be very powerful and helpful for me to bring back. The aspect I speak of is the connection of the Dagara people to ceremony and ritual in their daily lives. As I was getting a tour from one of the tribesmen — the only one that spoke English — he was showing me his residence. I noticed on a path going out of the compound there was a small stump that seemed out of place. What I mean by this is that it seemed that people could trip over the stump and that someone would have removed it by now. That, of course, is looking at things through my foggy Western eyes. I asked the gentleman, “What is that stick in the ground by the path? Aren’t you afraid someone’s going to trip on it and hurt themselves?” With a bright white-toothed smile he laughed and said, “That, my dear friend, is a very powerful Earth Shrine. There have been many miracles that have occurred for people who have come to the shrine and made offerings and done ritual to the spirit of the Earth.”

It was at that moment that I remembered 12 years ago doing ritual in that very spot. Because the walls of the compound had been modified, I did not recognize the spot until he spoke of it in that way. I remember almost every day having some kind of ritual that went on in the village. Sometimes a person would have a dream and they would bring it to the elders. The divination would be done about the meaning of the dream and how to either feed the helpful aspect of the dream, or divert a warning that may have come through the dream. Once the divination had been done and the remedy or “prescription” had been given, a ritual would be conducted.

Rituals for Removing Obstacles

Ritual Sight

When we first arrived, we maintained a very grueling schedule that had been set. Transportation was very important for us to be able to get to all of the villages and to connect with the people we needed to see. Malidoma’s uncle, Desiree, had been using one of the cars and it had been running perfectly for months. The day we arrived, the car broke down. First the battery, then the alternator core, and then the entire alternator. It was one thing after another! One of the things that I admire very much about Malidoma is his tenacious insistence upon bringing solutions to situations that support the well-being of the people he cares about. He looked at me at one point with great determination and said, “The work we are doing must be very important, because the obstacles are coming out of nowhere! Someone or something is trying to keep us from accomplishing our goals. This cannot happen!”

So with great persistence, we continued to repair the car, call on the ancestors for their assistance, and hope that Desiree would arrive soon. To make a long story short, the car did get fixed, Desiree did arrive, and the first thing we did when he got to the village was make an offering to the spirits of the road asking for them to clear the way. We never had any problem with the car after that.

True Devotion to the “Old Way”

Malidoma Pondering Our Fate

One of the things that became clear to me was the true devotion to ritual of Malidoma, the shamans, and his wonderful uncle. More importantly, it was a commitment to ritual that was practical and worked. You see, oftentimes I will work with groups who talk about practicing ritual and they have ceremonies that they do over and over and over again, but not necessarily with specific intention or helpful results. It’s almost like they do ritual as a process that may bring some kind of relief emotionally, but not in a way that impacts a change in their lives. In Dagara-land, if a ritual doesn’t work by having a profound impact and getting you what you’re asking for, you find another ritual. Efficacy is critical and I really like the fact that they call the ancestors to task and EXPECT to receive what they’re asking for.

Now, What Do I Do?

I am called to task. I do a tremendous amount of ceremony. In the past, I must say the efficacy of my rituals has not been satisfactory. Through my inspiration with these people, I am encouraged to find the rituals and helpers that will lead me to successful and effective life altering results. So I’ll keep you posted!

Kava Ceremony

Kava bowl and drinking shell

Tonight in Park City I am facilitating a drum circle and Kava ceremony. I am also inspired to facilitate monthly rituals connected to the elements that will help me and my students transform our lives in a real ways; not only with our words, but with our actions that create the lives we desire. Stay tuned and I’ll let you know how the kava ceremony goes.

Toby out.

Traveling from Ouagadougou to the Bush

I just returned from an amazing adventure in Burkina Faso West Africa. On my trip, I encountered a very different experience than I had when I visited twelve years ago. The video in this posting was taken while riding out of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, into a remote village to visit a unique shaman. The days were long, the weather was hot, and as always, the magic of Africa was present. Although we were surrounded by abject poverty, the smiles on the children’s faces and the warm reception that we received from the village people was unbelievable. My heart was so deeply touched at how happy people can be with few physical possessions. We spent hours under a mango tree waiting to see the shaman. Throughout the day, we watched villagers passing by, including many herding their livestock. Once the shaman arrived, it was an overwhelming pleasure to be in the presence of such a deeply connected spiritual man.

Survival of the Fittest

It’s hard to imagine how these people survive, and more importantly, how they remain so incredibly happy in this place where there is no relief from the heat, the dust, and the trash that is spread everywhere! There are pigs running around the streets; goats, donkeys, and dogs running helter-skelter. On our way out to this amazing place, I experienced how people do business. You will see them selling bread and bananas and rice cakes at the toll booth where we had to stop, and you will see how we go from the city, to the suburbs, to the place where we are literally driving our van on bike paths.

Here is a photo of some boys who we met in the village while we were waiting under the mango tree to see the shaman. They were so happy to have their picture taken, that they kept coming around. We later were invited to join their village in a small celebration with boiled potatoes and millet beer as we sat and shared time with them. The longer we stayed, the more people gathered, and it became quite a community celebration. We ended up going out into this village for another visit later that week, after our trip to Dano, and got to see these boys again. The joy of their lives as they played, wrestled, and ran through the millet fields was delightful to see. It’s incredible that these young people survive in this horrific environment while maintaining a very high degree of connectedness to the land and to their community.

Here is the Video of our Journey to This Village

Finding Cool Information

I was Surfing the web and avoiding more important things when I stumbled upon this interesting article which is an interview with Malidoma. I’m good looking forward to co-facilitating some workshops with him in 2011 so I thought I would pass this along. I hope you enjoy.

An interview with Malidoma Some

In the Dagara tribe of West Africa, the name Malidoma means “He who makes friends with the stranger/enemy.” One wonders if the parents of Malidoma Patrice Some sensed that the name they gave their son would portend so much of his life.

Rising out of his spiritually rich, yet materially impoverished village in Dano, Burkina Faso, West Africa, Malidoma has become a world wide friend, teacher, public speaker, and author of three books: Of Water and The Spirit (his autobiography), The Healing Wisdom of Africa, and Ritual: Power Healing and Community. With the permission of the Dagara tribal elders, Malidoma is now sharing the indigenous wisdom of Africa with the West. This amazing man from humble origin has earned three masters degrees and two doctoral degrees – the first from the Sorbonne (in Paris) and the second from Brandeis University. In a remarkable way, Malidoma bridges cultures like no one else I know.

As Malidoma speaks, his voice carries the excitement, passion, and palpable spiritual quality that befit a gifted medicine man. Only the most accomplished Diviners, Gate Keepers, Shamans, and spiritual leaders are invited into a special “Elder” initiation in the Dagara tribe. Due to Malidoma’s accomplishments and importance to his community, he became, at the age of 42, the youngest ever to become an Elder; not to mention the first with a full Western education. He possesses a unique understanding of how psychological disciplines and spiritual rituals can be utilized together in assisting individual personal growth.

“Ritual is the most functional means by which archetypal energies are dealt dealt with,” Malidoma began. “Indigenous people have been aware of that for eons. In the modern era, we focus too much on psychological counseling, he noted. There is a tendency for people to ‘linger endlessly’ in therapy for without receiving significant help. The “shadow” parts of our lives “keep coming back.” Malidoma believes that dealing with “the things we cannot escape” is best accomplished within the sacred space of ritual.

“Ritual facilitates and provides us with a unique channel to access higher power,” he said. “Certain issues don’t want to be resolved mechanistically. We don’t have to know how the power works; we just have to show up and let the higher forces deal with the issues. The trap we feel inside ourselves is removed once we enter into sacred space. The energies know how to push obstacles out.”

Malidoma said we tend to “project a godly power” onto human beings with a resulting dependency on others. It is in the nature of humans to project, he added. The question is, where do we direct the projections?

“Humans can not become god,” he intoned. “So we have to step away from that for a moment and remember the only place where we are authorized to project is in sacred space. If it is divine, then we are healed; if we project onto humans, we are deeply pushed into turmoil.”

Malidoma suggested that men should learn to trust their own ability to create sacred space, where they can be “vulnerable in a sacred fashion and allow themselves to be dismantled so that the rebuilding can produce a lasting result. The sacred space to initiate men is not necessarily a physical place, but an energetic place.

“It’s very hard to do this as an individual thing,” he said. “This kind of healing requires community – men with men. The healing begins with the destabilization of a man’s energy. When he starts to feel unstable, it is best put in that place where other men or humans are. And eventually he will let go.”

Men usually fool themselves into “serving the big dragon,” Malidoma stated. However, with the help of other men observing from the outside, an initiate will begin to see his own dragon. The collapse of the traditional internal structure can then begin, and the “great opportunity of rebuilding the self occurs.”

“That idea is a hard-sell in this culture because men like to stay in control,” he continued. “Men have no room for a place of risk. In the business of healing, more often than not, we paint over the problems. This danger place that we are obligated to move into is a sacred danger because it endangers the very problems we deal with; and when it endangers them, we feel it endangers us too.”

Modern men identify too closely with their problems, he added, “and we become the problems, not the solutions.”

Malidoma said he believes men use the need for “safety as a condition of healing” as an excuse not to deal with the problem.

“We must endanger the problem by confronting it,” Malidoma instructed. “It is to be dug out of its hiding and exposed to the air. It cannot breathe oxygen. The light of day is lethal to it. That’s why the dragon tells us that we should be safe, because the dragon wants to be safe. We end up actually serving the very thing we want to be rid of.

The creative process is essential in coping with dragons, the Elder noted. “In talking about expression, we have to visualize it as more than speaking English,” he said. “Creativity includes non-verbal expression and the ability to use the entire body as a means of discourse.”

Malidoma said the dragon wants us to be introverted.

“Expression rips open the hidden cages and blind boxes, thereby releasing all the information hiding in there unbeknownst us to us and others,” he said. “To speak constantly into sacred space is to give oneself the opportunity of transcending … taking our lethal pain and diluting it into the ether.”

Malidoma experienced pain early in life when he was abducted from his tribe by Catholic priests and forced into a foreign Western culture. After a number of years, he escaped and returned home, where he was initiated into his indigenous community.

“Ritual or initiation provides a safe place for the soul and body to affirm life over death,” he declared, “to affirm continuity over discontinuity.”

The author said he has found “hope and dignity” through the daily practice of his tribe’s ancient rituals. He prays at the shrine of his ancestors, offering them water or libation, and asking the spirit of nature to walk with him throughout the day.

“After 30 some odd years, everywhere I am, I don’t feel alone,” he said. “I feel like a patrol of powerful spirits surround me. They give me a certain sense of reassurance and pride, so I can walk in the middle of adversity really knowing that in order for the adversity to get to me it will have to get through all these forces. It’s quite reassuring.”

Men don’t need a “sophisticated construction” to participate in ritual. Malidoma recommends we “look up at a tree” or “go to a creek and see the flow of water.”

“There may be some powerful genie dwelling in the water,” he said. “Talk to him like we talk to each other.”

The response may not be the loudest one we hear, but if we’re willing to listen carefully, we can hear the “big noise or echo” of nature tell us that “we’re right and to go on and walk proudly.”

In Malidoma’s village, the men are the spiritual leaders.

“Why? Because this is the kind of power, this is the responsibility every male is born with, and when assumed properly, it becomes authentic,” he said. “Women and children find themselves reassured by the men’s true power. It is when we pretend to assume the power that in fact we are derogatory and chaos is created. True male power is very healing for everybody. And so, if a man is not a self-centered control freak, he is one that will be serving, protecting, and holding the sacred space …. holding the space for everything and everybody to live.”

So, what keeps Western modern man from being the spiritual leaders in their own homes? “Men get caught up in the socio-economic nightmare of giving away most of their time in order to survive,” he answered. “We didn’t come into this world to give all our energy to stay alive, we came here to live. The biggest dragon is the one that tells us we have to work eight hours a day … and we end up being so tired that the very thing our soul is yearning for we don’t have time for. We have to tell each other to take time, and we need to hold hands with each other. Men have to be willing to come together to express what they feel to each other as the first step toward moving into that sacred space so they can heal enough to assume true responsibility in their own household. If we find a little moment to get together to pound on this problem, then we can go back to our respective homes and our partners and children … and they can see us shining in our true glory.”

“Community” is a strong recurring theme in much of Malidoma’s work. He defines it as a “bunch of people willing to come together in a circle in which they are conscious enough to invoke the sacred, the divine … to be with each other so they can express their authentic self to one another.”

“If men are willing to come together and be with each other, knowing they need supervision of the divine in order that their being together is not limited to talking about current events and drinking beer, then they have become a community.”

The community is strengthened by “invoking the sacred,” he added, but not by making themselves exclusive.

“Once we start attacking and excluding other communities then we have become a club,” Malidoma explained, “and then we have taken the ideas of society into our club, and the dragon prospers in us as a community.”

People sitting around and talking about the faults of other people are not a true community.

Malidoma expresses his own sense of community and his personal spiritual creative process this way: “I draw from bone energy and the memories that come from the bone. I allow myself to surrender to the higher forces with the clear intention that I want to be as clear and precise as possible. What comes out is something almost independent of me. There’s something quite militant in it, because when I express myself, and not after heavy duty preparation, I know that spirit is speaking through me. When I feel that intensity coming out, when I feel it, I know someone else will feel it. Every time I have attached my own emotion or capacity, I have to stand back and get out of my way so higher forces can speak. That has been transforming. I like to call that spirit. Spirit expresses itself in a way we cannot map, cannot tell ahead of time, and has its own plan – a plan not known to us. To know it, we have to surrender to it. It’s a risky thing. And risk-taking in the business of feeling, is worth doing. Check out www.malidoma.com/Malidoma

Have you ever wanted something so badly you dare not even think about it for fear the imposibility of it happening would be so devastating you don’t even want to imagine it? Have you ever lost some one so important to you that to think of their re-entry into your life seems like opening your self to the biggest potential disappointment you could ever experience? I know this is a mouthful and a bit complicated but it is what I have been experiencing for the last nine years when My beloved friend and I went our separate ways.

For nine years I thought of him and the amazing way he had inspired me. In front of thousands of people I have declared the single most powerful influence that has brought me to the place I am now is Malidoma Some’.  I’m not sure what happened but over the years my students were his students and so on and so forth. Our paths came close to crossing, but never intersected until last January when we intersected and reunited for a very short period of time. Well Last week I got to spend three full days with my African Brother and we caught up and laughed, and cried, and celebrated in grand fashion. I met his wonderful wife who is as charming as she is beautiful. We spent the weekend at an Ifa celebration steeped in Nigerian culture. We danced together,and at the end of the celebration as the drummers drummed and the dancers danced we looked at each other and as if time had not occurred, and it was yesterday when we were last together, we grabbed a couple of djembes and began to drum together.

You see about 19 years ago I met Malidoma and reluctantly  attended a mens retreat that he was facilitating. It was at that retreat were I reconnected to my soul. I reconnected to my music. And I connected to the djembe drum, and my life has been forever transformed and brightened.

I cannot express the gratitude I have for the ancestors bringing us back together. I cannot express the gratitude for the tenacity of my heart to stay open to the possibility of this reunion. I have learned a valuable lesson. NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!!! You have no idea what your crew on the “other side” are up to. Here we are drumming together! Malidoma’s wife in the foreground.  I never truly believed this could happen, but it did. And even more amazing, we will be facilitating a workshop together at the end of April in the Dc area! Stay tuned for more!!

The story I am about to convey is a story I never dreamed would actually happen, although I have asked for the Ancestors to make it so for many years. There is a man that I met in early recovery, 1992 to be exact, who through his wisdom, kindness, and understanding saved my life. He showed me how to find my place in the world and how to see things from a completely different perspective. Although his skin is a different color than mine, he refers to me as his brother. I had the pleasure to visit his village in West Africa and meet his mother and father. I was named “The African stuck in the white skin” by his elders and participated in many rituals and ceremonies with his tribe.

I will be forever grateful for Malidoma Some’. As students with their teachers and family members often do, Malidoma and I fell out of communication. I longed for him often, and remembered the gifts he had given me: the very gift that I bring to the world. You see, Malidoma is the one who introduced me to the Djembe, the Healing Drum.

So here is what happened. I was on my way to Hawaii last month and had a layover in San Francisco. A friend of mine was having a reading with Malidoma that day. It is an interesting “coincidence” that although he lives in Florida and I live in Utah, we were both in San Francisco on the same day. I agreed to meet my friend at the hotel where they were meeting Malidoma, never imagining it would be possible to see my long lost friend. It was a very odd feeling to know that we would be in such close proximity. Well, without boring you with the details, while on the way to meet up with my friend, my phone rang.

“Room 117,” said my friend.
“What?” I replied.
“Come to room 117. Malidoma wants to see you!”

At that moment, the capacity of my heart could not contain the joy flowing in and my eyes began to pour with tears of joy. As I entered the hotel, my heart was racing. As I approached the door I realized that only a few inches away was the fulfillment of a dream. Malidoma opened the door and we fell into each others arms, greeting one another as though time had never passed.

My heart sings with joy for the reconnection with my soul brother. Here is a video that sums up what I have learned from my African brother. I am so thankful for our AMAZING REUNION!!

Malidoma Some’ is the man who’s wisdom and teaching transformed my life at a critical time. I will be forever grateful to him.

This is an interview I thought was interesting. Malidoma brings a wonderful energy to the world. I hope you enjoy this