Sobonfu Somé: On Grief, Ritual, Community, and Forgiveness
Hear one of the foremost voices in African spirituality speak about grief in her culture.
Video Recording
Renowned teacher and mentor Sobonfu Somé was one of the foremost voices of African spirituality to come to the West. Mentored by her Dagara elders, she brought ancient indigenous African wisdom to our Western culture in a compassionate, loving, and joyful way. Sobonfu was born in a remote village in the West African country of Burkina Faso. Her Dagara people have preserved the old ways of African village life, with family structures and spiritual practices that have been in place for over 10,000 years.
This talk was the opening for a Grief Ritual Weekend. Recorded November 8, 2013 at Jubilee in Asheville, NC.
At the beginning of the talk, Sobonfu says “if you have had any kind of inkling to being here, it means that something in you is very much alive and that’s why you’re here. So maybe by the time I finish, you will understand why I say that because most of us run away from emotions.”
Sobonfu was a special one. She lived a life true to her name “Keeper of the Rituals” and I consider it such a gift to have participated in ritual under Sobonfu’s leadership. It is evident to me that the world is stronger, wealthier, happier, and more resilient thanks to the wisdom embodied and experiences shared amongst us all, Sobonfu, the Dagara people, all the elements, and the ancestors.
About the Recording
This video was recorded at Jubliee! in Asheville, NC, by Jay Joslin in two parts.
Here is a brief section from the recording.
Cost
This program is offered by donation in gratitude to Sobonfu Somé and our mentors. Donations support our Community Deathcare and grief programs. Recording is 97 minutes.
The suggested donation for this recording is $20-50. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
About the Speakers
Sobonfu Somé
Ancestor, Mentor, and Former Faculty
Renowned teacher and mentor Sobonfu Somé was one of the foremost voices of African spirituality to come to the West. Mentored by her Dagara elders, she brought ancient indigenous African wisdom to our Western culture in a compassionate, loving, and joyful way. Sobonfu was born in a remote village in the West African country of Burkina Faso. Sobonfu began her initiation at the age of five when her elders discovered that she was speaking a language from the spirit world and foretelling important events. Her message rings with an intuitive power and truth that, in the words of Alice Walker, “can help us put together so many things that our modern Western world has broken.”
She was in Africa when she passed January 2017. She is now an ancestor.
Kimchi Rylander
Former Staff and Faculty, Ancestor
Kimchi was a longtime member of Earthaven Ecovillage, one of SOIL’s most enthusastic faculty members, an artist, deep ecologist, radical feminist, permaculturalist, educator, and culture-changing activist. She envisioned a culture based on a partnership model of relating and a return to village life that embraces sanity and reverence for the sacredness of all life. “Building cultural topsoil” was a strong gift of Kimchi’s and wherever she went, she made allies and life-long friends.
She died in 2017 and is buried at Earthaven Ecovillage.