Ritual: Power, Healing and Community (Compass) Paperback – December 1, 1997

Important piece of information about ritual. It has phenomenal potential of describing.In my case it is a viable information, that could be a comparative argument on behalf of the definition.The far fetch facts, be it True of False are connected with the Darwinian Theory and Possible connections in our day to day life.Peace

I love this book. And the Some's body of work! An important look at the role ritual played in traditional cultural practices and how that's missing in Western civilizations and the result. Very helpful to me in my own personal journey to connecting with life and myself on a deeper level. It was a quick and easy read that was simple to digest

In my work on Organizational Trauma, I started looking for ways to heal the relational fabric of groups. Shamanic work with tribes showed me what kind of 'thinking' we miss in our Western Society to heal trauma, that by the way is a relational phenomenon more than it is an individual phenomenon.Most of the books teach you about rituals but not enough about the logic fueling those rituals. The pitfall that opens up in those cases is to just copy those rituals first without knowing what we're doing, second as a tool. But a fool with a tool stays a fool ...So, I'm very glad about the writing of Malidoma Patrice Somé. His writings open your mind for a deeper layer under ritual practices and ceremonies. We can learn a lot from indigenous people to heal our Western Society.A big thanks !!!

Really enjoyed the humor and insight displayed here! The teachings feel so familiar and timely—-which is wild considering when this was originally published.

This book wss such a eye opener to the difference between Western and Eastern culture. The west has truly lost track of there emotions and culture. This is a Must Read.

Malidoma’s storytelling capabilities are exquisite! The way he breaks things down into digestible metaphors to allow a western born mind (me) to understand how and why these rituals are important to indigenous people, has really helped me understand where our communities are lacking. He stresses how important it is to show up for one another, to contribute to a community, how each individual has a special role to take care of the community’s well being. He talks about how emotion is seen as weakness in western culture & how humans need to release emotions in order to avoid the harm that comes when they are bottled away. I’m not religious but I do believe the connection that his tribe has with spirit and their ancestors is beautiful & I think more people could benefit from opening up to the idea that we are not superior beings owning this planet like we think we do.

I stumbled into this author and thus this book from an article I read entitled, "What a Shaman Sees in a Mental Hospital"... Excellent read, by the way.As a student and practitioner of shamanic energy medicine, I am enthralled with the simple wisdom of Somè's lineage and tradition and I love the many parallels to other traditions and modalities. His writing style is quite eloquent and yet easy to follow; an excellent story teller.If you're on a seeking path or enjoy learning about other cultures and communities, I highly recommend.

This book is a fantastic read about the power and the importance of ritual and community in daily life, two things that seem to be so lacking in western culture. I would consider this to be valuable to the people who live a ritual-filled life among people who don't understand, to those who are getting more involved in ritual, and to those who are trying to understand other's need for ritual.