The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community

by Malidoma Patrice Somé

A revealing exploration of traditional healing practices, by a renowned shaman and scholar



Bridging ancestral wisdom from West Africa with the challenges of modern life in the West, this acclaimed book offers a wealth of insights into indigenous knowledge and how it speaks to the chronic problems of our fast-paced, disconnected world.

 

Drawing on his lived experience within the Dagara culture as well as his extensive studies and teachings, Malidoma Somé's observations on healing, community, and ritual present powerful ways to become more connected-to the natural world, to the intergenerational village that can mentor and support every person, and ultimately to the truest, unmasked parts of ourselves. 

 

"Profoundly wise and fascinating...Malidoma Patrice Somé has delivered an incomparably meaningful gift to us wanderers and seekers in the West."

-     Alice Walker



"An amazing bridge over the chasm of modern isolation. Malidoma reawakens the rituals of the heart. This is profound, brilliant, and accessible medicine for us."

-     Jack Kornfield

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 20, 2025

About the author

Malidoma Patrice Somé was from the Dagara tribe of Burkina Faso, formerly Upper Volta, West Africa. "Malidoma," in his native language, means "be friend with the stranger." He was an initiated, gifted diviner and medicine man of his tribe. He held three master's degrees and two degrees from the Sorbonne and Brandeis University. His well-known book Of Water and the Spirit: Magic and Initiation in The Life of an African Shaman is treasured throughout the world. In the years preceding his death, Malidoma devoted part of his time to conducting intensive workshops with his wife Sobonfu.