This post beautifully resonates with me in this journey back to our ancestral home of Tanzania to visit the Hadza.
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Repost @the_womban_space
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The traditional African belief, human beings are made up of various aspects – physical, spiritual, moral, and social.
When these aspects function together harmoniously, a person will be in good health. On the other hand, if any of these features fall out of balance, a person will become ill.
Illness is not viewed as just a physical disorder, but could also be a spiritual, moral, or social disorder. Similarly, the treatment of illness involves not only aiding his/her physical being, but may also involve the spiritual, moral, and social components of being as well.
Today women don’t take the time to nurture their inner world. As a result, our lives can lack deeper meaning and we can feel empty.
Many of us recognise this separation from soul as a serious problem, and want to do something about it. Unfortunately, few know how to do this.
Long-standing indigenous African traditions can show us how to live in balance with nature and maintain relationships with our ancestors, who can offer guidance. By teaching us the importance of ritual, African healing tradition can help us reconnect with our souls.
In the indigenous African worldview, no real separation exists between the spirit world and the realm of matter. Wherever matter occurs, Spirit can be found, and vice versa. Africans don’t view spirituality as a part of life. To them, all life is spiritual. All aspects of reality (both the seen and unseen world) work together.
The importance of ritual in indigenous African tradition cannot be overstated. Ritual serves as a gateway to the land of ancestors and to the realm of Spirit. It evokes sacredness and intentionality. From birth until death, some ritual marks every milestone in a person’s life. Rituals anchor the individual to the community and give structure and meaning to life.
Almost anything can become a ritual, as long as you set an intention for general well-being and positive energy.
Ritual is the gateway to physical, spiritual, moral, and social harmony within a body.
Bring back the ritual.
