Annie Tate

LBST 2102-338
Of Water and the Spirit Essay Questions
1. Grandfather Bakhyes death ritual would be considered an ideological ritual. Following his
death, the whole Dagara community comes together to mourn the loss of Bakhye, and to make
sure he is properly sent to the spirit world. Everyone seemed devastated and many were
uncontrollably crying at first, but on the last day of the funeral it shifted to more of a celebration.
More specifically, his funeral would be considered a rite of passage ritual. Bakhye is making the
transition from his mortal life to that of an ancestor. In the separation stage of the rite of passage
ritual, Grandfather Bakhye is brought to the dispensary on the mission hill where Father Maillot
lives. He is taken from his familiar village surroundings to the white mans world. Another part
of the separation phase happens when they come back to the village. A man cuts off Bakhyes
hair and changes his clothes, which is a symbolic of the separation phase because he is losing his
old identity. During the second stage of the ritual, called the transition or liminal stage, Bakhye
stays between the mortal world and the spirit world. He is able to do this by holding a hyena tail
in his hand. While holding the tail, he is able to move and communicate with the mortals. When
he is not holding the tail, he is in the spirit world. It is how he is able to be neither in the mortal
or spirit world exclusively, but is part of both of them. One of the main symbols of the liminal
phase that is exemplified in the book is education. Grandfather Bakhye goes back and forth
between worlds and relays messages from the ancestors to his family. Another symbol of the
liminal phase present at the funeral is symbolically dying. When grandfather goes to the
dispensary on the mission hill, he dies. According to Malidoma however, he is able to come
back to life after that and walk and talk. So, Bakhye dying at the dispensary could be looked at
as symbolic, giving the people in the village time to prepare everything for the funeral. It was
alerting them to what was coming so they could get ready. The final stage of the ritual,

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LBST 2102-338
incorporation, is characterized by the community coming together not only to mourn Bakhyes
death, but to celebrate his transition to an ancestor as well. They celebrate with dancing, singing,
and making millet cakes by using the anti-gravity method of cooking (satulmo) used only when
an elder dies. This could be considered another symbol of the liminal phase because it can only
happen when an elder dies, meaning when they are between their mortal life and and spirit life.
Grandfather Bakhyes funeral is nothing like one I have ever been to. At every funeral I have
ever been to, people go to a funeral home, look at the body in the casket, listen to the service
usually given by a preacher, and listen to someone play music. For the most part, everyone is
quiet and sad. The next day, we gather at the cemetery for the burial. After my great uncles
burial, we went to his sisters house, ate food, and talked. In the book, Malidoma says that some
people get so upset at funerals that they run away and other people have to find and bring them
back. I have never experienced anything like this. If anything, people at funerals I have attended
move slower because they are sad.
2. Malidomas traditional education and seminary education are vastly different. Traditional
education consists mostly of watching other people, listening to stories, and absorbing the
information. At Bakhyes funeral, Malidoma wandered around taking everything in. Since he
was only about four years old, he didnt understand some of what was going on at first, but after
observing, he began to understand it. Young Dagara boys learn lots of things from their
grandfathers. Malidoma said that his grandfather treated him as an equal, the opposite of how
the priests at the seminary treated him. Another aspect of traditional education is initiation.
Most of the learning that comes with initiation happens inside of the initiates. It isnt something
that a teacher can teach you with a textbook and a whiteboard. The elders and the coach at the
initiation do help them along and supervise them, but the majority of the learning is done in the

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LBST 2102-338
mind of the student. Malidoma described initiation as a largely independent event. At the
seminary, punishment was frequently used to make the students remember things and it was
much more structured. When Malidoma was learning the alphabet at the mission hill, he was
asked to say the letter B. He couldnt remember how to say it, so the instructor beat him over
the head with a stick. Other than beatings, another punishment at the mission hill was
humiliation. If any of the students spoke Dagara instead of French, they were forced to wear a
decomposing goat skull around their neck. Another difference between traditional and seminary
education is the structure. In the village, there wasnt a strict schedule of where you are
supposed to be at every second. It was more laid back because traditional learning happened
everywhere, not just in a classroom. At the seminary, there was always somewhere the student
had to be at a certain time. For example, at Nansi, the seminary school Malidoma attended, he
had morning prayers at 6:00, mass at 6:30, breakfast at 8:00, and so on. A similarity between
traditional education and seminary education is the role of the authority figures. Although this
may be a stretch, the role of the elders and coach during initiation and the priests at the seminary
are somewhat similar. They are both there to teach the students and make sure they are learning
what they are supposed to. Their methods are polar opposite, but they more or less have similar
roles. Like mentioned earlier, traditional education cannot be taught with a textbook in a
classroom. It is taught by watching other people and simply by being around the traditions and
hearing stories. At the seminary school, just about all the learning that goes on happens in a
classroom or in a church. Both of these types of education are vastly different from my
education. However, it is probably most similar to the seminary in regards to how it is
structured. I have class at certain times every day, and they are all in classrooms. One major
difference is that force and physical punishment are not used. In the lower grades, some kids got

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LBST 2102-338
sent to the office for being rude or disruptive, or had to sit out in the hall for talking too much.
However, they were never allowed to be hit or physically punished like the students at the
seminary. My education is very different from Malidomas traditional education because of what
we are taught. In school, we are usually taught things that are black and white, like history,
science, and language for example. Malidoma was taught things that not everyone can see.
During his initiation, he had to stare at a tree and see something in it. It took him a while to
understand what to do, but he finally got lost in it and saw a green lady in the tree and hugged
her. When he came back to reality, he was actually hugging the tree and the elders were
impressed. I have never experienced anything like this in my education. Almost everything we
learn in school can be found in books and written down. The traditional education is not like this
at all. In fact, it is considered dangerous to write down language in the Dagara culture.
3. Malidoma must undergo initiation (Baor), when he returns to his village because it is believed
that his spirit has been left behind somewhere else. They said that he had already gone through
the white mans initiation, so they didnt know if he could be part of both worlds. The elders
hoped that by going through initiation, he would reunite with his spirit and be his whole self
again. Some of the elders, particularly Fiensu, did not want Malidoma to go through initiation.
When Malidoma and his father met with the elders at the earth shrine, Fiensu said that they
should put the wellbeing of the village ahead of the wellbeing of one person. He wanted him to
go back to the white mans world. However, the other elders overpowered him and he went
through initiation anyway, despite Fiensus opposition. Malidomas initiation is an example of a
rite of passage ritual. He, along with the other initiates, are making the transition from boyhood
to manhood. The process is especially significant for Malidoma because not only is he becoming
a man, but becoming part the Dagara community again after being away for so long. Malidoma

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LBST 2102-338
says that the process is so risky, a few of the boys died during initiation. During the separation
phase, the boys are separated from their families and taken to a secret location in the bush. Also,
they are stripped of their clothes, which symbolized their loss of identity. In the transition phase,
the initiates have lost their old identities, but havent developed a new one yet. It is during this
phase that the boys are given several difficult tasks to accomplish. One of these tasks was to dig
a grave, lay in it, and be buried alive. This is symbolic of the transition, or liminal phase,
because the participant is dead when they lay in the grave, but are reborn when they come
out of it the next day. Another example of this is when Malidoma had to jump through the portal
to the other world. Since he was gone from our world, he was dead. The participants are
considered dead until they come out because some of them get lost in the portal and never return.
When they come out, they are reborn with this new knowledge they acquired while in the
portal. Malidoma describes having stronger sensory perception after coming out of the portal.
When he was ordered to go into the egg-shaped cave, this would also be considered an example
of being reborn. He went into the cave and ended up in the underworld. So, he is dead to the
real world while he is gone. None of the other initiates knew exactly where he was, so was is
pretty much gone. However, in the cave Malidoma has a whole new life. He even describes
having a wife and kids in this other world he travels to. Not only does he seem to be reborn in
the underworld, but he is also has a new life when he finally comes out of the cave. He is now
equipped with information from the underworld that will change his life. In the final phase,
incorporation, he and the other initiates return to the village. The Dagara people are all gathered
together and they have a celebration with music, dancing, millet cakes, and tamarind juice. Also,
he takes a ceremonial bath to wash away the traces of his old self, and gets special clothes to
wear.

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LBST 2102-338
4. In Dagara culture, a persons name lays out their future for them. They believe that everyone
has a preconceived destiny when they are born. The ancestors watch over the people and make
sure their fate is carried out. Malidoma has definitely met the destiny tied to his name. His
name means to be friends with the stranger/enemy. To the Dagara, the white people are the
strangers (and enemies). First, Malidoma attended the seminary for many years learning the
language, culture, and ways of the whites. Then, he is sent into the white world after his
initiation. The elders think that it would be beneficial to the tribe if he learns what he can about
them, and relays it back to the tribe. Grandfather Bakhye foretold that Malidoma would go into
the white world. He says, Now you must go to the west to learn the wisdom of the people there
and represent to them the truth we profess. You are going to be initiated into the white mans
witchcraft. Malidoma was very reluctant to return to the white world, because he had just been
accepted back into his village. Just when things started to get back to normal for him and he felt
like he was in the right place, he was going to be sent away again. Even though he was reluctant,
he had to go because it was his destiny. They believed that you cannot escape your destiny.
Everything Bakhye said really did happen to Malidoma. Reincarnation has everything to do with
destiny and fate. Grandfather Bakhye said that Malidoma is his brother, Birifor, reincarnated.
According to Bakhye, Malidomas fate was layed out for him long before he was born in the
form of Birifor. This shows just how important the ancestors are to the Dagara people. They are
apparently important enough to be reincarnated to be able to live again in a different body.