Woman with Grinding Stone causes Fall of Man

Suri woman grinding grain on stone in Tulgit, the Suri village in the Omo region of Ethiopia.

When I first heard this story, immediately I thought, “hey, wait, I know this narrative.” But this was a refreshing localized twist from one of Africa’s most remote tribes, the Suri (sometimes called Surma) in Ethiopia’s  Omo River region.

So the Suri account of the Woman with a Grinding Stone causing the Fall of Man, which elders often sing at gatherings, goes something like this:

Originally there were two people on earth, a man and woman. At the beginning, they had a direct connection to God with a rope that came down to earth. The man and woman could climb the rope at any time to be with God.  There was  only one rule: “do not to bring anything with you. Nothing. No possessions.” That was the system then, up and down between earth and God. 

One day the woman decided to bring her grinding stone on their visit to God. Hey, why not? She used it everyday to grind flour. When she started climbing with the stone under her arm, the rope crashed to earth.  First man and woman fell to the ground. Some say the rope was broken by the extra weight, others that God simply let it drop. Regardless, from then on the pair were stranded to live only on earth. They lost their direct connection to God.

My illustration of the Suri version of the Fall of Man.

I grew up with the Christian legend in Genesis chapter 2, where at first, Adam and Eve lived with God in paradise. When they break their only rule by eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God expels them from Eden. Their direct connection to God is severed.

When asked how old the oral Suri story might be, the reply was always something like: “It is very old” or “Much more than a hundred years.” A hundred years in a culture with no writing is a long long time, perhaps the beginning of man time on earth.  Since DNA tells us that we as Modern Man walked out from the Omo region to populate the earth, I conjecture that this Suri story just might predate modern religions.  What if the Genesis story is just a localized version of the Suri story?

Suri-tribe woman with her child in the Omo region of Ethiopia, Africa.

 Look at the similarities? Whose fault was the Fall in both stories? Did the misdeeds of the first Suri man and woman or Adam and Eve, ruin it for all of the rest of us?  What about the idea of sin?

Have you buried one life?

Someone once told me that many people live two lives. The day-to-day life, and the unlived life within us, the one most of us bury, usually when we become adults. 

Lately I've been toiling in the day to day life. Sometimes I take a little chance. The take-a-chance life is the one I remember the most.

From my Journal, Hebei Province, China 2011

Warrior, Karo Tribe, Omo Region, Ethiopia.

Janis (on the right) with the chief of a small Himba Tribe near Epupa Falls, Namibia.

Drinking the local palm wine, vintage that morning. Bedik Tribe, Iwol Village, Senegal.

Which is the best China Winery book cover?

Which cover do you like best for the China Winery book I just finished writing last Wednesday?

This is the cover I sent as a suggestion.

The covers below are ones the Chinese designer submitted.

Chinese Designer Cover #1

Chinese Designer Cover #2

Chinese Designer Cover #3

Epic Journey of Spiritual Discovery

When I look back at my behind-the-scenes adventures while gathering Ancient Myths and Architypal Dreams from Africa's most remote tribes, the stories are amazing. For example, one night I hear a lion roaring while I'm reading Shakespeare in my little backpacking tent at the edge of a Karo tribe village along the Omo River. Hearing that lion roar was a truly a reality shift for me.  This wasn't a zoo.  The next roar is closer. Then closer.  Do something. I looked around my tent to make sure that I didn't have any food inside. (Later a friend reminded me that indeed I was the food.) 

Come to the Epic Journey Presentation to hear how the story ends.

(Above) This is the Konso tribe village called Busso, one of my favorite villages in all of Africa.

(Above) The Konso tribe witch doctor has a region-wide reputation of being able to pull out evil spirits to cure diseases. So in the interest of spiritual science, I had to go and check him out. 

He wanted to charge me to take photographs, but he wanted some professional photographs of himself.  When he told me his fee, I replied in a very surprised voice, that my fee was exactly the same. What to do? He wouldn't give in, nor would I. Finally, the culture minister who was traveling with us, paid the fees. He actually wanted the witch doctor perform magic on him.

This boy had severe headaches before he went to the witch doctor and reported that he felt better after the "operation." Unfortunately, I never did a long term follow  up.

 (Above) This is the evil spirit the witch doctor pulled from the subject. Looks pretty nasty; so does the witch doctor's hand.

(Above) On my first visit to Busso in 2001, I photographed an old man. I printed lots of the photographs I snapped during that first trip and took them with me on the second trip. It turns out the old man had died. When I gave the photograph to the son, he cried. It was the only thing he had to remember his father. That's the power of photography.


Epic Journey of Spiritual Discovery live presentation
July 1, 2012   4:00 to 5:30pm
Mumm Napa Gallery 
8445 Silverado Trail
Rutherford, CA 94573
RSVP  707-967-7740 

Ultimate Cage fighter lawyers have my book

This coming Tuesday, parties involved with the bankruptcy of Graphic Arts, the publisher of my Oregon Wine book, will be in court to duke out who owns what assets, including the book rights to my book. I'm picturing an Ultimate Fighting Cage with lawyers in suits punching and clawing each other. This is just round one. I hope the judge lets me take photos.

I own the copyright to the words and photos, but not the book. There are no more books in the warehouse and we can't reprint until the judge determines who owns what assets.

At first I laughed

Living in the Clouds in the Tatoosh Wilderness

My younger son Ryan and I backpacked into the Tatoosh Wilderness on Sunday.

After 3000 vertical feet on a renlentless trail, we reached the saddle separating us from our planned destination, a small valley where we had camped several years before. But we were stunned at what we saw below us. All of our plans and expectations were dashed. I didn't know what to do.

The entire valley was covered with snow. We didn't want to slide down the steep slope only to tent on the snow. We weren't mentally prepared for that with our shorts. We decided to camp on the narrow ridge in a cluster of trees one hundred feet above the trail.

After a quick pitching of the tent and one sunset photo of neighboring Mount Rainier, the rain clouds zoomed in. They smothered us. And they didn't leave. As the clouds flew up over our ridge, the trees above us captured the moisture and rained it down on us. For two nights and the entire day it rained on us.

Most of Monday we stayed huddled in the dry tent. We measured visibility from our camp site by the number of trees we could see below us. One tree visibility was about 50 feet. A record three-trees visibility was about 200 feet. For a change of pace around noon, we ventured on a short hike, only to be totally drenched with rain. We scrambled back into our REI cocoon. We read, wrote, napped and rushed out for potty breaks. That night the rain continued nonstop.

Since I had injured my back before the trip, it started hurting big time from laying around so much. Tuesday morning, the clouds continued showering us. About 10:00, we decided to head back down to the car.

Regardless, the trip was not a disaster. In fact, this was probably one of the best trips Ryan and I had done. Outside, the wet wildflowers were fresh with huge water drops. A bird kept singing much of the day. Inside, we talked honestly. We shared personal stories. We even developed a business plan for me.

Life just doesn't get any better.