We all have at least two languages

Yesterday, while listening to the news, it dawned on me that we can speak two languages: The language of the world and the language of the soul.

 

 

• I was thinking in the language of the world when I asked the remote Konso tribe elders what advice they would give world leaders. 

 

• Amazingly, one elder answered in the language of the soul: “We are all made by God. We are all the same. No mater what your tribe, no mater what your religion, we all bleed the same color blood.”

 

Then he raised his hand with fingers outstretched to conclude: “We all have five fingers.”

Here's happens after you die

LaBun, the famous Bume tribe storyteller in Ethiopia explained to me that when a person dies, he becomes the devil trickster with skin like a rock and a single horn. 

Even though he lives underground, the trickster can cause great mischief for the living. 

Do thoughts of a deceased person haunt you? 

Bume tribe, Omo region, Ethiopia, Africa

I watched a Dogon shaman dream a Bad Spirit

After scrambling down and down over steep boulder-filled trail, my interpreter and I entered the tiny village of Koundou Gina. We wanted to meet the most powerful shaman in the region.

A woman enters the outskirts of Koundou Gina village, Dogon tribe, Mali, Africa.

As we hiked through dried stalks of a corn field, my interpreter explained that many people came from distant villages to meet with Dugui Dugene (Medicine Man). We met the simple harmless-looking shaman just outside his stone house.

Powerful Dugui Dugene (Medicine Man) showing me how he removes doogu doogu from a person. Koundou Gina village, Dogon tribe, Mail, Africa.

After a bit of chatter, I asked about Doogu Doogu and other terrible things caused by bad spirits.

In an casual tenor voice, the Medicine Man explained: "The bad spirit is created by God. Both good and bad spirits are created by God."

Medicines Dugui Dugene (Medicine Man) gathers in the forest to heal people that come to Koundou Gina village from surrounding villages. Dogon tribe, Mail, Africa.

Medicine Man continued: "We don't see the bad spirits because they have much magic power. They could be right here right now. We just don't see them.

The shaman paused a bit, pointed at me. Then: "But they can see us."

Squating with his back against the mud wall of his one-room house, Medicine Man continued: "I can see them in my dream. When I sleep at night time, I can see them. 

"The bad spirit look like a man. They wear clothes. But some of them has a cow head. Some has only one hand. And some has one breast. Some look like men but not complete man. And always have two, three or ten heads. 

Then he pointed to his hand. "Some have kind of feet here. The feet are cow feet."

 

My visualization of the Dogon bad spirit as described by the Dogon tribe Medicine Man in Koundou Gina village, Mali, Africa.

When I asked Medicine Man if he was afraid of the bad spirit in his dreams, he replied nonchalantly: "Afraid some, a little bit, but not that much."

Janis: "I would be very afraid."

Medicine Man: "If you suppose to walk with bad spirit and you afraid, they always come to afraid you. And if you afraid of them, you can be crazy. You can become crazy. They can do you something bad." 

Janis: "Can I take a picture of you like you are sleeping, like you are dreaming?

Mursi tribe elder confirms my photo-illustration perfectly depicts God.

"Is there a God?" I asked the Mursi tribe elder.

This is my illustration of God as described to me on my first trip to the Mursi tribe in 2001.  Mursi tribe, Omo River Valley, Ethiopia, Africa.

That was one of the questions I asked the elders, shamans, chiefs, storytellers and witch doctors of Africa's most remote tribes.

"Yes, there is a God," said the Mursi elder. "He is powerful. He has no legs and has a rainbow colored chest. And he flies through the air." Then the elder emphasized, "And he can kill a man instantly."

Mursi tribe elder explaining God. Mursi tribe, Omo River Valley, Ethiopia, Africa.

On my last trip to the Mursi in 2014, I showed elders at the distant village of Belle my illustration. Without hesitation, they said, "Yes, that is God." There was no doubt.

In 2014, a Mursi elder in Belle village confirms that my illustration perfectly depicts God. Mursi tribe, Omo River Valley, Ethiopia, Africa.

Could learning the "Secrets of Life" actually kill us?

In the remote cliffs of Senegal's SE corner, these 12 and 13-year old Bedik boys run in this traditional way all day for one month and then spend 5 months in the bush by themselves to learn the "Secrets of Life". Bedik tribe, Senegal, Africa.

Shaman tell us that, were meaning to come to us fully unveiled, it would turn us into it; that is, it would kill us.
Malidoma Patrice Somé

Bedik Ancestors live below the Tree of Souls

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From my upcoming book 

We All Have Five Fingers  

My Quest with the Bedik Tribe

 (While I went to listen and learn about the African roots to my beliefs and religion, I learned something far less lofty about myself.)

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

Hermann Hesse, Baume

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Bedik tribe village of Iwol in remote Southeast Senegal

 

Janis: "Chief Keita, you mentioned that the Bedik pray. Please tell me how you pray."

Chief Jean Baptiste Keita: "When we pray to the sacred Baobab tree or to the Fromager tree, the prayers are directed there and from there the God transmits the prayers to our dead ancestors.

" So you see, trees are sacred to us, we Bedik.

"For example, if you consider that sacred big Baobab tree which is measuring 33 meters and a half, it was planted on the tomb of dead Keita, the Keita family. The Keita family was the first to settle here. It was the Keita family, which was buried there.  Now you know that there is a tomb under the sacred baobab. 

"At the beginning of every year we go and say prayers around the tree, to implore our ancestors." 

How I met Wassily Kandinsky during my current teenage development

In creating the illustrations of the remote African tribal myths and archetypal dreams I've recorded over the past 16 years, I have two struggles:

This is my first attempt to create the mystical feeling I experienced with Mbahuma, the highest ranking Himba tribe shaman near Epupa Falls, Namibia.

1) create an accurate depiction of the story the elders, chiefs, storytellers, shamans and witch doctors told me in a way that Westerners can understand; and 

2) create an illustration that not only attracts the viewer's attention, but also has a spiritual presence.

After looking at a number of Kandinsky paintings, this was my effort. Mbahuma told me that his shamanistic powers came through to him through his toe from his deceased uncle, who was also a powerful shaman.

At this point I feel like a teenager in my development stage of creating these myth images. But then I look at early works by Kandinsky and Chagall to see that they too developed and matured along their artistic path.

Bedik reincarnation tool

I went to the tiny Bedik tribe in remote southeast Senegal to learn about their myths and dreams. In the village of Iwol, chief Jean Keita told me about a special instrument they used to tell if a person has come back from the dead as a baby. 

The tiny Bedik tribe has a small round instrument that tells if the new born is a reincarnation of a deceased relative. Bedik tribe, Senegal,  Africa

Chief Jean Baptiste Keita: 

I myself had a dream about a dead ancestor coming back into my family. 

My dead father come to me in a dream and talked with me.  Some days after the dream, my wife delivered a baby.  When the baby was born, he started crying.  Crying.  Crying. 

We saw the baby is not ill, but he’s crying. What can be the cause of that?   

In our village we have this small round instrument, maybe something like a small wheel. When we put that instrument on the wall, if it ever adheres, if it gets stuck when it is thrown against the wall, it means the dead parent, the dead person has come back.  If ever it falls down, it means it’s not him.

So we took that instrument, threw it against the wall.

It stuck.

Journal thoughts:

Interesting that the Bedik use a circular instrument to determine whether the new born is a deceased relative. I immediately thought of the serpent which in some myths forms a circle as it eats its own tail thus representing rebirth, reincarnation.

Himba shaman: "There is a secret only you know."

From my Namibia journal May 7, 2003

(This will be the introduction to my first book on African Myths)

 

Mbahuma, powerful Himba tribe shaman, near Epupa Falls, Namibia, Africa

Deep inside a mystery rattles my spirit. Today, Mbahuma, the most powerful Himba tribe shaman, mentioned a secret. His one eye watched carefully. Where the other eyeball should have been, was just an empty hole with draining fluid. I had heard that the best shaman had some deformity.

Under a scraggly, thorny shrub of a tree at the top of a dry rocky creek bed, Mbahuma told me: “You’ve been looking. You are trying to learn many things. You will find it.”

“But there is a secret,” continued Mbahuma under that lonely tree. “A secret only you know.”

Visiting an African Disneyland-like Museum of our Modern Beliefs

God wanted to give human beings their fullness right from the beginning, but they were incapable of receiving it, because they were still little children.

Against Heresies

St. Irenaeus (125-203 A.D.)

 

Chief Jean Keita, Bedik tribe, Senegal, Africa.

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Bedik tribe, Iwol village

Chief Jean Baptiste Keita:

-->"Our village was founded more than 900 years ago.  It was the first village which have been settled all around here.  The first one here.  And it has been in continuous existence until today.

(While the Bedik had a designated historian who I met on my first Bedik trip, it wasn’t until very recently they had any written language, French. I don’t know how the chief arrived at 900 years and forgot to ask for an explanation. But if Chief Keita was accurate about the age of Iwol village, that’s about the time Angkor Wat was completed and the second crusades got underway. )

"What makes the village so different is the specificity of the place. It is really wonderful here. You can see it is surrounded by big mountains, with big trees, sacred trees. 

"And you see, there are many sacred symbols here. You heard yesterday about the baobab tree, and the sacred Fromager tree here.

Sacred site, Bedik tribe, Iwol village, Senegal, Africa.

"We are Bediks. We are animists. And for that, we preserve our ancestor’s way of life. And Iwol is the only village which has preserved its tradition.  It’s been the same since ages.    It hasn’t changed.

 

"We are the only people that have remained rooted in their traditions. We are the only ones who have preserved in tact our tradition. 

"And we live only in this place.  We are quite restricted.  We are not numerous, we Bediks."

Bedik village of Iwol, Senegal, Africa.

Personal journal thoughts: 

  

Was this the religion of our ancient ancestors? Did storytellers like Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad and Constantine whisper their variations of the Bedik stories I heard into followers’ ears just like players in the telephone game?

My being tingled with the pure joy of mystery. There was more here than I could see and immediately understand.   

I certainly was in a Disneyland-like museum of our modern beliefs.

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Mother's dream brings dead son back to life

While studying with the Bedik tribe in Senegal, Chief Keita told me about a woman's dream:  

Chief Jean Keita, Bedik tribe, remote SE corner of Senegal, Africa.

"Some of the young village boys went to another place to work for money. After two years in the place, one of the boys died.

"The rest of the boys said: 'Hey, we must go back home, but let's never say to the people that our friend is dead. Let's keep the secret.'

"So they came back home and said nothing.

"That night the dead boy's mother had a dream that her son has come back. She dreamt that her son came back to the family. She didn't know that her son was died because the friends said nothing.

"The following night the dead boy came into the mother's house.

"His friends were actually expecting such a situation. When one of them heard a noise, he ran into the room and found the dead boy standing there. And he said: 'you don't need to go away. We have said nothing.'

"Then the dead son appeared exactly like all the other people. The guy lived many years, maybe another 40 years. He died only last year.

"You see, the mother's dream has become true."

Remote Suri Tribe: woman caused The Fall of Man but with a twist

Ethiopia's Suri tribe Chief Bolugedung told me the ancient story about how originally man had a direct connection to God. But the woman broke the link.

Chief Bolugedung wears a baboon skin hat indicating he is one of the two major chiefs, Suri tribe, Omo region, Ethiopia.

Chief Bolugedung explains: "There was two first persons, a man and woman. Originally, they have a rope up to the sky which came down to earth. 

"Man and woman could climb the rope any time to visit with God. The only rule was man and woman could not bring anything with them when climbing the rope to visit God.

Woman working flour on a grinding stone, Suri tribe, Omo region, Ethiopia, Africa the Birthplace of Modern Man.

"One day the woman decided to bring her stone, the stone women use to grind flour. (Grinding stone.) As soon as she started to climb the rope, it cut. The rope fell to the ground. Man and woman also fell to the ground.

"So after that, the two persons had to stay here on the earth. They don't have a rope to climb up to God. From that time they have to only live here."

My image of the Suri Fall of Man story. Suri (Surma tribe), Omo region, Ethiopia, Africa.

So the remote Suri, in Africa, the Birthplace of Modern Man, say that the first man and woman had a direction connection to God. But they lost it. They disobeyed. And it was the woman's doing. 

From everything I've learned, I conjecture this Suri story is older than the Fall of Man stories in the Bible.

What I didn't ask the farmer in the Birthplace of Modern Man.

In Ethiopia, for the Myth Project, I needed an image, a symbol, to represent agriculture in a more ancient time.

Driving on a remote pot-holed road out to the Omo region, I saw the perfect shot about a 1/2 mile away. A farmer working with a wooden plow pulled by oxen. The perfect ancient agriculture image.

Now, looking at the photograph on my 5K monitor one year later and 10,000 miles away, I regret not connecting with the farmer. 

Here he is working with same tools used by our ancient ancestors in the birthplace of Modern Man—Ethiopia, Africa. But he is in the 21st century. What gets him up each morning? What is his perspective about life on our planet? What are his dreams?

I only have a symbol, without the person. I could have had both.

Oh, what a huge opportunity missed. 

Can I see the bees that killed the attacking Muslims?

Bedik tribe village of Iwol in the remote southeast corner of Senegal, Africa.

In the history of the remote Bedik tribe in remote southeast Senegal, Muslims wanted to convert the tribe to Islam. The tribe didn't want to be converted. So the Muslims attacked. 

"It was terrible," explained Chief Keita. "Many Bedik were killed." Then the Bedik prayed. Their Spirits had mercy and sent bees to kill the attacking Muslims. 

"Yes, the bees live in a tree right near here in the middle of the village," explained Chief Keita. When I asked if I could photograph the bees, the chief replied, "of course you can." 
 

"They look like ordinary bees. I will show you where they live in a tree here in the center of the village. Right near here.

"And it’s totally possible to take a picture of the bees.
  

We can send a boy to see if they are there.  If they are there, you can go and take a picture.  If not, you did not come at the right time."

Here's what I saw.

Chief Keita explained that the bees live in this tree. Bedik tribe, Senegal, Africa.

From my journal that night:

As we waited for the messenger boy to come back, a gentle breeze came over us. Somehow I felt I was listening to a story that, like a musical score, needs to be interpreted to fully understand. 

I felt I was like Napoleon’s soldier who found the Rosetta stone, but instead of linking texts, might this be the Rosetta stone to a deeper understanding of the roots to today’s spiritual and cultural beliefs? 

Somehow here with the Bedik we still have a balance between Mythos and logos. Yet somehow clear understanding seemed tantalizingly just out of my reach.

Please respect that all images are copyrighted 

© Janis Miglavs 2016

janis@jmiglavs.com

What year would you say this photograph was taken?

Northern Ethiopia, Africa.

                                      2015 AD

Please respect that all images are copyrighted 

© Janis Miglavs 2015

janis@jmiglavs.com

Which of my submissions for the new Family of Man project work for you?

Here's my submission for the new Family of Man project photographs. 

In 1939 Edward Steichen curated a show called the Family of Man for New York City's Museum of Modern Art. He asked 30 photographers, including Cartier Bresson, Eugene Smith, and Dorothea Lange, to document the common links of humanity worldwide. 

Family of Man became the biggest-selling photography book in the history of photography. 

So this year an outfit called IPA (not the beer but the International Photography Awards) takes inspiration from the Family of Man Project, to document parallel circumstances in the world today. 

The categories are Birth, Childhood, Youth, Love, Marriage and Old Age. I submitted the following photographs:

Which ones work for you?

Childhood: Children at the Gate.    These Konso children came out to greet me; then proceeded to give me a hard time because I was an adult and only knew a few words of Konso.  Konso tribe, Buso village, Edge of the Omo region, Ethiopia, Africa.

Childhood: Growing up with Booze.   A drunken Himba mother in traditional clothes allows her child to play with the booze bottle she just finished drinking at the open market in the frontier town of Opuo, Namibia. Himba tribe, Namibia, Africa.

Youth: A Himba tribe girl (already married as seen by the head gear) reacts at seeing herself in a photograph for the first time in her life. I think I've seen this same look on girls in Portland area malls. Himba tribe, Namibia, Africa.

Youth:  As part of their tribal initiation into manhood, these 12 and 13-year-old Bedik boys run all day for one month through their village of Iwol. Then they will spend 5 months living in the "bush" by themselves. Tribal chief Keita told me the initiation is for the boys to "learn the secrets of life." Please sign me up.   Bedik tribe, Senegal, sub Saharan Africa; West Africa, Africa.

Old Age:  Old lady with her grandson in the Bedik tribe village of Iwol.  Senegal, sub Saharan Africa; West Africa, Africa, 

Old Age: On my first trip to the Bedik tribe in remote corner of Senegal, the Chief's mother wore traditional clothes. Three years later on my second trip to the Bedik, she still had the porcupine quill in her nose but was wearing an elaborate hand-me-down European style outfie. Bedik tribe, Senegal, sub Saharan Africa; West Africa, Africa. 

All photographs and text © 2016 Janis Miglavs

www.jmiglavs.com

www.FiveFingersProject.org

janis@jmiglavs.com