If only the missionaries would have listened

The Karo tribe is small, I'm told only about 250 people living in 3 villages along the Omo River. 

One day some Christian missionaries came to the Karo.

The missionaries wanted to change the traditional ways and beliefs, according to Pora, one of the elders. For example, they decreed church would be on Sundays at 8:00 AM. But the Karo didn't have watches. And when was Sunday anyway? Western time was irrelevant to their way of life. "And the missionaries wanted us to pray all the time," said the elder. He couldn't understand why.


Another example stirring resistance to the missionaries, according to another elder, "Say on church day a woman wanted to go to church. But the husband wanted his coffee (actually the Karo have their own version of Starbucks). If she went to church, he didn't get his coffee."


The elders debated killing the missionaries. Instead the Karo men beat the outsiders and sent them  packing.


I met with the elders many times during my stay. The first time I explained that I had come to listen and learn the Karo ways. They told me that the Karo traditionally believed in one God, had personal gods that watched over them and even communicated with their personal gods.


Wait, isn't that exactly what the Christians believe? Don't Christians believe in one God, a personal Savior called Jesus and pray to God through Jesus?


That night I wrote in my journal: "If only the missionaries had listened first, they would have found that we're all looking for the same truth."

Warriors with personal gods. Each person has a personal god to watch over him, just like the Christians.
Karo tribe, Omo region, Ethiopia

Chief's save the orphans dream

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Suri (Surma) tribe, Omo Region, Ethiopia

In his dream, Chief Bologadong’s father told him to take care of the orphans.

I’m not sure about the Suri tribe orphan situation, but in some other African countries relatives will steal possessions of orphans and throw them out to fend for themselves with nothing.

How often does God visit you in your dreams?

Dead Ancestor visits sleeping man in dream.Karo tribe, Omo Region, Ethiopia

In my camp, these Karo-tribe elders told me: “Sleeping is like becoming dead. So when you sleep you have already died." During sleep their ancestors come in dreams to advise about every day events—like when to plant crops, as well as foretelling the future.
“Some believe that the person who talks to you in the dream is God."

How did they know it was God? That night in my backpacking tent, I read in Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth and the Bible about higher beings visiting people in dreams throughout history.

Each person has a personal god

Haska Galade, the Hamar (also Hamer, Hammar) tribal shaman, seemed knowledgeable about the spiritual world.

"Each person has a personal god who watches over the person," he explained. "Say the wife has a baby. The baby's god is created inside the mother. When the baby is born, the god comes out. And the god grows up with the baby."

"The god takes care of the baby for the rest of his life."

"While the personal god looks like the person, you can't touch the god because your hand would go through god," Haska explained. 

"When someone is wounded, the god is also wounded."

From my Africa’s Undiscovered Myths Journal
Hamar tribe, Omo River Region, Ethiopia
January 19, 2001

Haska Galade, the Hamar tribal shaman.

Dead father tells shaman to steal cattle in dream

When Haska Galeda, the Hamar (also spelled Hammar, Hamer) shaman, started sharing his dreams, I found his White Cattle Dream most interesting. First, he dreamed in color. Second, his deceased father told Haska to steal the cattle—a common activity among the Omo tribes—but not to kill the cattle herder—a relatively uncommon thing among the regional tribes.

What stands out in the dream for you?
What kind of predictive dreams have you experienced?

Hamar tribe, Omo Region, Ethiopia
Haska Galede, the most powerful Hamar tribe shaman,
From my Africa’s Undiscovered Myths Journal
Hamar tribe, Omo River Region, Ethiopia
January 18, 2001
 When the village chief found that I was recording myths and archetypal dreams, he sent a runner several miles to get the most powerful Hamar-tribe shaman, Haska Galeda. An hour or so later, Haska came running into the village. The men always carry an ornately carved wooden chair/pillow whenever they travel. Haska uses "shoes" to foretell the future. ("shoes" was the best English word my translator Lali could come up with for the insole-shaped leather pieces Haska would throw onto the ground to devine future events.) By carefully tossing his "shoes", Haska told me three things that would happen. Two predictions came true within the next couple of days. I'm still waiting for the third to happen.

Ancient tribal version of evolution

Is this Aerobre (Arbore) story an ancient version of Evolution?

With the dramatic gestures of an experienced storyteller, Bule Va´ge explained how early man and cattle both ate grass. “But there was not enough grass for man and cattle.”

The cows complained to god, “the humans ate our grass, so there is no more grass.

“Then the god called to the cows and people. The god said to the people, now you do not need to eat grass any more. You cows will be under the control of humans, even if the humans eat your meat and get your milk from your breast and take blood to drink.

“The god said to the cattle, all the grass is for you to eat. And he said to the people, all the cows are for you to eat.

“Problem solved.”

Three and a half days later, I'm in the Ethiopian Anthropological Museum in Addis Ababa studying the famous bones of Lucy, the missing link between ape and early man. I see that she had flat teeth of a vegetarian. The Aerbore myth had it right. Early man was a grass eater.

In that hushed museum room, in front of Lucy’s 3.2 million year-old bones, it struck me: The Aerbore myth was more accurate than my early images of caveman cooking big hunks of meat over the fire. Lucy, and now others, clearly show that early man was a vegetarian. The Aerbore myth was scientifically correct. Mine was wrong.

From my Africa’s Undiscovered Myths Journal
Aerbore (also spelled Arbore, Erbore) tribe, Omo River Region, Ethiopia
January 24, 2001

The Shaman’s world, Himba tribe

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Himba tribe Shaman
Namibia

I’m told that the most powerful shamans often have some injury or deformity. When Mbahuma went into a trance, he traversed into another world, telling of events that happened on my Namibia trip that only my driver and I knew. My driver wasn’t at my meeting with Mbahuma.