The Healing Power of Animism

“Since 1998, I have worked with Mark and taught him all that I could regarding the customs and workings of the Dagara and their medicine. I knew that he was meant to become a diviner and bring healing to people. He carefully followed my instructions and has learned much about the practices and medicine of the Dagara people.” * Martine Somé, Dagara shaman and sister of Malidoma Somé *
“In The Healing Power of Animism Mark Bockley has done yeoman’s work in describing in minute detail how any human being can, with sufficient interest and training, transcend his or her limitations to reengage with the understanding of our world as primarily one of life, energy, and consciousness—luminous and interconnected everywhere. A shining achievement.” * Edward Bruce Bynum, PhD, author of Our African Unconscious *
“We are living through a period of systemic collapse that feels apocalyptic in nature but is actually an invitation for our collective to remember our indigeneity, meaning that we are complex, expansive beings in an interdependent relationship with the natural and unseen worlds. The Healing Power of Animism draws on the medicine of the Dagara lineage, helping awaken another vital path back to our indigeneity and ultimately back to our most awakened states of being.” * Lama Rod Owens, author of The New Saints *
“Through this remarkable book Mark Bockley brings the wisdom and magic of the Dagara lineage into language accessible to Western minds and to anyone seeking a deeper connection with the unseen web of spiritual support that surrounds us.” * Rachel Kaplan, MFT, author of Feel, Heal, and Let That Sh*t Go *
“Mark Bockley offers more than a book—he offers a living expression of Indigenous cosmology, formed in dialogue with but reaching beyond Western frames of knowing. Each chapter opens a portal—into elemental intimacy, into the ecology of spirit, and into the possibility that the West’s amnesia might yet be tended with reverence and renewal. In a time when appropriation is rampant and authenticity rare, The Healing Power of Animism shines as a trustworthy and timely guide for those seeking to walk in right relationship with the seen and unseen world.” * M. Rako Fabionar, cofounder and executive director of the Innovative Learning and Living Institute ( *
“Mark Bockley’s intriguing book offers an intimate firsthand look into the heart and soul of the Dagara people of West Africa. He has answered a powerful calling to carry forth this sacred lineage so that the teachings may continue to bring ancient healing to the world.” * Linda Star Wolf, PhD, author of The Aquarian Shaman and coauthor of Sacred Messengers of Shamanic Af *
“A clear-eyed diagnosis of modern spiritual atrophy and a profound prescription rooted in the ancestral wisdom of Dagara medicine. In The Healing Power of Animism Bockley reveals a path back to our true nature. It is a doorway, an invitation, and a remembering.” * Kelsey Moss, PhD, founder of The Energetic Architecture Project *
“This book is born of Mark Bockley’s lifetime of devoted practice and love of the Dagara people, their lands, and their cosmology. Mark generously shares the stories, maps, tools, and relationships that create a bridge to access this potent medicine for us and our times.” * Catherine Dunne, psychotherapist and ancestral lineage healing practitioner *

MARK BOCKLEY is an initiated diviner of the Dagara tradition of West Africa. He first traveled to Africa in 1976 and, in the mid-1990s, underwent a rigorous apprenticeship and initiation with Martine Somé, sister of spiritual leader Malidoma Patrice Somé. He is a workshop leader and lives in West Marin, California.

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