Last time we wrote about manipulation and the use of guilt trips and we also mentioned that this “desire” to possess others also works on a soul level – on an unconscious level. As many of you know I, Jeff, was born in Kenya and my nurse or nanny was the daughter of our local resident “Witch Doctor” or local healer or shaman which I would prefer to recognize him as. He gave me several gifts and one of them was a deep love and connection to the natural world and especially Africa.
For quite a few years now we have been visiting Africa especially Zambia and on occasion we hold workshops, but mostly we go to hang out and relate. In one of the early workshops a young man shared his story and it went like this:
His Grandfather wanted to open a business, a maize mill, and so like many he visited his local Shaman to ask what could be done to ensure his business success, as this was a little before websites or other marketing methods. The Shaman told him he needed to capture a soul and bury that soul at the entrance of his business and that soul, if manipulated correctly, would call out to the souls of people passing who would then be compelled to approach and maybe do business with him. ‘Well’, thought the Grandfather, ‘that is a great plan for my business success.’ Kind of reminds us of a few business people we know – right!
So, the up and coming business man liked the proposal and he asked for more details. ‘You would need the soul of someone you really value for it to work well’, explained the Shaman. ‘In fact, the more valuable, the better your business success will be.’ The client quickly grasped the logic of this and after some thought settled on his oldest daughter. The Shaman mixed a concoction and told the Grandfather to give it to his oldest daughter and said that when it killed her it would lock her soul into her body, and when he buried her at or close to the entrance to his business, success would be assured.
Like all great plans for success it did not quite happen that way. The daughter being married and sort of middle class did not drink the “gift” herself – she shared it with her husband. As a result, she did not die, but she and her husband both became insane. The Grandfather then had to care for his daughter and her husband was confined to an institution. Their son was left as an orphan, and in the workshop he asked for some insight to his situation. We spoke of what was driving this story, which was needininess and the hidden or not so hidden neediness that drives us to such measures when we can justify anything, provided we get our needs met. While for us in the west this is a horror story, we also have daily examples of what man is willing to do to satisfy a need. It certainly has us placing our wellbeing above that of all those close to us. This is the opposite to the quality of devotion, which places others’ wellbeing above our own.
Today would be a good day to account for the wellbeing of all those around us, on any conscious or unconscious level, and see how we are doing in our love and devotion to them.
In the case of the young man and his parents, in time their souls realigned with their minds and they regained their sanity. Not sure about the Grandfather but the Mill was a failure.
With love,
