I have recently started reading The Way of the Elders: West African Spirituality & Tradition, by Adama and Naomi Doumbia. It is an introduction to the culture and spiritual traditions of the Mande (Bamana) people of West Africa, concentrated in Gambia, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone. There is a New Age tone to the writing and my concern was alerted by a reference to animal spirits: ‘Doumbia’s animal spirit is the tiger, and members of this family are not to wear tiger-print clothing, nor harm this animal’ p.12). This seems strange as the tiger is not indigenous to West Africa, but no explanation is given.
Adama Kenbougoul (Ken) Doumbia is presented as having grown up ‘in the villages of Senegal and Mali’ where he ‘was raised by his elders’ and ‘has travelled the globe as a master drummer and dancer’. Naomi Doumbia is described as ‘American born and raised’ with a PhD from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Googling reveals little except that Ken Doumbia was at some stage a yoga teacher and that her seems to have sadly passed away in early 2020. It looks as if Naomi Doumbia could also be known as Sanderovsky, who is white American and has taught philosophy and comparative religion at various colleges.
The book was published by Llewelyn in 2004. There is some beautiful writing but I am unsure how representative it is of the Mande? I would be interested to know whether anyone else has read it or has ant knowledge of the authors?