Читать книгу Soul Rescuers: A 21st century guide to the spirit world - Natalia O’Sullivan - Страница 29

As the souls of the dead make their way towards their destiny in the world of spirit they are uniquely sensitive. It takes some time for them to become used to their disembodied state and realize that they are free to embrace liberation. During the few weeks after death they look back and process the events of their lives and say a final goodbye to those they love. Without their bodies to anchor themselves to the world they are deeply affected by our emotions and thoughts. They can feel our grief, as it reflects their own sadness at leaving those they love. So the spirit will often visit familiar people and places one last time.

For Malidoma Somé, shaman and author, grief is an important rite of passage required by both the living and the dead to recover from the trauma of death. Without it the separation between them never actually reaches that stage when the living accept the fact that a loved one has become a spirit and therefore the dead cannot become free from their earthly consciousness. Tears carry the dead home, for they release a powerful emotional energy which provides them with a sense of completion and closure.

When someone dies among Malidoma’s people in West Africa the village erupts with emotion as the women begin a guttural wailing to announce to the village and the spirit world that a death has taken place. The rituals of communal mourning which follow allow everyone the opportunity to reach a cathartic peak of grief and release all their emotional pain and loss. A prolonged expression of grief exhausts the body to the point where rest is needed. It mellows the mind, heart and body and leads us toward an acceptance of death, separation and loss.