Senegal | The Gateway to Africa

Senegal! A coastal wonder widely known as the gateway to Africa as it is served by multiple air and maritime travel routes. Yet, perhaps this statement symbolises something deeper in that Senegal represents a gateway into some of the deepest, most ancient and secret indigenous practices in the world, practices which have been honoured and upheld for generations.

Senegal has a profound connection to its ancestry. The Senegalese believe that through the natural land, idols and people who embody the Divine (homeopaths, Diviners, traditional marabouts, herbalists, naturopaths, religious figures and the list goes on!) they are able to connect to the Divine to receive guidance. Interestingly, Senegalese Islam, being the predominant religious form, is akin to the mystical Sufi tradition which is distinguished by its reverence of spiritual beings. These spiritual beings, alive or dead, are believed to embody exceptional amounts of bakara (divine grace). In this way the Senegalese have remained in touch with nature and the awareness that people, animals and totems have supernatural powers and can be called upon. The Senegalese trust in the natural world to provide, guide, heal and sustain, something which many civilisations today have unfortunately forgotten.  Senegalese communities live their spirituality and spirit lives through them. There is no separation.

A common saying in Dakar is, “During the day you’ll see Islam, but at night you’ll find voodoo.” While the majority honour Allah everyday, they also believe in the power of potions, spells, charms and magic.

Marabouts are Muslim holy men/hermits and are deeply renowned. These traditional practice keepers utilise amulets, talismans, animal sacrifices, Qu’ranic scripts, numerology and astrology in their ceremonies. This conglomeration of spiritual based practices gives rise to a different kind of Islam where syncretism and indigenous practices triumph over stringent orthodoxy. An acceptance and amalgamation of religions feeds into and allows for an open minded community, which has to be one of Senegal’s most forward thinking attributes.

Speaking of spiritual based practices, Senegal offers some pretty out there ceremonies for its patients… It is common for marabouts to kill an animal, either a chicken or a goat, as a sacrifice to the goddess Mawu. In West African mythology, Mawu is the Divine Feminine who rules over Universal Law. A patient will sit with the holy marabout while he faces his palms towards the heavens and chants verses from the Quran. Handfuls of sand are spread on the floor and then, with an intense flick, the marabout slices his own tongue and spits the blood on the ground. A middleman between the Divine and the physical realm, marabouts then begin to channel; scrawling letters, symbols and messages for the patient in the sand. He mixes his blood with the sand as an offering of his own. The marabout receives messages from the Divine and composes a shopping list for the patient to buy at the voodoo market (very common in Senegal, and what a sight it is!) The ingredients bought will be made into an amulet. It is common for the Senegalese to wear amulets as a symbol of connection to the spirit world, and may be seen referring to their amulet as a source of guidance throughout their days. They might clutch at their amulet whilst closing their eyes and asking a question, only to wait for the answer to be revealed in some way or another. 

As mentioned above, voodoo markets are commonplace in Senegal and although alternative medicine was banned during the colonial era, Senegal is rich with indigenous medicine and practitioners which, post colonisation, have a profound platform in the healing community as you can see from the marabout ceremony above. Families contain ancient recipes and concoctions which have been passed down through the generations; a mixture of erbs, plants and spices which have been combined and processed in such a way to induce healing. What is our go to when someone is sick? Perhaps the medicine cabinet which is chockablock full of pills and syrups. Wouldn’t it be healthier and more realistic to utilise the power of the land, the healing properties of the plants which have been so deliberately put on this beautiful earth to help us when we are in dis-ease? Now, I know that we don’t all have natural medicine recipes stacked on our bookshelf, but the Senegalese way is a gentle reminder that naturopaths, homeopaths and holistic means of healing should perhaps be given more attention than a sideways glance and a skeptically raised eyebrow… Just sayin!

Even from birth, West Africans are immersed in a cultural setting that values the authority and wisdom of elders. In the southern part of Senegal, for instance, the most important part of the education process is performed through a two to three month initiation period during which young people, generally boys, are gathered and hidden in sacred places in the forest and trained in different aspects of life. Training is the exclusive province of elders, who make sure younger generations know the history, secrets, values and skills of their community so as to ensure their perpetuity and that they carry on the wisdom and ancient practices that their community has been utilising for hundreds of years.

Then, as boys turn into men it becomes apparent that some of them hold Divine knowledge and then train to become traditional healers. It is custom, almost second nature, in the etiquette to, following a greeting, enquire lengthily into another’s health and wellbeing, even of their family and friends before even thinking about mentioning the matter or business at hand.The interest given into the wellbeing of another is never underestimated and it means that the Senegalese have cultivated a rich community where people genuinely give a rat’s ass about each other! This lessens feelings of loneliness, isolation or misunderstanding. It is a lesson to those of us who dwell in fast paced societies where a standard greeting may superficially entail, ‘Hi, how are you?’  ‘Oh, I’m fine thanks, and you?’ Subsequently to move onto more ‘pressing’ matters. Ahem?!? We can do better than that.

The deep enquiry that the Senegalese have interwoven into their lives also means, aside from the fact that conversations have more substance and depth, life moves slower. An initial ten minute dialogue centered on ice breaking, emotional contact and intimacy and genuine caregiving followed by the ‘point’ of the interaction, allows for both people to truly get acquainted, feel comfortable and allow a space of trust to open up. Things aren’t rushed. People take their time. Again, listen up ya’all! We have a lot to learn from these polite AF people.

I was researching the notion above and found an incredibly fitting statement: ‘To the Western mind the amount of time spent in greetings may appear unnecessary or even wasteful (especially in business) they are used by the Senegalese to feel one with each other and achieve a sense of group harmony.’ Isn’t it exactly this that the so-called Western mind is lacking, true oneness with another, even if they are a complete stranger?