“My elders are convinced that the West is as endangered as the
indigenous cultures it decimated in the name of colonialism. There
is no doubt that, at this time in history, Western civilization is
suffering from a great sickness of the soul. The West’s progressive
turning away from functioning spiritual values; its total disregard
for the environment and the protection of natural resources; the
violence of inner cities with their problems of poverty, drugs, and
crime; spiraling unemployment and economic disarray; and growing
intolerance toward people of color and the values of other cultures—
all of these trends, if unchecked, will eventually bring about a terrible
self-destruction . . . the only possible hope is self-transformation.”

Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman, 1.