Day 20: Sankofa and the Healer’s Memory.
The Ghanaian symbol Sankofa means “go back and fetch it” – a call to remember the past to heal the future. African healing traditions, like Ifá, Ubuntu, and plant medicine, remind us that memory is part of medicine.
What healing wisdom might you reclaim from your roots?
Healing by Looking Backward to Move Forward
In the Akan tradition of Ghana, the symbol Sankofa is often depicted as a bird looking backward while flying forward, carrying an egg in its beak. That egg represents wisdom, legacy, healing. The message is clear: It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.
In a world obsessed with “what’s next,” Sankofa is a sacred counterpoint – a reminder that healing often begins by remembering.
For African and African diasporic communities, remembering is revolutionary. Colonization, enslavement, and forced migration attempted to sever memory from identity. But healing traditions survived – in stories whispered between generations, in the rhythm of drums, in the scent of herbs stirred into soup.
Wisdom from African Healing Traditions
Ifá: Yoruba Divination and Healing
The ancient Yoruba spiritual system of Ifá is not just a belief system – it is a way of remembering. Rooted in West Africa and carried through the diaspora to Brazil, Cuba, and beyond, Ifá preserves oral literature, ancestral lineage, and cosmology. Healing within Ifá involves consultation with Orisha, ritual cleansing, herbal medicine, and divination through Odu Ifá – a sacred set of verses holding timeless wisdom.
Ubuntu: I Am Because We Are
The Nguni Bantu philosophy of Ubuntu centers on interconnectedness, compassion, and collective healing. “A person is a person through other people” reflects the belief that wellness is not individual – it is communal. Grief rituals, shared meals, and collective responsibility for care are part of the healing journey.
Plant Medicine: Earth as Healer
Across the continent, African traditions hold deep relationships with the land. From the use of neem in East Africa to bitter kola in West Africa, plants are healers, elders, and memory keepers. For diasporic Africans, reconnecting with these remedies is a spiritual act – a return to the earth and to oneself.
Quotes to Carry
“We are the dreams and the bones of those who came before. Our healing is their liberation.” – Unknown
“Sankofa teaches us that remembering is not nostalgia – it is liberation.” – Dr. Yaba Blay
“Ubuntu reminds us that we heal together, or we do not heal at all.” – Desmond Tutu
Reclaiming Roots: Learn More
- Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Somé – A journey into the healing rituals of the Dagara people of Burkina Faso
- My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem – How racialized trauma lives in our bodies and how somatic ancestral wisdom can help us heal
- Finding Our Way Podcast – Season 2 includes powerful episodes on ancestral medicine and spiritual memory
- The Black Healers Collective – A curated network of culturally rooted healing practitioners
- Sankofa Healing Center – Resources on reclaiming African-centered healing and spirituality. Offerings of mentoring, professional support, and educational workshops for therapists.
Reflect & Reclaim
- What traditions, remedies, or rituals were passed down in your family or community?
- What healing practices have you been taught to forget? What would it mean to reclaim them?
- How might you honor the memory of your ancestors in your healing journey?
Community Idea: Host a Sankofa Circle – a storytelling gathering where elders, healers, and wisdom keepers share ancestral healing traditions and memories.
A Sankofa Blessing
May you have the courage to remember
what the world told you to forget.
May your bones sing with ancestral knowing,
your hands stir medicine back into the pot,
your breath carry prayers in a language older than fear.
Go back. Fetch it. Heal forward.
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