ABSTRACT
The experiences of mysticism inform the possibilities of belief. During an after-dinner conversation in her home in Poponguine, Rougie conversationally related several mystical stories about Tijani, Murid, and Layeen marabouts. She then followed up with the point of her stories: they illustrate not fantastical impossibilities, she said, but instead the relationship between humans and God. Mysticism is not something that is alien or even abstract. It is part of personal faith narratives and everyday events. By grounding esoteric faith in everyday, often difficult, realities, people connect their spiritual journey with their life's journey in a tangible world. Paying attention to spiritual growth in both meditative study and prayer and in social life is part of the Sufi path toward unity with God. For Sëriñ Babacar, this unity with God is found in the qualities of God within people: seeing God's reality in the world is seeing God's qualities in humanity.
