After receiving a plant medicine treatment from John a wonderful healing occurred for me. I slept soundly and peacefully for the first time since 2006 and the next morning I felt lighter and brighter and felt more like my old fun-loving, mischievous self. Having read an article in Spirit & Destiny Magazine about John Lockley last summer I knew had to meet him. But time went by and I totally forgot until I received an email from a friend saying John would be giving his Ubuntu 101 workshop in East Clare. At that time there were severe weather alerts due to the unprecedented frost and snow that Ireland was experiencing. People said "your crazy" but I knew I had to make this journey.
To be honest I didn’t know what to expect and it took me awhile to get used to John's rather direct form of teaching! But it really is the only way to get through to some of us! I really enjoyed listening to John speaking in Xhosa and in some strange way I instinctively knew what he was saying before he translated it into English (which proves that Ubuntu has no language barriers). The singing, dancing and drumming were so beautiful and you could literally feel your spirit come alive and soar.
From honouring my ancestors and doing my heart beat meditation (which is a really effective and beautiful experience) I now see people differently and feel much more connected to myself and to my sense of oneness with Mother Earth & to all living beings and things.
I left East Clare feeling happy & peaceful with the singing of the Xhosa tribe ringing in my ears.
Lelia
East Clare, Ireland
December 2010 Ubuntu Workshop
Read moreWhen I saw an advertisement for a weekend course with John Lockley, a white South African member of the Xhosa tribe and a practising Ubuntu Sangoma i.e. shaman or ‘medicine-man’ or even ‘witch-doctor’ as we in the west might call him, my curiosity was aroused. I decided I had to find out more and approached the course with nervous but open-minded anticipation. I was not disappointed. I do not want to give too much away about the weekend except to say that it was a mixture of instruction and participation. Some of this I found emotionally very challenging, nothing we did was unacceptable to me, and the benefit was enormous. I felt elated for days afterwards.
There is one thing that surprised me. Although my knowledge of Romany Chovihano shamanism is limited (I am of mixed Anglo-Irish-Romany descent and Chovihanos have all but died out, at least in the west), what I do know tells me that Xhosa and Romany shamanism are so similar that it cannot be coincidence. Since the two peoples can hardly have met and exchanged ideas, they must have independently developed two systems whose closeness, in my opinion, tends to add credence to their value and utility.
In my job as a Chiropractor I am very aware that there are emotional and spiritual aspects of peoples’ lives which have negative influences on their general health contributing to their overall ‘dis-ease’, and which are left unresolved by modern health care (of any kind), psychology, and religion. I feel that Ubuntu may go a long way to filling that gap.
Dr. Peter Smith
Chiropractor, Llandudno, North Wales Member of the Scottish Chiropractic Association
Member of the College of Chiropractors
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