Xhosa Culture; Growing up in South Africa

Voices of the Earth, a project of the Earth Medicine Alliance (www.earthmedicine.org) speaks with John Lockley, an African Shaman who originates from South Africa. In the 1980s, John had a strong dream calling him to train as a Xhosa Sangoma (shaman). Because of his country's Apartheid laws, it took him seven years to find his teacher. In 1994, he trained in the townships of Eastern Cape, serving a 10-year apprenticeship with his teacher, a well-known sangoma medicine woman. Today, John facilitates Ubuntu (humanity) workshops around the world, teaching people the ancient arts of dreaming, using medicinal plants and connecting with the ancestral/spirit world. He is also trained in Yoga, Zen Buddhism and Clinical Psychology. For more information, please visit www.african-shaman.com.

Xhosa Tribe Sangoma/Shaman Teaching by John Lockley of South Africa

Featuring John Lockley, Xhosa Sangoma/Shaman of South Africa, who leads ceremonies in his native South Africa, Xhosa tradition, worldwide. He is unique in being initiated in three timeless traditions: African Shamanism as a Xhosa Songoma, Yoga and Zen Buddhism, and he also holds a degree in Clinical Psychology. John is reputed to be one of the first white men in recent history to become a fully initiated Shaman, or Sangoma, in the Xhosa lineage of South Africa—the tribe that gave us Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Shot on location at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, Brooklyn, NY, USA October 11, 2012

Traditional healers or shamans (Sangomas) of the Xhosa People of South Africa use sacred ceremonies involving herbs, songs and trance rhythms to connect with the ancestors and the natural world to encourage a profound remembering and honoring of the human spirit. John Lockley is a fully initiated and trained Sangoma entrusted to bring traditional Xhosa medicine to anyone seeking this sacred remembering and connection.