Practitioner Training

Shamanic Practitioner Weekend as part of ongoing 9 month practitioner course.

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South Africa 08/09

Updating traditional Xhosa knowledge - During this time John works & studies alongside his Xhosa teacher.  This includes traditional ceremonies honouring Xhosa ancestors.  The whole township community is invited to take part in these festivities. All donations received by John go towards supporting these traditional ceremonies.

In Events

Ubuntu Workshops

(The Dreaming Butterfly, 2 March 2008) A participant's desciption of an Ubuntu weekend in the heart of Wales - ceremonies to ancestors, herbal lore and techniques, learning traditional healing dances and songs, and stories around the fire.

Read the full article here:

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Introduction to Ubuntu, Sutton Courtenay

Thur. 11th - Evening Talk & Blessing Ceremony - “The way of the Sangoma” 7.30 - 9.30pm

• Fri. 12 - Ubuntu Introductory Workshop Starts 8pm

• Sat. 13 - Ongoing workshop including sacred Blessing Ceremony, dreamwork & interpretation, trance rhythms, dancing, Heartbeat Meditation.

• Sun. 14 - Workshop finishes around 2pm.

To book the talk, workshop or consultations please contact ‘the Abbey’ directly on 01235 847401, ask to speak to Anna or Wendy.

In Events

Celebrity sangomas heed the call of ancestors

(The Times, South Africa - Sep 21, 2008) Many educated, westernised South Africans are juggling the duties of a sangoma with their professional careers, writes Bongani Mthethwa.

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"You cannot choose to be a sangoma"

(The Star, South Africa - March 23, 2007) John Lockley was in trouble, he needed help. A man appeared in his dreams, telling him to find a Xhosa sangoma, but as a young white boy during apartheid, he didn't know what this meant. When Jonathan Ancer asked him: “why not me?”, he replied…

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Welcome to my new website & Blog

My wish is to help people of all nations 'to remember' their old ancestral ways through dreaming - for when people are in touch with their own inner worlds, then happiness and contentment can be fostered, peace and balance can be restored.

Intention

My intention behind this website and media work is to publicise and correctly inform people about African spirituality, and in particular, Sangoma work. For too long now there has been the mistaken view that Sangomas are associated with witchcraft, black magic and voodoo. The word 'Sangoma' means 'people of the song' because we go into trace through rhythm and song.  The job of the Sangoma is to heal people and lift the spiritual energy of the individual and community up. It is a sacred job with great responsibility. If people call themselves 'sangoma' but then work to hurt, injure or create disharmony, they are not sangomas and only serve to discredit this ancient name and profession.

There is no word for depression in the Zulu and Xhosa language, only 'umoya phantsi' (spirit energy down), or 'umoya phezulu' (spirit energy up). The job of the Sangoma is always 'umoya phezulu' - to lift, raise up the spiritual energy of the individual and community. In the international language of healing, one cannot put curses on people one day and then attempt to heal people the next.

One of the ancient symbols of Sangomas is the 'Sacred Aloe' - to heal the community in a variety of ways.

Additional Blog postings to appear in the near future...

In Blogging

Poem about Ubuntu

This is a poem about Ubuntu that I wrote after attending John's workshop in Wales. I came with curiosity,

Intellectual interest,

Prepared to criticize,

Proud of what I knew.

My own fearless self

Was free to walk away

I nearly did.  Then,

Moving through the motions,

Something dissolved.

Seeing the simplicity

Of opening hearts,

Sensing support,

Honouring ancestry,

Inviting,

Accepting,

Allowing,

Something true,

Something sweet,

Something right,

Came.

Now expanded

By the beauty of humility,

I go smaller.

Smaller

Is not what it seems.

Smaller

Is connected.

Smaller

Is bigger.

Smaller

Is huge.

Rob Fradley-Wilde, 3rd May 2009

In Ubuntu

Awakenings

This workshop woke up parts of me that had been sleeping maybe some generations, and the teaching was delivered with an integrity I trusted. - Dai Owen, Illustrator

In Testimonials

Exceptional

There are only a few genuinely trained and apprenticed shamanic practitioners working in Europe and the U.S.A. Having been a witness at John Lockley’s final initiation ceremonies in South Africa, I can testify that John is one of the few exceptional people working in the U.K. who can claim to have a genuine Ancestral training and lineage. Working with John is a unique opportunity to experience a connection and harmony that will enrich your life and strengthen your heart.

Steve Taylor

UK Medical Herbalist

Read more

In Testimonials

Trance Rhythms and Sacred Dance, Kent

Fri. 3 - Evening Blessing & Sacred Shamanic Sound. £20, 8pm to 10pm.

• Sat. 4 - Workshop Trance Rhythms and Sacred Dance. £75, 10am to 5pm.

• Sun. 5 & Mon. 6 - Private Appointments Healing or Divination. £70.

To book call Ann Pattihis on tel: 01580 753 993, mob: 078100 43937, or click below.

In Events

Practitioner Training

The last weekend of the Ubuntu Shamanic Practitioner Training as part of 9 month training course.

In Events

Sacred Agreement

Sacred Hoop Magazine issue 59. Pip Waller, medical Herbalist, shares the similarities she has found between the traditions of the sangomas of South Africa and the old ways of her home in Celtic North Wales

To read about the sacred relationship between people and animals please click on the following pdf.

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In Press

Bridge of Reconciliation

Features article in the Sacred Hoop magazine, Issue ,56 2007. In this article John talks about his Sangoma calling as a 'Bridge of Reconciliation', and his work as helping to bring understanding between white & black people in post-apartheid South Africa.

In Press

Healing through dance

(Galway Independent, 12 January 2005) Anna King talks to traditional healer John Lockley about the healing power of dance (xentsa) and the art of divination (vumisa).

This article is no longer available online

In Press