Letter from Limpopo: Thabiso Sekhula’s journey towards understanding the links to God and the ancestors. Is it really one over the other or can the two link.
As someone who was raised Catholic, I didn’t entertain the thought of other religions until I went to university.
Growing up in the church, we were told that ancestral “worship” was a sin punishable by hell.
As a grown woman who has been exposed to the world and other religions I know a bit more and I know that it’s not ancestral worship but communing with amadlozi or badimo, the ancestors.
I also know that in all the religions including African spirituality, there is God, uNkulunkulu, Modimo, Qamata — and that even African spirituality acknowledges the creator.
Just not the Christian God. There are stories about it, older than the Bible.
The first time I went for a reading with a sangoma was at a work event. An employer thought it would be a good bonding experience.
What? I was young and it was funny at the time. But as a grown up who has lost loved ones, I find myself longing for a connection to my ancestors.
As a writer — the ultimate tribute to my late mother is to write her story.
What is known on Earth and my spiritual journey in search of this connection to not only her, but who I am and my ancestors before me.
Over the weekend at the Bushfire festival, I happened to find a talk by Limpopo born Mkhulu ThauThau Haramanuba, the president of the Rastafari United Front and a teacher of African spirituality.
He was speaking about African spirituality, the Bible and patriarchy — how women are demonised in the bible, the Christian God being the father, Lord, king and how that has translated into the tough life women lead on this Earth and how it was intended to strip their power away.
In South Africa, God is uNkulunkulu, Ramasedi, Qamatha with no indication of any gender. Instead they reference the elements.
God in Sotho is Ramasedi after Ra (the Sun) ma (Moon) sedi (stars or light) and so we would refer to the divine being or God as the Sun, the Moon and the stars. And Qamata would be Qa (Qalo — beginnings) Ma (mama) Ta (tata), the beginnings of mother and father.
While on gender, someone in the audience asked if there’s always been LGBT sangomas and how African spirituality views it, Gogo Simenjalo gave this answer.
As someone who has an ancestral calling, you do not have a single ancestor who comes through as your guide. Sometimes you have a single leading guide but it happens often that you can have male and female ancestors with a strong presence.
These ancestors are always present and so it is very possible for a sangoma to be attracted to people of their own gender because their dlozi is attracted to them.
There’s definite clashes in African spirituality and Christianity. But there’s also many similarities and for my small two cents, it’s absolutely worth listening to different views on religion, understanding that there’s a lot that’s right about it and a lot which has been used as a tool to inflict harm to many people.
A little understanding could go a long way.
Picture caption: Sangoma bones which are thrown during consultations.
Photo: Supplied
