I had a plan for the beginning and end of my journey, but had no idea of what would happen in between. I trusted the Spirits would guide me as I followed the footsteps of the ancestors.

This is part of the unfolding story of losing myself in Germany only to find myself again while holding the question ‘What will I do with my one wild and precious life’?

She hid far away her pain and sorrows deep under a thick dark cloak so no light would shine through, for fear of this light being stolen again.
Slowly she began to remove the cloak and the many layers of cloaks of protection
to reveal the divine light within.

I decided to go on this journey alone to find the depths of who I am, without my usual companion and guardian. I would go it alone to see if I could find my way back home to myself.
Without the removal of these cloaks or layers, there could not be healing, for the healing comes in sharing this light in the world. Sometimes even though many layers have been removed the light begins to dull again.

It has been a long and arduous journey and many angels come to support me along the way. They take my hand in times of loneliness, when I am confused about which way to go, and when I feel lost. There is always an angel providing me with a roof over my head and a place to rest and eat. I am welcomed warmly and embraced by loving and generous hearts.

A plateau is reached and when we reach this plateau it is the time for new growth, expansion and renewal. It is a never ending story, but each time I come to a newer understanding.

What am I to do with my one wild and precious life?

At the tree of life, anaconda greets me by swallowing me whole. The acids quickly burn away my skin and bones as I melt and decompose inside the snake’s belly. The snake begins to shed layers and layers of skin, removing what is no longer needed.

When we are taken down to our vulnerabilities we gain strength. When we go to our weakest spot, the place that seeks healing, the raw point, the place we fear and have shut down, when we go there, we find the pain that has been hidden there for a long, long, long, long, time…perhaps generations.

This is where we feel the deep sadness, pain, sorrow, and rawness of the ancestors. This is where we can also transform the pain.

Emptying and freeing myself of this old pain, I make room for the ancestors to work though me as a vessel. They invite me to travel with the snake around the world, visiting the ‘olds, those who carry seeds of deep wisdom as it is time to share this wisdom with the world.

I hear the ancestors calling and find myself surrounded by the ancestors in the desert. Those of us in the room, become the ancestors dancing a circle dance together. We are gathered under a Babob Tree in Africa and the anaconda snake slithers down the tree and again swallows me whole. The acids dissolve me and I am now anaconda traveling to the river of life.

We enter the river, traveling a long journey to the Mother from which we all came. We enter the body of the great mother Ocean. It is murky and cloudy and with rough churning waves tossing and turning us.

We come to where there others are gathered in a circle. They are whales and we become a whale too. We join in singing with the other whales a beautiful song and as we sing, the dark murky waters become brighter and clearer. There is a column of light that is emitted into the centre of this circle of beings. We are creating a strong web of light together with our songs and our voices. The Great Mother feels our presence and is held in love.

May we all work together now to hold the Net of Light strongly, anchored and steady.

With love and gratitude.
Martha Lucier

He gave a 90 minute talk to over 40 people at a gathering on July 9th. Watch the video here:

http://blip.tv/file/2345042/

Mandaza Augustine Kandemwa is a nganga, a Bantu shaman or medicine man, in the Shona and Ndebele traditions of Zimbabwe.  He carries with great heart the Central African tradition of healing and peacemaking. Mandaza regularly travels North America providing an opportunity for people to gather to experience an indigenous understanding of the interrelatedness of healing, peacemaking and community.

People come to Mandaza from all over southern Africa to receive healing and initiation. He does not charge for his services. In Africa people try to offer a donation in return for his healing work, but he works with the poorest of the poor, who have sometimes walked great distances to be with him, and it is more likely that he will have to feed them than that they will not be able to pay him. Between Mandaza and Simakuhle, his wife, they have many children and a large kinship network and community that are dependent upon them for food and spiritual nourishment.

A former anti-apartheid activist from Zimbabwe, Mandaza is one of the truly exceptional men of our time, a warm and generous teacher and healer with magnificent gifts and an entourage of spirits, a man of deep and profound love, laughter and wisdom. Educated in the western traditions of what was then colonial-era, Rhodesia, Mandaza was called by the ancestors to the old ways and taught the exceptional art and craft of being a true healer. He has the skill to look into an individuals’ heart, even if he has not met them before, and thereby awaken the process of initiation that removes the obstacles between the initiate and the spirits.

Mandaza taught about peace-making and offered his healing services at Northern Edge Algonquin in August of 2008.  He sat down for an interview to talk about his beliefs in this video.  Some of the participants of the program also shared their experiences in this video.

“Tatenda” http://www.ihcenter.org/groups/tatenda.html – is a non-profit organization committed to supporting and sustaining traditional healers and their communities in Africa (was previously the Nanga Project). This is the project supporting Mandaza’s work, his family and the community around him in Zimbabwe as well as to fostering exchange between different indigenous healers and western culture. When visiting communities in North America, the core group coordinating Tatenda (all on a volunteer basis) encourage and support donations to the Tatenda Project to support Mandaza and his Daré in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.