“I believe that if ignorance can be banished from this world, if people can communicate with each other fully, frankly, and in depth, then all wars will cease because the cause of war is fear and hatred, and hatred is the ugly daughter of the evil witch of ignorance” – Zulu Shaman Dr Credo Mutwa

Little is known of the true history of Africa, and for Linda Smith who spent much of her formative years in Mufulira (formerly Northern Rhodesia which is now known as Zambia) it has been imperative that she tells the tale.

That she has a gift for writing is beyond question for with the word pictures she creates one is taken on a journey of adventure, excitement and abject fear as refugees flee from the atrocities of the Congo War and more.

Supplementing her tale with pictures and footnotes she shows how life changed in Africa – where politics became the name of the game and not necessarily for the betterment of its peoples.

The book can actually be divided into two distinct sections with the former charting her childhood and the way in which the outlook of the people around her changed. It tells of the forced removal of the Ba Tonka tribe so that the Kariba dam could be constructed; the break-up of the Federation of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland; and in a delightful way the hopes of youngsters (immaterial of colour) who saw the potential of adventure in lush forests, fording streams and absorbing all that Africa had to offer including its magnificent sunrises and sunsets,

The ‘second’ section shows how far she had drifted from her original dreams and away from the person that she really was (but now is). It’s an awakening and the reason for the title ‘Returning to Myself’. And this is applicable to everyone (male and female).

She also looks at how religion and politics (two subjects which are supposedly taboo in conversation) affect our everyday lives and how often we tend to brush away conflicts rather than face them head on.

“There’s more to life than just having a job,” she states. “We need not exhaust ourselves chasing money, but should rather take the time to develop our consciousness and our love for self, our love for others, the Earth and all her inhabitants.

“In this new day and age, the way to an enriched life and to attain true wealth, and enjoy prosperity is to work honestly and with integrity.” And this brings me back to the opening quote by Sangoma Dr Credo Mutwa – who inspired Linda to tell her tale. If we take the time to understand each other and take ‘I’ out of the equation the world (to quote Michael Jackson) ‘will be a better place for you and me and the entire human race’.

I hope that when you read ‘Returning to Myself’ you are impacted by Linda’s words as much as I was and in the latter section come to realise whether you are on the right path to making YOUR world a better place.

‘Returning to Myself’, published by Fish Eagle Books, is available from Exclusive Books ISBN 978-0-620-43242-9

This book is mentioned in the latest newsletter from George Green with whom I first became acquainted after 2 intensive interviews on the Conscious Media Network.

Ecovillages are attracting increased attention as people seek to create more of a sense of belonging in their lives. Finding Community is a non-nonsense guide to help readers research, visit, and evaluate each potential community in their own long-term social, spiritual, financial and legal well-being. Includes important questions to ask, signs of a healthy( and not so healthy) community. Common blunders to avoid.

Finding community is as critical as obtaining food and shelter, since the need to belong is what makes us human. The isolation and loneliness of modern life have led many people to search for deeper connection, which has resulted in a renewed interest in intentional communities. These intentional communities or ecovillages are an appealing choice for like-minded people who seek to create a family-oriented and ecologically sustainable lifestyle-a lifestyle they are unlikely to find anywhere else.

You can purchase Finding Community from Amazon.com or Take2 if you live in South Africa.

Mail & Guardian reviewers examine meaning and myth in Mmatshilo Motsei’s The Kanga and the Kangaroo Court

wen Ansell About 55 000 rapes were reported in South Africa in 2005/06, along with close to 10 000 indecent assaults. Many of the latter may also have been rapes: of men, or with bottles, knives or guns — prevailing legal definitions did not permit the “rape” label for those. If you are part of the majority population (according to Statistics South Africa, 51% of us are female), South Africa is a dangerous place to live.

Just how dangerous, was highlighted by events inside and outside the court where one particularly well-publicised rape case was heard in March last year. Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, deputy president of the ANC and former deputy president of the country, was on trial for the rape of a young woman identified as “Khwezi”. The court acquitted him. But, throughout the trial, mobs of supporters, many of them bussed in from Zuma’s base in rural KwaZulu-Natal, menaced the complainant, her family, legal team and supporters. Their chant — reproduced on a particularly ill-judged Sowetan front page that the photo-burning mobs then brandished as a placard — was “Burn the bitch!”

Women and men picketing for a fair trial faced a barrage of abuse. It sometimes seemed as if every passing hand was making gestures of throat-slitting or pistol-firing in their direction. The verbal and ideological violence continued long after the verdict. (Rapes, of course, had never stopped.) Calls for South Africa’s next president to be a woman met such gender-specific vitriol that Thenjiwe Mtintso, South African ambassador to Cuba, coined the term vrou-gevaar (women peril), in parallel to the swart-gevaar (black peril) psychosis infecting the supporters of apartheid.

The Zuma trial let loose the stink of some odious aspects of life. But it also highlighted a still-unsecured front in our liberation war: the struggle for gender equality. And if “Burn the bitch” was the literary expression of the enemy, Mmatshilo Motsei’s book sounds the clarion call back to battle.

It’s a battle of ideas and behaviour; a battle against, not of, violence. In 200 meticulously researched and passionately (but also wittily) written pages, Motsei examines the gender images and self-images men and women create and hold, where these images come from, and how they are expressed in behaviour.

Though the Zuma trial is the anchor for her argument, she considers many broader issues, including patriarchy in religion and popular culture, and the impact of globalisation and militarisation. She debunks — tragic that it must be done so repeatedly — the myth that women “ask for it”. And she kills the canard that African cultures are inherently sexist, drawing on authorities to the contrary from gender studies academic Molara Ogundipe to traditional healer Credo Mutwa and veteran Alexandra community leader Drake Koka.

Please click here to read the rest of this story…

“Credo Mutwa paints a stunning picture of the complex world of Zulu cosmology and traditions. The colorful array of stories and the science of healing he offers with humility take us into the heart of African ancestral wisdom. His courage in revealing to the world what would otherwise remain hidden commands respect and reverence.”
Malidoma Somé, author of The Healing Wisdom of Africa and Of Water and the Spirit

“There is medicine for the soul here. One feels Credo Mutwa’s wonderful humanity and the genius of his people in these stories.”
Luisah Teish, author of Jambalaya and Carnival of the Spirit

In this rare window into Zulu mysticism, Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa breaks the bonds of traditional silence to share his personal experiences as a sangoma—a Zulu shaman. Set against the backdrop of post-colonial South Africa, Zulu Shaman relays the first-person accounts of an African healer and reveals the cosmology of the Zulu.

Mutwa begins with the compelling story of his personal journey as an English-trained Christian schoolteacher who receives a calling to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps as a shaman and keeper of folklore. He then tells the stories of his ancestors, including creation myths; how evil came to the world; the adventures of the trickster god Kintu; and Zulu relations with the “fiery visitors,” whom he likens to extraterrestrials. In an attempt to preserve the knowledge of his ancestors and encourage his vision of a world united in peace and harmony, Mutwa also shares previously guarded secrets of Zulu healing and spiritual practices: including the curing power of the sangoma and the psychic powers of his people.

Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa currently resides in Kuruman in the Northern Cape.
Previously he lived outside Pretoria, South Africa, near Johannesburg, where he used to sculpt, paint, and teach Zulu lore. His book Indaba, My Children has become a classic of African literature.

read more about this book here…