Corinna Kern

The practice of traditional healers, known as sangomas, is historically entrenched in South African culture and used by more than 60% of the South African population. Based upon the idea that every human being is an endproduct of their ancestry of generations of love and suffering, the connection to their ancestors is the essential core of sangomas’ practices. Finding its roots in black African culture, the practice of sangomas has experienced an influx of Westerners from various backgrounds with the end of apartheid. Chris Ntombemhlophe Reid became the first white and highly respected sangoma amongst the people of Pondoland, South Africa. When his Western life, evolving around money, fame and popularity, fell apart since lead ‘for the wrong reasons’, Reid moved to Pondoland where sangomas approached him, making him realize and pursue his calling to become a sangoma himself. Having graduated in 1997, he now spends long periods of time in his remote homestead in the heart of the Transkei, where he hosts traditional ceremonies, mentors his thwasas (sangoma trainees) and accompanies them on their spiritual paths. This project gives intimate insights into the spiritual, yet demanding journeys of sangoma Chris Ntombemhlophe Reid, his thwasas and spiritual family, as members and cultural bridges in an ancient culture that lives on in democratic South Africa.