Our Editor, Gugu Mhlongo spent a morning with You Tuber, Entrepreneur, DJ and Sangoma, Mpho Wa Badimo. They spent the morning in the beautiful Mofolo Park in Soweto where Mpho Wa Badimo was spoilt to a nature themed baby-bump
photoshoot. Taking in mother nature in all of her splendor and gentleness. Mpho, was captured in a beautiful
Kandyboi maternity ensemble. Motherhood in spirituality is a topic that came about whilst discussing the the growing number of initiates and Sangoma’s. The discussion took an interesting turn where we discussed the abuse that some initiates face in the hands of those whom they trust and whom their families left them in. In hopes of finding healing and closure for their lineage and those who have assigned them and trusted them to takeover their work of healing others using the gifts they have bestowed upon them.
It is unfortunate to think of the number of reports of abuse by Initiators to their Initiates.
Abuse of all kinds, including; emotional, financial, physical| and even sexual abuse of initiates. To the extent that the Initiate, ‘u Thwasa’ would abscond, unable to bear the abuse any longer and often times there are thousands of rands that would have already been used whilst the initiate is under the abusive
‘Gobela’.
We therefore decided to use our mothers month issue to talk about what motherhood in spirituality means to Mpho Wa Badimo who is also expecting her second bundle
Q: Makhosi Gogo, you and I share a very similar story. We were both abused by our Initiators to the point that we had to leave before ‘intwaso’, because the abuse became too much to bare. In the same light our stories also differ because I was initiated by only women, and I had the experience of being mentored by a Gobela who unfortunately couldn’t bear children of her own.
However, she was so loving and nurturing that her home and yard were always filled with children. Which raises the point that to be a mother, you need to be a natural caregiver and nurturer, someone who cares deeply for the well-being of others. I feel that this also applies to spirituality, where in order for your initiate as a Gobela to find healing. You need to be able to care and nurture them until such a point that they and their ancestors are confident and happy for them to become Sangomas that will heal others in the Future. With this months issue being based on motherhood and spirituality, I’d like for you Gogo, to share with us what this means to you as, Mpho Wa Badimo.
A: Motherhood in spirituality, is very deep. As a Sangoma you are a born healer.
Therefore to work with people you need to have love and patience and that comes with each healers spiritual DNA. So as a Gobela, when people are within your space for healing. They are in your spiritual womb for you to nurture them so they can go off on their own into the world to heal others. Let’s remember that any person who is truly a healer would never abuse another, instead they’d guide them until they are a fully fledged Sangoma.
Therefore it is important to take a well deserved break now and again to aid your healing. Healers need healing themselves in order to fully give of themselves especially to those whom they mentor.
As a Gobela, you pass down your spiritual DNA to your spiritual children who will later leave your nest to go and heal others using your
‘impande. So ensure that your impande’ is one that aids healing and empowerment,
not one that is not healed or causes harm. So, motherhood in spirituality is not just about having your own flesh and blood. It also speaks to the quality of characters you build while raising your spiritual children.
Are you producing healed
Sangomas?!
Q: Gogo, I am happy that in the end you had the support that you needed in order to continue your journey after the experience you had with your former Gobela. Let’s go back to, Mpho Wabadimo the mother, speak to us about being a mother. As we all know you are a mother to your son, Zwelibanzi, who is expecting a younger sibling very soon. Share with us the journey of motherhood as a Sangoma.
A Just like any life’s journey, being a mother is a journey on its own and you do not have a manual to guide you. being a mother is a blessing.
For one, your ancestors have trusted you enough by blessing you with this child.
Whose character you still need to understand. Both as a mother and child, you need to understand each other and as your child grows, so do you as a mother. You rediscover yourself with every new pregnancy and child that you birth. Although my pregnancies haven’t been easy and neither one of the fathers of my children have been involved in their lives. I look at my children as a gift from my ancestors. So I am a proud and a happy mum, no matter how difficult the journey of motherhood is and sometimes as a mum, you wake up and you don’t feel like being ‘mothering’ on that particular day. Then you remember this responsibility bestowed upon you by your ancestors. You are then forced to shape up to the task. Whenever I hit this ‘brick wall, I remind myself that my children were brought to me for a purpose which is to heal ourlineage. So as their
mother, I am molding them to be able to heal our lineage. It is therefore important that || am fit to the task, therefore it is important to find balance and healing so I can pass on to my children a spiritual DNA that is capable of healing centuries of people who have walked before them. So much like a Gobela to their initiates, I am passing on a spiritual DNA to my children, who will in future pass it on to theirs. The cycle will
continue. So I really need to make sure that I do my part in grooming them through being their birth and spiritual mother whom they may mirror and execute the individual tasks that will be given to them by their ancestors.
Mpho Wa Badimo talks to us about what motherhood in spirituality means to her