A snippet into my new lifestyle as an Initiate

For ease of reading, I have tried to provide definitions for difficult Xhosa Vocabulary (bold and underlined) at the bottom of the article

As I woke up this morning, icamagu that I keep upright next to my bed fell and sent a painstaking reminder to my conscience that it has been a while since I did my prayer ritual of ukunqula. I felt a bit of guilt but hurriedly climbed off the bed as I was already late for work.

Again as I opened the tap for my morning bath, I wondered if I should be brave and pour the uMradeni mix. These herbs are supposed to help revive my intuitive abilities, to help me if I will have to do ukuvumisa.  The problem is, the herbs give an itchy effect when mixed with water and poured over the skin. The itchiness is barely bearable and takes at least 20 minutes to go away. So I decide that I am not feeling that brave this morning and am rather late for work and will not have time to nurse an itch. So I carried on with my bath routine and left the house.

As I sat down on my desk, I then remembered that I forgot to wear my neck icamagu. It is a blue and white beaded necklace. I felt a bit of guilt, but easily dismissed this because I did discuss with uMama that it will rather be very awkward for me to wear my beads in the office as some of the people I deal with can be very judgemental. I work as a Development Consultant. I deal with government officials, architects, engineers, funders, etc. I may be very close to closing a deal and only to find that the final signature will come from a guy that is a born-again Christian---that deal is gone if they judge you based on the beads hanging on your neck!

As I navigate through the day, enjoying my work, I am again reminded that today is a Thursday. UMama and my fellow abahlekazi are on their way to a village called Mxumbu in Middledrift. They will be joining uMama’s sister in training (igqirha that qualified with her) as she will be conducting the imvumakufa ritual for her initiate (her name is Nocebisa). They have to arrive at the initiate’s homestead today so that they can be welcomed and introduced to Nocebisa’s ancestors. The ancestors have to recognise that amagqirha have arrived through intlombe. You cannot believe how lucky I feel that I have a job and therefore exempt from attending the Thursday intlombe.

I am not totally free though, tomorrow (Friday), I will be joining them and only come back on Sunday. When I leave work tomorrow, my suitcase will be waiting for me, with all my gqirha regalia (izishweshwe,  nemibhaco and white towels) and beads. I will take off-my Eurocentric clothes and get into my gqirha dewish....isishweshwe, white top, white towel to wrap around my waist, a white nappy towel to wrap around my head. To top it all, white clay on my face, arms and legs and my blue and white beads on neck, wrists and ankles.

Pheeuuw, there you go....no rest in the life of UMhlekazi!

Come back again, there will be more to tell tomorrow.

Icamagu: the stick that you carry around for protection from evil. It also helps guide your spirit through your consultations (ukuvumisa). Mine is made out of the Matshinitshini and UMnquma trees. It has blue and white beading detail on it. The white beads symbolise that you are a ‘white’ person (ungumntu omhlophe). The blue symbolises that you have done imvumakufa, a ritual that sees you signing a pact with your ancestors by eating intsonyama of a goat.

Intsonyama: meat found under the left fore-leg of a goat.

Ukunqula: a prayer session where you call upon your ancestors (paternal and maternal, including those of both your grandmothers), telling them all that you need.
Ukuvumisa: A consultation process of checking what is troubling your client. A Xhosa igrirha does not throw bones, but rather uses ukunqula and intuition.
UMradeni: the herb that is made of onion-like bulbs. It is used to ward off evil spirits, whilst reviving your intuition (umbilini) as uMkhwetha. It gives a very itchy (very itchy) effect when poured over the skin.
Umbilini: the effect of intutition/instinct/hunch/sixth sense that uMkhwetha experiences throughout training.
UMama: The trainer of umKhwetha is called uMama (if it is a woman)
Abahlekazi: Fellow initiates that you are in training with
Intlombe: A dance routine where amagqirha nabahlekazi dance to a trance. During the dancing, they call their ancestors and those of the homestead visited through a process of ukuNqula (calling clan names). At 12 midnight, a Christian prayer is done to invite God almighty to be with the family and ward off all evil.
Isishweshwe: German print clothing, comes in blue or brown.
Umbhaco: White or cream hard cloth used in Xhosa traditional regalia