John Lockley
Activate a South African Indigenous healing process — with a sangoma from the Xhosa lineage — for releasing personal and collective pain associated with your ancestral and spiritual lineages.
By opening yourself to “ubuntu” — the circle of humanity — you can begin repairing your relationships with your ancestral family and cultural roots, while regaining a sense of freedom and connection to the Earth and all of life.
A primary source of illness in the Western hemisphere is alienation from spirit — a sense of feeling alone in the world.
At the root of this illness is forgetting who we are and experiencing complete disconnection from the tree of life — our ancestors from within our own lineages and through our cultural and spiritual roots.
For many of us, ancestral shame and guilt, from the experience of oppression, slavery, or historical colonization, has resulted in low spiritual self-esteem, making it difficult to access our spiritual strength. Like a tree, we are cut off from our roots and suffer from a lack of groundedness and connection with ourselves, the Earth, and our deep ancestral origins.
Strengthening your “roots” through your ancestors can lead to deep healing that travels through familial and cultural bloodlines — and across time and space.
World-renowned sangoma (South African shaman) and healer John Lockley stresses that we need to reclaim our “spiritual roots” — the state in which we fully embrace our own unique heritage so we can optimize our health, awareness, and capacity to be good stewards of the Earth.
Fully initiated in the Xhosa lineage of South Africa, John spent 10 years in apprenticeship with the tribe that gave us Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. His remarkable journey to discover his female Xhosa teacher and study within the Xhosa lineage as a white male, despite the constraints of apartheid, is a testament to perseverance, cross-cultural understanding, and reconciliation.
In this powerful hour with John, you’ll learn about his personal journey, and he’ll share the powerful spirit of ubuntu — the circle of humanity — in which you can return as a child of nature at one with all of existence. By returning to the innocence of the earth, you will strengthen the roots that link you to all of humanity.
John will also share how healing the bloodlines of your ancestral roots revitalizes your life energy and opens the pathway to fully embracing your soul purpose. As you learn to trust yourself and your lineages more fully, you can surrender to the path of your destiny.
You’ll experience this firsthand as John guides you through a journey of “dancing the body divine” — accompanied by live African drumming — to open your heart, unlock your body, and free your spirit.
In this hour-long free online event, you’ll:
- Be guided to open your heart, unlock your body, and free your spirit through a journey of “dancing the body divine” accompanied by live African drumming
- Explore the differences between relying on the intellect and connecting with the feeling of embodiment and intuitive nature — and how this essential wisdom can help you navigate your life
- Reconnect with your “blood and bones” as you awaken your nervous system
- Learn about Thobela (humility) as you connect with all of life and the outside world with your belly touching the earth
- Learn practices to reconnect with your inner child, your innocence, and your natural-born rhythm — as you connect with the wind inside of you and surrender to the spirit of play
John’s teachings will help you reconnect with your “blood and bones” on a cellular and spiritual level. These skills can help you calm, awaken, and engage your nervous system as you cultivate a state of connection with all of life — and merge intellect with instinct.
These practices are designed to help you feel more alive as your nervous system and electrical field expand. You’ll become more sensitive and intuitive — and will learn to trust your inner guidance — helping you make important decisions.
When you join John for this special free event, you’ll be among the first to hear about a 7-week online program in which he’ll go much deeper into the healing powers of South African shamanic dance, drumming, and heartbeat meditation.
You'll learn how to access the mindfulness practice of ubuntu, which invokes the circle of life to help transform any feelings of shame, blame, and pain in your family, culture, or ancestral lineage — and to “grow” your spirit to become more empathic and intuitive.
You’ll also be empowered to connect with your “khanya” (inner shining) for more peace and connectedness with your ancestors, guardian spirits, and nature.
Sign Up Now
Join this FREE video event with John Lockley and open yourself to “ubuntu” — the circle of humanity —and discover how to repair your relationships with your ancestors while regaining a sense of connection to the Earth and all of life.
Free Video Event
What People Are Saying About John Lockley...
“The workshop participants experienced great shifts in their souls and a deeper connection to their ancestors through John’s guidance.”
Our mission is the conservation of Indigenous cultures, preservation of their territories, and the education of the public regarding the rich wisdom that they carry. We hosted John Lockley for a week and wish to express our gratitude to him for offering such truly powerful and authentic spiritual work from the Xhosa aangomas of South Africa. Everyone in the audience felt the presence of the ancestors in the room and left deeply fulfilled by the experience. We also offered a weekend medicine workshop and it was a beautiful experience for all who attended. The workshop participants experienced great shifts in their souls and a deeper connection to their ancestors through John’s guidance. I highly recommend his work to any organization that wishes to host a truly authentic elder from South Africa. In these times when many people are calling themselves shamans, we do a lot of searching for the authentic medicine people of the world. John offers the truly authentic wisdom we seek.
— Patricia Turner, founder of Tierra Sagrada, The Sacred Earth Foundation
“I’ve attended two of John’s ceremonies and left each time feeling elated and hopeful that shamanic work can bring healing to the world.”
John Lockley, a traditionally trained sangoma, brings the rhythms of African shamanism to life. With song, dance, and drumming, he creates a spirit-filled atmosphere in which to honor our ancestors and exchange blessings between the worlds. If you get a chance to participate with him in his joyous celebrations, don’t miss it. I’ve attended two of John’s ceremonies and left each time feeling elated and hopeful that shamanic work can bring healing to the world.
— Tom Cowan
“John is clearly called into a life of serving as a cultural bridge as well as being a healer.”
I participated in John’s retreat at the Buddhist Retreat Centre near Ixopo. I had previously had one experience visiting a sangoma and had done a bit of reading but looked forward to an experience. The experience facilitated by John was both informative and powerful. John is clearly called into a life of serving as a cultural bridge as well as being a healer. He shows up to both with a great deal of integrity. As a teacher myself, I appreciated the way in which John handily facilitated a group of widely and wildly varied individuals who each had their own hopes, expectations, and intentions. As someone actively seeking healing, I appreciated the authentic, practical, and nourishing healing experience of those days. I’m writing these words months after the experience and it continues to feed me.
— Jon L.
“This was incredibly beautiful, heart-opening, and at times, mind-blowing as well.”
I had the blessing and honor of attending a ceremony and talk by Xhosa sangoma John Lockley. This was incredibly beautiful, heart-opening, and at times mind-blowing as well. He sings, chants, dances, plays the drums, flute, and bowl, and is dedicatedly determined to create (and did) a sacred space and give the people with him a glimpse of the shamanic state of consciousness from an African point of view. He does this with a sweetness, kindness, and compassion but also has the spiritual wisdom of a veteran lineage holder. I felt without a doubt that he is a deeply powerful shaman, and one who would always use his power for healing and the greatest good. A beautiful and divine ceremonial experience.
— Jacqueline Arnold, Colorado
“Working with John is giving me a profound experience of awakening; the drumming shook my soul and spirit and ‘I woke up.’”
I’m very lucky to have been a part of sangoma John Lockley’s retreat. Working with John is giving me a profound experience of awakening; the drumming shook my soul and spirit and “I woke up.” John’s medicinal herb foot wash cleansed my soul; my dreams became beautiful again and the nightmares stopped. I have been very fortunate to experience a number of John’s healing retreats, and I can say the more you work with him in the circle of life/unbuntu, the more your heart opens and you begin to become a happier human being. I feel it’s the antidepressant that works for the modern world we live in today as it helps you to love and heal the past.
— Anita, United Kingdom
About John Lockley
John Lockley is one of the first white men in recent history to become a fully initiated sangoma (traditional African shaman) in the Xhosa lineage of South Africa. He was born in 1971 into a divided apartheid South Africa, with the mark of the sangoma on his face — a band of white birth skin around the eyes.
At 18, John was serving in the South African army as a medic when he had a strong, prophetic dream calling him to train as a Xhosa sangoma. He immediately began to suffer from the thwasa, a severe period of ill health that is inherent in all ancient shamanic cultures and which can only be cured through apprenticeship to a shamanic teacher.
Because of the restrictions of apartheid (which ended in 1994), it would take John seven years to find a Xhosa teacher. During the early days of his calling he trained as a Zen student under renowned Zen Master Su Bong, completing an intensive 3-month Kyol Che in a Buddhist monastery in South Korea. He was then invited by Zen Master Dae Soen Sa Nim to join his “monk army,” but the strength of his sangoma calling drew him back to South Africa.
Eventually, post-apartheid, John met MaMngwevu, a well-known Xhosa sangoma medicine woman, in one of the poorest townships in South Africa. She had foreseen his arrival in a dream and began his 10-year apprenticeship, giving him the initiated name Cingolweendaba, meaning messenger or connector between people and cultures.
