Indlu Yemimoya
Purpose
“House of Spirits”—that is what Indlu Yemimoya means, and that describes what this chantry of Durban stands for. Over the many years of white man’s arrival to South Africa, willworkers from England and the Netherlands and all Europe streamed into this port. They sought secrets and lore. They did so despite their lack of ignorance of the mysticks who already dwelled in this land: shamans of the Dreamspeakers Tradition. The European mages knew about their brethren. They just didn’t care. Fractured among tribal lines, individual Dreamspeakers saw their sacred sites pillaged of Tass and their culture (and paradigm) stomped into iron dust and glass smithereens.
Too late did the European mages realize the harm they committed, not only to their brothers in the Council but themselves. For Mythic Threads do not shatter piecemeal. When the old ways are forgotten, they are not replaced with other old ways, but rather forced to adapt to the soullessness of the Technocracy. The white mages relented and finally joined forces with the native Dreamspeakers, who more and more banded together to speak with one voice. Together, these mages drove back the Technocracy. Nodes were reclaimed. What the Ghanians far up north call Sankofa was embraced: the right to reclaim heritage.
Chantry Policies
The protocols of the Traditions are enforced now evenly, often with deference towards native mages when complaints are made. Reconciliation requires ethnic European mages check their privilege at the door. “Witch smellers” among the Sleepers, a traditional role in African society, sometimes play against the mages’ interests and occasionally result in backlashes of witch-hunting that would make the Inquisition equally proud and horrified. Consequently, the Rule of Shade is still important, even though “witch-smelling” as an activity has waned as the second decade of the 21st-century kicks off. (Like it or not, the Tradition mages have the Technocracy to thank for suppressing this gruesome and usually unjust superstitious tradition.)
Special Events
Special events are annual (or more frequent) holidays or special ritual days that the main group or groups observe as a whole community. Attendance and participation are often expected of all members, and sometimes required.
Khekhekhe
One of the most famous sangomas of modern times is named Zizwezonke Mtethwa. He took the nickname of “Khekhekhe”. His fame stems from the public displays of jaw-dropping shamanistic arts and spectacular feats as a prelude to traditional First Fruits harvest festivals. The purpose of Khekhekhe’s work was to draw local and international interest in Zulu customs without becoming a circus-like side-show. Fellow sangomas, fully Awakened, stepped up to the effort—for what could be a better way to expand Mythic Threads? The day of festivity, held on the 23rd of February annually, soon become eponymous with its founder’s name. On that day, Dreamspeakers perform minor and coincidental feats of spirit-magick in public at designated kraal (Zulu farmsteads), many of which are dangerous and all of which are designed to awe the crowds, such as the handling and partial swallowing of live venomous snakes. Khekhekhe himself is not Awakened but does seem to command powerful and traditional hedge magic. For the authentic sangomas of South Africa, there is little difference between hedge and true magic.
“We’re taking back what’s ours.”
-- Lethu Cebo, Master of the House of Spirits
