100. Remembering Where You Come From: Thoughts on the United States from an Indigenous Ancestral Healer of Zulu and Swazi Lineage, Thabiso Mthimkhulu

“One thing that I want people to understand is that if you live in America, you live in a business and you are a customer in that business.” - Thabiso Mthimkhulu

I’m really exited to have Thabiso Mthimkhulu back on the podcast for a follow up conversation. Our discussion on “Redefining Crazy” and how we think about mental health was one of the most popular episodes on Depth Work to date. In this episode, Thabiso and I talk about the roles of metaphor and symbol in the mind-body relationship in sickness and indigenous views of learning to let the body speak. He also opens up about his thoughts on the United States and his home country Eswatini. His piercing insight into the causes of division, violence, and systemic oppression in the US is a call to “remember where you come from” and your own ancestral lineages.

In this episode we discuss:

• the role of symbol and metaphor in understanding sickness

• letting the body speak

• America’s exploitative systems and societal division

• Reclaiming your roots

Bio:

Gogo Ndlondlo (whose given birth name is Thabiso Mthimkhulu) is an Indigenous Zulu and Swazi sangoma, from the lineage of Khuzalingezwa Emzini Wamadoda— born and raised in Hlathikhulu, Swaziland.

Gogo Ndlondo was raised in a family of healers who hold a great body of knowledge and wisdom of traditional African herbal and ancestral medicine. Gogo Ndlondo experienced his calling illness, ukuthwasa, as a young child — seeing spirits, hearing voices, time traveling, having visions, and prophetizing about the future. Gogo Ndlondo’s access to other realities and ancestral realms was affirmed within his cultural worldview, where his family and community recognized his soul calling as a sangoma— to continue practicing and carrying out this lineage of important healing medicine.

Gogo Ndlondlo spent his life in training, and is formally engaged in a multi-year apprenticeship process, under the brilliant guidance and mentorship of Gogo Dabulamandzi in the lineage of Khuzalingezwa Emzini Wamadoda — in Barberton, South Africa.

Links

@thabisoheals on IG

https://www.thabisoheals.com/

Resources:

• Get videos and bonus episodes: ⁠⁠DEPTHWORK.SUBSTACK.COM⁠⁠
• Get the book: ⁠⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠⁠
• Become a member: ⁠⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠⁠
• Train with us: ⁠⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum

Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.