Each time I think about the monetary cost associated with intwaso (training to be a traditional healer) I am left with a range of thoughts and emotions.
First, I feel grateful for the thoughtfulness of my teachers, who dug into their pockets to aid me when I was younger.
Also, my teachers did not demand exorbitant initiation fees as many others did. They rather focused on teaching me.
When payment was due, it was only for necessities such as my spiritual regalia. I had to account for all things associated with my traditional ceremonies, including alcohol, food and other items. My ancestors insisted on umqombothi, so my Gobelas (mentors) didn’t force me to overspend on alcohol.
I remember preparing for one of my ceremonies in 2019 and my shaman, Mathiyane advising my family to make a large amount of traditional beer because it was a traditional ceremony. She told us to use brandy and gin only when we communicate with the ancestors. She argued that having alcohol makes it difficult to control the crowd as we conduct rituals. I remember my uncle Mxo being incredibly impressed by Mathiyane’s ethos. My entire family was.
Even in my more recent initiation, my shaman did not require me to overspend on things that were not directly linked to my spiritual growth. This was unfortunately not the case for a friend of mine who was also undergoing initiation around the same time. She would message me daily about the different schemes her gobela was conjuring up to milk more money from her. I remember one morning she called me crying how her gobela had increased the initiation fees. The fees had been increased twice already and they were nearing triple the original agreed fee. At the time she was looking at around R42,000 for initiation fees alone.
On a monthly basis she would have to furnish her gobela’s kitchen with groceries, with some specialty items from Woolies. She would also be expected to chauffer her gobela around. She also had to cook, clean, do the laundry and look after her gobela’s grandchildren, including washing their school uniform. She was also expected to drive the children to school and help them with their homework.
Although she complained about this, she would tell herself this was a way of serving her ancestors, because, after all, they had led her to that spiritual home. But the straw that broke the camel’s back was the grocery list for her initiation ceremony. When she sent me the list I was shocked. Her shaman asked for (and I wish I was making this up):
Castle light (24x 3); Black Label (24x4); Hansa (24x 4); Savannah (24x5); Hunters Extreme (24x3); Belgravia (24x3); Brutal Fruit (24x3); assorted cool drinks (24x8); Hennessey (2); Red Bull (24); Ginologist (2); Jameson (2).
She was also expected to hire provide transport for guests of her gobela, which would have cost about R13,000. She was to gift her gobela with a duvet set and a sheep. She would also have to send R2,500 on her shaman’s shaman. For her homecoming she would have to replicate these costs and buy a cow that her gobela is entitled to half of.
When she enquired about the beverage list she was told that her gobela was well-known and respected. Community members had thus become accustomed to a certain standard of food and access to liquor and he was not about to compromise his status because she claimed she couldn’t afford it.
I was elated when she cut ties with that gobela because he was exploiting my friend’s vulnerability and desperation to fulfil her calling and appease her ancestors. Her financial abuse left her depleted but she still had ancestors she needed to initiate – which was difficult. Her family found it difficult to legitimise the existence of ancestors after the abuse of their child. She nearly lost their support.
Intwaso is a financial exercise, but please remain woke. Please always be in a position to justify costs to yourself and your family. For this, you have to always ask questions. And you gobela who is taking advantage of people’s vulnerability – stop that thing!
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