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WORK TITLE: Leopard Warrior: A Journey in the African Teachings of Ancestry, Instinct, and Dreams
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1971
WEBSITE: http://www.johnlockley.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
splits his time between South Africa, Europe and the U.S
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2017040167
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2017040167
HEADING: Lockley, John
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670 __ |a Leopard warrior, 2017: |b E-CIP t.p. (John Lockley)
PERSONAL
Born 1971, in South Africa.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author and Xhosa shaman and healer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
John Lockley is the first white man in modern times to become a traditional South African spiritual healer. “At eighteen, John was serving in the South African army as a medic (during the war with Angola in the 1980s).” stated the writer of a biographical blurb about the author appearing on the John Lockley Website, “when he had a strong, prophetic dream calling him to train as a Xhosa sangoma.” “John suffered the ordeal consistent with his calling as part of his initiation,” wrote Malidoma Somé in the introduction to Lockley’s memoir Leopard Warrior: A Journey in the African Teachings of Ancestry, Instinct, and Dreams. “It came as a burning fever, an excruciating pain, as the spirit rewired him for the job of his life. In these moments of dismantling, one cannot see the light. Initiation is a brush with uncertainty, danger, and death. It fosters depression and bewilderment. Trapped in a country rigged by apartheid while knowing he had to find a sangoma willing to mentor him, the eighteen-year-old middle-class student could not have found a more difficult path to follow. But it happened.”
Because of the restrictions that apartheid placed on interactions between black and white South Africans, Lockley had to follow other spiritual paths for years. He trained as a Zen Buddhist monk before returning to his native South Africa following the collapse of apartheid in 1994. There he found MaMngwevu, a Xhosa sangoma, who welcomed him as her apprentice. The Xhosa elders “welcomed me in as family and were not perturbed in the least by my white skin or the fact that I am not a native Xhosa man,” Lockley stated in Leopard Warrior. He trained for a decade longer before becoming a sangoma in his own right, and in 2017 he published the tale of his spiritual journey. The leopard warrior of the title refers to the “shamanic path,” declared a contributor to Spirituality Today, “for awakening our intuition and connection to the spirit world.” “In addition to learning how Lockley transformed his life,” stated a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “readers will learn about the ceremonies and initiations he went through.” “John Lockley’s story,” Somé said, “is a remarkable and fascinating testimony to the ways in which the African ancestors pick and choose who they want to be the voice of their wisdom in the world. He is evidence that the ancestors have gone outside the tribal lineage to recruit ambassadors who can spread their wisdom and healing traditions. John’s story is a captivating testimony of a hero’s journey into uncharted territories.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Lockley, John, Leopard Warrior: A Journey in the African Teachings of Ancestry, Instinct, and Dreams, Sounds True (Boulder, CO), 2017.
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, September 11, 2017, review of Leopard Warrior: A Journey in the African Teachings of Ancestry, Instinct, and Dreams, p. 61.
ONLINE
John Lockley Website, http://www.johnlockley.com/ (March 28, 2018), author profile.
Positive Life, http://www.positivelife.ie/ (September 6, 2017), Paul Congdon, “Leopard Warrior: John Lockley in Conversation with Paul Congdon.”
Shaman Links, https://www.shamanlinks.net/ (March 28, 2018), author profile.
Spirituality Today, http://spirituality.today/ (February 7, 2018), review of Leopard Warrior.
John LockleyWebinars About
The Work
Events Media
Blog Contact Newsletter
ABOUT JOHN
John in Brighton, UK
John in Brighton, UK
“My journey is about reconciliation and part of my job is to help heal the past. When people are more connected with their own spirits, there is less of a desire to destroy or put down another. I don’t intend to bring Xhosa or South African shamanic culture to the West as such, but rather to use its essence – the techniques of prayer, dream work and connection to nature – to help people connect with their own ancestors and spiritual traditions.”
John is one of the first white men, in recent history, to become a fully initiated sangoma 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 (during the war with Angola in the 1980s) 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 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 three-month kyol che in a Buddhist monastery in South Korea. He was then invited by the Grand Master Dae Soen Sa Nim to join his “monk army”, but the strength of his sangoma calling drew him back to South Africa.
John with his teacher, Mum Ngwevu and her husband.
John with his teacher, Mum Ngwevu and her husband.
Eventually, post-Apartheid, John met Mum Ngwevu, 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 Ucingolwendaba, meaning messenger or connector between people and cultures.
John now splits his time between South Africa, Europe and the U.S.
Find out more about John’s work and read first-hand accounts from John’s students and clients worldwide.
Here John discuss his his story on a recent podcast at Mindrolling.
ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT JOHN LOCKLEY 2015
Sumo
Focus Retriever
John Lockley
John Lockley Traditional African SangomaA fully initiated sangoma in the Xhosa lineage of South Africa
“My journey is about reconciliation and part of my job is to help heal the past. When people are more connected with their own spirits, there is less of a desire to destroy or put down another. I don’t intend to bring Xhosa or South African shamanic culture to the West as such, but rather to use its essence – the techniques of prayer, dream work and connection to nature – to help people connect with their own ancestors and spiritual traditions.”
John Lockley 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 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 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.
Post-Apartheid, John met Mum Ngwevu, 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 Ucingolwendaba, meaning messenger or connector between people and cultures.
John now splits his time between South Africa, Europe and the U.S.
John Lockley’s Website
Podcast interview with John Lockley on Sounds True
LEOPARD WARRIOR: JOHN LOCKLEY IN CONVERSATION WITH PAUL CONGDON
Admin | September 6, 2017 | Audio, Events, Inspiring Interviews, Positive News & Interviews, Positive Nights, Positive Stories | No Comments
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John Lockley – a traditional African/Irish Sangoma (shaman) from the Xhosa tribe of South Africa – joined us at Positive Nights on the 31st of August 2017. We wanted to share this recording of his remarkable interview with Paul on that night, where he talked about a wide variety of subjects, including his early life in apartheid-era South Africa, how he came to accept his Sangoma calling, and the importance of dreams. John’s new book ‘Leopard Warrior,’ which describes his incredible journey, will be released later this year. He will be leading a retreat at Aloha House in Co. Kerry on September 22nd, and is also available in Dublin for private healing and divination sessions. You can find out more about his services at his website, www.johnlockley.com.
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Print Marked Items
Leopard Warrior: A Journey in the
African Teachings of Ancestry, Instinct,
and Dreams
Publishers Weekly.
264.37 (Sept. 11, 2017): p61.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Leopard Warrior: A Journey in the African Teachings of Ancestry, Instinct, and Dreams
John Lockley. Sounds True. $16.95 trade paper
(256p) ISBN 978-1-62203-903-6
In his enchanting debut, spiritual healer Lockley shares his journey of becoming a sangoma (healer) in the
Xhosa lineage of South Africa. Lockley begins with his life as a solider and medic in South Africa at the
end of Apartheid. Though he found his work healing soldiers rewarding, he felt he could do more by
helping people in a spiritual way, which led to Lockey taking an apprenticeship with diviner MaMngwevu.
During their first meeting, MaMngwevu conducted a divination session that showed Lockley his future is in
spiritual medicine; she also revealed she had a dream the night before about a foreigner entering her life. In
traditional South African healing circles, the leopard is sacred, and part of Lockley's training included
becoming like a leopard: he was told to always be moving, and to always be vigilantly keeping watch--this
way he would be able to detect holistic patterns that go unnoticed by those with a narrow focus. In addition
to learning how Lockley transformed his life, readers will learn about the ceremonies and initiations he
went through to become a sangoma. This will be of interest to those who want to learn more about the
spiritual ways and religious ceremonies of ancient South African cultures, and how those ways are still
being lived out today. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Leopard Warrior: A Journey in the African Teachings of Ancestry, Instinct, and Dreams." Publishers
Weekly, 11 Sept. 2017, p. 61. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A505634960/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=51004e16.
Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A505634960
February 7, 2018Spirituality TodayBooksSacred Traditions
Leopard Warrior by John Lockley
Publication Details
Author: John Lockley
Publisher: Sounds True
Publication Date: 1 Dec. 2017
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1622039036
Description
In 1990, during the beginning of the end of apartheid, a young white medic in the South African army named John Lockley had a powerful dream. This dream, which he describes as a “calling,” began his extraordinary odyssey beyond the barriers of race, culture, and belief into the world of the shaman.
Leopard Warrior shares the remarkable story of how John Lockley became one of the first modern white men in recent history to become a fully initiated sangoma–traditional priest and healer–in the Xhosa lineage of South Africa, the tribe of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. In this teaching memoir, John introduces readers to “the way of the leopard,” a shamanic path for awakening our intuition and connection to the spirit world. As he explores Xhosa wisdom on dreams, ceremony, spirit guides, and ancestors, this remarkable teacher takes us on a joyous and life-affirming journey to the center of our power and purpose in this world, to our intrinsic humanity (ubuntu).