What happens to your identity as a black South African when you no longer live within the socioeconomic or political or even the cultural norms and criminal violence that defines so much of who we believe we are?

If you are a black South African who is or has been living abroad for some time how do you define who you are?

To get some perspective on this I spoke to a few South Africans who are currently living in other countries to try to understand what their lived experience has been in how being away affects how they see and engage with their sense of identity.

I figured that this topic would need more than one person and also cannot be tackled from a strictly spiritual perspective so it will be a mini-series talking to different people from different countries.

The first person I will be talking to is Lerato Shadi.

Lerato Shadi is a visual and performance artist whose work challenges common assumptions to critique Western notions of history and make visible that which is invisible or overlooked. She works across video, performance, and installations.

Lerato was Born in Mahikeng, South Africa and now lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

So I want to know how does our identity, how does our sense of self affect how we navigate our beliefs and how we respond to the world in general. I want understand specifically how does the way that we perceive ourselves manifest the lives and socioeconomic challenges that we face today.

I spoke to Banele Rewo who is an entrepreneur, author and content creator who has a particular interest in the psychology behind the township economy.

In the process of the change and evolution of our societies, how does language affect our relationship with spirituality?

I spoke to Gogo Khanyakude who is a healer, a gobela, and someone that I believe is one of the most important voices in our generation when it comes to the modern interpretation of African spirituality.

Very often we find ourselves feeling like noh mahn, something somewhere isn't right. There's something that is simply not adding up about how life functions.

Right now the vast majority of us are going through a lot. Socially, our communities are a mess. Economical ku wow. Relationships...haai ke they are crying.
So I spoke to Gogo Mahlodi to because I wanted to know how do we define what is a spiritual setback and what is just a normal challenge of life.

So in the last episode, we discussed whether or not it is possible to practice multiple spiritual beliefs at the same time and I personally concluded by saying that maybe it would help to get a better understanding of what exactly these multiple spiritual beliefs actually are. Maybe then we will be able to say if they are connected or if they totally go against each other.

To kick off this little series, we are starting with exploring tarot card reading. Among many other questions, we will be asking What is tarot? Where does it come from? It is based on any spiritual belief? and what exactly do you get from a tarot card reading?

For this, I will be speaking to Bruja Thembi who is a tarot card reader and she will help to understand whether or not you incorporate tarot card reading into African spirituality?

:

The world that we live in today is increasingly global. Through the internet, there are virtually no boundaries stopping us from being influenced by many other beliefs and religions around the world.
This ease of access to different beliefs has meant that we have, whether consciously or subconsciously, started incorporating aspects of other practices into our own.

So in this episode what I would like to know is possible to practice different spiritual beliefs at the same time and what would that do for our spiritual journey.

I hooked up with Mkhulu Makhanya who has a wealth of knowledge about different beliefs and he'll be helping us break it down.

For anyone who is still trying to figure out their way in African Spirituality, the prospect of having to consult with a Healer or Sangoma can be extremely daunting.

Part of the challenge with this process is that you are coming in with a lot of misconceptions, a lot of confusion and, to be quite honest, you are downright scared because you don't know what to expect, you don't know how you are going to feel, or if it will help at all.

So I Nkhono Refilwe Ke Badimo who will guide us through the nitty-gritties of consulting

Have you ever had that moment or that period where you wanted where you just wanted to pack up one day and just disappear? To just leave everything behind and head out into the night and go as far away as you possibly can? Let's do that. Tonight, let's just disappear.