Healers and Spiritual Workers Deserve to be Paid a Fair Rate for their Services
At the end of November 2021 I spent 4 day with my sister doing a whole mgidi (ceremony) for her twasas (sangoma/shaman initiates).
Johannesburg people (including sangomas) also came through. It was a whole event.
But the village people and village sangomas came through, as usual.
I spent 3 solid days cooking and cleaning and serving 200 - 300 people a day for 3 meals daily. When village people attend something they attend it.
I really love village life because of the communal aspect of things. They were in this with us - helping out as much as they could - the young men and women did a lot.
My mom got a whole professional chef for the event, it turns out we have a trained chef who studied African and French cuisine in the village; he and I worked the kitchen from sunrise to sunrise.
Chefs save lives.
I was on my feet for at least 18 hours a day. Yes there were loads of vegan options but there was meat, alcohol and people to serve.
At one point we ran out of running water totally and couldn't get the water trucks to come fill up the water tank because it was a Sunday (a truck eventually came because we called everyone).
Anyway, in the 3 hours that we had no running water - imagine me with other village folk, carrying 20L buckets of water from the neighbors’ water tanks.
Also imagine me washing dishes, sweeping and scrubbing floors.
I even had on an apron and was talking to old grannies who were telling me how I used to be such a chubby kid and they could barely pick me up.
By the end of the weekend I was just laughing and joking with some of the guests that I’m soo off-brand it's not even funny.
People were even making me offers of marriage, some wanted to set me up with their cousins and brothers, and the men in the village were promising to beat any man who disrespects me because I am soo hardworking and respectful.
I had to keep explaining that this display of hard labor was rare from me but no one believed me.
This event helped me see the amount of work that goes into becoming initiated as a sangoma.
Most lay people don't see the amount of labor that goes into becoming a sangoma/ healer, and often complain about the prices they are charged for the healing work done.
The fact is, we don’t know the amount of work a healer put in to be able to hold space for you and help you heal years of blockages and pain in a few days. You’re not paying for the hours worked but for all the mgidis (ceremonies) and healing work they have done to get this experience.
Becoming a healer and getting all that education and experience is as valuable as getting a university degree and healers deserve to be paid well for their services.
If you’re a sangoma in South Africa please double or triple your prices. You are underpaid (I don’t have to check your pricelist to know this), the amount of work y'all do to become sangomas is insane. Honestly add a few zeroes to your prices. So much time, money and effort goes into being a sangoma, it's not even a joke.
