Sacred Sites and more sacred sites

July 15
A long drive took us to a site where many pilgrims of many backgrounds (Basotho, Zulu...) come to seek the ancestors. We saw people walking through in both directions and stopped at a central area where people stop to rest and perform ceremonies. We participated in a ceremony led by a female "sangoma" traditional medicine man. It was a melange of faiths and practices, she read from the Old Testament, and they prayed to the ancestors and to Jesus. We all threw flat cakes into the fire as well as different seasonings, all as a sacrifice to the ancestors. People from all walks of life come from far and wide to seek these healing rituals and many pay hefty fees for the animals they must sacrifice and the ceremonies in which they partake for the appeasement of their ancestors. There were different shelters built into the landscape, many of which were well hidden. We also walked past a well decorated fertility house and many "shrines" to different branches of Christianity and non Christian practices.

16 July
Today's drive was a bit shorter than yesterday. Through Golden Gate Park one more time with a bathroom stop in Clarens. We arrived at the gate to Motouleng shortly after. A walk through the grassy area, over the rocky river and we were at an entrance to a massive cave (really an overhang, but large!)
We were toured around by 2 different people. The first, another medicine man who showed us the places of ancestors, where people bathe in the mud for healing, and where an individual might light candles and then go into a dark recess of the cave for alone time with the ancestors. Again, the were many shelters built into the space, some covered, some with roofs of thatch. We were then taken around by the called caretaker of the cave - meaning, that 7 years ago, he was called to administer the space for the ancestors and the pilgrims who arrive. Over the last 7 years, he has built all the shelters and he is proud and protective of his work. Some of it was quite beautiful.
The following photos are from both days of Sacredness:








On the way back on Saturday, we stopped at a reproduction of a traditional Basotho village. It was interesting in that the shelters changed with the years - for example, the earliest one was created to look like one from several hundred years ago and the last one we toured was built with more modern materials and a nod to tradition in the painted walls, but with modern pots, pans, bedding etc inside. We were able to see, in an hour, the changes that have taken place over centuries of outside influences.
A few photos from that visit:

Location:Somewhere far from Harrismith