Tenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Makhathini is a renowned South African jazz musician from Pietermaritzburg. His parents were staunch Christians and he conformed to that lifestyle until he finished high school. He studied music, after leaving home and it was then that he accepted his calling to ubungoma (divination and healing). He believes in spiritual divination which brings healing to the soul. The aim of this paper is to make a connection between Makhathini’s musical lyrics, his religious beliefs, and spirituality, which is at the heart of Indigenous Knowledge Systems. His collection of songs, e.g. Amathambo (divining bones), umhlahlankosi (branch that brings the spirit of the deceased home), umthakathi (a sorcerer), Ukhambi (a cure), are all collection of songs that come to him in his dreams and visions. His ancestors give him the words to write. His music is at the centre of his spiritual narrative. He attests to the fact that, he does not feel like a composer, instead he is a messenger of his ancestors. He receives messages from the underworld and then relay them to his audience. This makes his renditions more relevant to people’s lives in the post-apartheid South Africa and centres around the principles of African Renaissance. This article deduces that the influence of the living-dead and the strong sense of believing in the ancestors controls and directs the lives of their living relatives. This becomes their strongest religion ever as it connects them directly with the unseen world.