Have you ever wondered if your current life situation — whether positive or negative — might be influenced by your ancestral lineages?
Respected sangoma (South African healer and shaman) and diviner John Lockley says we can realign with the best version of ourselves and our lives by healing our familial, cultural, and spiritual roots.
In doing so, we also become empowered to create a more humane world where all beings — including the Earth itself — can benefit.
John teaches South African shamanism, which focuses on ubuntu (humanness) — our moral obligation to care for others as we care for ourselves.
This responsibility is actually a blessing that extends to all of life, since cosmically, everything is interconnected…
… the pain, suffering, and challenges of our ancestors are imprinted upon us — as is their wisdom, peace, support, and joy.
During this transformational course, you’ll unearth the hidden potential that is buried in your ancestral roots through John’s potent fusion of ceremonial South African shamanic and Buddhist practices…
… including dance, drumming, dreamwork, meditations, and wisdom teachings and traditions to transform the heaviness and blockages within your familial, cultural, or spiritual lineages into love, peace, and empowered presence.
Fully initiated in the Xhosa lineage of South Africa, John spent 10 years in apprenticeship within that shamanic lineage.
John’s remarkable journey to discover his female South African teacher and eventually study within the Xhosa lineage as a white male, despite the constraints of Apartheid, is a testament to perseverance, cross-cultural understanding, and reconciliation.
You’ll journey into the pulsing healing heart of South African shamanism as John guides you into a visceral experience of your place in your familial line, our world, and the cosmos…
… instilling a felt sense of peace and connectedness with your ancestors, guardian spirits, nature — and your true self.
Using stories in the traditional shamanic way, John draws on his own life experience as a Zen and sangoma student…
… illuminating the deeper meaning of your embodied ancestral lineages and grounding you in the acceptance and love that is your birthright through evocative meditation and rhythm work that provide guidance, healing, and wisdom.
John will guide you to connect with your ancestors during dreamtime and through the South African “trance dance.”
You’ll explore how to grow your spirit to become more empathic and intuitive and plant the seeds of nourishment for the roots of your tree of life…
… releasing the shame and pain carried for generations in these roots so you can heal yourself and all of your ancestral wounds.
You’ll learn revitalizingearth-based shamanic ancestral practices you can use everyday for healing and guidance to live a life of khanya — inner shining — and be guided to create sacred space by creating an ancestral earth shrine, symbolizing your sacred connection with the Earth.
As you begin to befriend your ancestral shadows and observe the parts of yourself that make you feel ashamed, guilty, or lacking in self-worth, the relationships you have with your ancestors and others will also begin to heal…
… and ripple into our world, creating a more vibrant and healed circle of life that nourishes the best in everyone and what’s truly possible for your life.
If you’d like to unlock the joy within your genes — healing your lineage backward and forward in time through ancient and deeply ceremonial shamanic practices that welcome your ancestry and all that you are in a transformational yet gentle way…
… join us for this immersive, heartfelt journey into the healing wisdom of South African shamanism.
In this 7-part transformational course, John will guide you through the fundamental skills and competencies you’ll need to successfully transform your relationship with your ancestral roots to revitalize your life energy and honor your soul’s purpose.
This course will feature step-by-step teachings and experiential practices with John. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to unlock the joy within your genes, rediscover your soul’s purpose, and positively transform your life.

What are the ancestral stories of your family? Are you proud of your people? What are the limiting beliefs or opinions that you hold about them?
Our DNA, bones, and blood are the sum total of thousands — possibly millions — of years of ancestors before us. Ancient shamans believe that all we need to do to access the vast treasure trove of memories and knowledge within us, is to say the names of our ancestors.
This week introduces South African cosmology and the concept of ubuntu (humanity) popularized by Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both of whom are from the Xhosa culture in South Africa — the same tribe/culture that adopted and trained John Lockley to become a sangoma (traditional South African shaman).
You’ll be encouraged to see your ancestors as streams of consciousness, like a river or tree sap extending deep into the ground.
In this session, you’ll:

Ubuntu is the circle of life. Only after first connecting with yourself and your soul can you then look to your ancestors and offer a prayer to them. Finally, you bow humbly to the Divine.
This week, you’ll practice ubuntu and go into a deeper discussion of both blood and adopted ancestors, spirit guides, and helpers.
You’ll continue to pray and say your name, and invoke bloodline and spiritual lineages, as you’re guided to create sacred space in the form of an ancestral shrine — symbolizing that we are all made of the Earth and will one day return.
In this session, you’ll:

Our dreams are a reflection of our lives and our lives reflect our dreams. How can you realize your destiny and reforge the road on which you walk upon?
This week, you’ll explore traditional South African teachings of uvula ndlela, or opening the road, to invoke your ancestors in prayer and listen to the response from the other world — often appearing in the form of dreams.
You’ll learn how to communicate in the language of the spirit world, which speaks in riddles and metaphors.
As you connect more deeply with your ancestors, your dreams will change…
… and as you become more mindful of your dreams, you’ll learn to identify synchronicities and develop the capacity for experiencing more soulfulness.
In this session, you’ll:

In Buddhism, the three jewels of Buddha, Dharma & Sangha serve as vehicles to help people shine and connect to their purpose in life.
Buddha represents the enlightened or shining one, Dharma speaks about the teachings to connect to our inner shining, and Sangha represents the community that supports us along our journey.
These jewels complement an earth-based ancestral practice.
This week, you’ll explore how traditional South African shamanism, khanya (shining), and khanya umsebenze (shining work) are pivotal to any ancestral practice, in relation to contemporary Buddhist and yogic practice.
In this session, you’ll:

In all traditional ancestral practices, movement and dance are used to connect to the physical and spiritual. As you move with rhythm and intention, your spine generates heat, which energizes the spirit.
Anthropologists maintain that all human life came from Africa, specifically Southern Africa. After the last ice age, our ancestors lived in coastal regions and danced in caves.
This week, you’ll discover South African “trance dances” they performed that helped them connect to their higher consciousness and dreamtime — stimulating the growth of their spiritual intelligence.
These dances survived the test of time and form the bedrock of traditional spiritual practices in Southern Africa.
In this session, you’ll:

We live in a modern world addicted to constant updates, adrenaline, and movement. Many of us struggle to feel full or satisfied — what Buddhists call the plight of the hungry ghost.
People are frenetically trying to fill the void of spirit/soul that their ancestors moved away from since the Industrial Revolution.
For this reason, we must examine how we live today and what we might have inherited from our ancestors which no longer serves our greater life purpose.
This week, you’ll learn how to befriend your shadows and look with understanding at the parts of yourself that make you feel ashamed, guilty, or lacking in self worth.
In this session, you’ll:

As custodians of Earth, we are each responsible for the state and wellbeing of our planet. As we reconnect to one another in this world and make peace with our ancestors from the past, we complete ubuntu and connect more deeply with nature and our destiny in this life.
According to the Buddha, the point of life is to find our purpose. Oftentimes, this requires challenging, uncomfortable work as part of our spiritual initiation.
Once our human relationships are met and given voice, the next step is to face outward and connect with the natural world.
This week you’ll contemplate how nature calls you.
In this session, you’ll:
In addition to John’s transformative 7-module course, you’ll receive this special bonus offering to complement the course and take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.

Breathe in deeply, breathe out slowly. Relax and unwind to a guided meditation using John’s voice and Tibetan bowl to help connect you to “the little drummer” in your chest — your own heartbeat. Our hearts hold the rhythm to the natural world. All we need to do is stop. Listen. Let go. And surrender.

Track 13: Introducing “The Calling” Chant From South Korea “Kwan-Seum Bosal”
Kwan-Seum Bosal, “One Who Listens to the Cries of the World,” is the Bodhisattva of Compassion in South Korea, much like Kwan Yin in other parts of Asia and China. John speaks about his journey from South Korea as a Zen student under the renowned Zen Master Seung Sahn to the traditional Eastern Cape, South Africa. He recounts the beginning of his Sangoma (African Shamanic) apprenticeship under his teacher MaMngwevu, a well-known Xhosa medicine woman.
Track 14: “Kwan Seum Bosal”
Let this track take you on a spiritual journey to rediscover your inner truth. John begins with the chant of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Kwan Seum Bosal, then moves into an “Ingoma” (African chant), giving strength to Mandela and his vision of “ubuntu,” or humanity. Amongst traditional South Africans and medicine people, Sangoma chants are seen as gateways to the spirit world or the world beyond time, helping others connect with their souls, ancestors, and spiritual journeys.
Track 15: “UMoya Wam”
“UMoya wam” translates to “my spirit or soul” and is a call to wake up and connect to the divine and our ancestors. This track includes Sangoma drumming, which is a specific beat within the genre of sacred music and different from traditional music in South Africa.
Experience a unique opportunity to learn from the founder of “The Way of the Leopard” teachings and sangoma (African shaman) John Lockley — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session includes a streaming video option and will guide you to rediscover your soul’s purpose, and positively transform your life.
You’ll also receive the entire class transcription after each session is completed. You can then review, print, and highlight the most important insights and practices you were given.
Between class sessions, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each lesson.
We feel honored that John Lockley has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive online course. This is a unique opportunity to learn from the founder of “The Way of the Leopard” teachings and sangoma (African shaman) whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.
If you’re serious about healing yourself and your ancestral roots for increased harmony and vitality, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind course.
If you don’t absolutely LOVE South African Shamanic Wisdom — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form 14 days from your date of purchase and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.

John Lockley is a fully initiated and ordained sangoma (African shaman) in two lineages from South Africa: the Xhosa and Swazi nations. His Xhosa apprenticeship took 10 years, and he was foreseen in a dream by his teacher, MaMngwevu, a senior Xhosa sangoma – from the same tribe as Nelson Mandela — who invited him to be her apprentice.
He was one of the first white men in recent times after Apartheid to be awarded the title of “Ligqira Linkulu” by his Xhosa elders, meaning senior sangoma. His Xhosa name given by his teacher is “Ucingolweendaba,” meaning “the messenger or bridge between cultures.”
John has pioneered the bridge between modern Western psychology and traditional South African healing. For the past 12 years, he has been facilitating “Ubuntu” (Humanity) and Way of the Leopard retreats worldwide, teaching people how they can reconnect to their ancestors, spirit, and the Earth.
A passion of John's is teaching people Indigenous African medicine to help them reconnect to the Earth. He facilitates this through his Dreams & Tracking retreats in the Kalahari Desert every year, and Leopard Warrior trails in South Africa.
John, who holds an honors degree in clinical psychology, offers private divination and healing sessions online. He is also a Zen meditation practitioner with over 30 years of experience. He took Buddhist precepts with Zen Master Su Bong from South Korea in 1992.
He is the author of the book Leopard Warrior, and of audio teachings titled em>The Way of the Leopard.