Are you a generational gatekeeper?
Are your ready to answer the ancestral call?
Are you willing to Re-Member ancient healing traditions?
The Ancestral Call 2024
“A diviner combines aspects of the healer, social psychologist, priest and social worker”
Hirst (1990)
Greetings!
I am Sonya Welch-Moring aka Makhosi Nyoni and in November 2024 I will host the first Ancestral Call healing retreat for BIPOC and Diaspora Women of Colour, in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is the first retreat that I have curated and it will resonate with those who are being called by their ancestors to heal their ancestral line. If you’d like to know more about African Traditional Healing and how it can support Diaspora family life, this retreat will deepen your learning and knowledge.
This is a small group retreat that has just 6 spaces for women who value a guided immersion into ‘other ways of knowing’. Healing approaches that can interrupt and sooth the generational family patterns that impact Black Diaspora families and communities of colour. You will come ready to participate in ancestral constellations circles with Makhosi Nyoni and learn from Dr Morongwa Makena, initiated Sangoma healer and teacher. The retreat will support your lineage past, present and future leaving you feeling inspired and with a deep sense of gratitude towards your ancestors.
An Immersion into Other Ways of Knowing
The main purpose of the retreat is to explore at a deep level, the ancestral family field of Diaspora rooted people. There is a focus on African traditional healing, drawing on South African Sangoma practices that are at the core of the Ancestral Constellations process. This retreat has been created to support personal and/or professional learning about transgenerational healing from a Diaspora perspective. Participants will likely have attended several Ancestral Constellations workshops or know the theory and philosophy behind the approach.
The immersion into ancestral learning aims to support both personal healing and professional knowledge. There will also be ancestral learning circles with Dr Morongwa Makena, a South African Mkhulu (teacher). She will be offering traditional African transgenerational consultations, and there is an option to experience traditional healing rituals. There is a cultural element to the retreat with excursions that will enhance your learning about South African society. There will be a theme of self-care woven into the programme and space will be given for reflection and relaxation.
Retreat Overview
Friday 8th November to Sunday 17th November 2024 (early bird price) £1750
Workshops
There will be a variety of learning circles on offer during the retreat. You will build on your family constellations knowledge and skills. And you will learn from an African traditional healer, Sangoma and Mkhulu (teacher) with over 25 years of knowledge in her field.
Ancestral Learning
The immersion in to ancestral learning will deepen your understanding of South African cosmology and the role of ancestors. You can receive a traditional bone reading which will allow you to compare western constellations work with African ancestral family beliefs.
Dining Options
This will be a hybrid model, with breakfast, lunches and light snacks provided. In the evening some meals will be provided at the venue according to the schedule. On other evenings you are free to explore the many restaurants nearby (at your cost).
Reflection & Play
There is a strong personal healing and self care element during the retreat to support personal learning and professional practice. Johannesburg is a vibrant dynamic city and there there will be several cultural excursions scheduled during the retreat.
Accommodation
Participants will be staying in the main house and accommodation nearby. There is more information available during the application process. South Africa has a load-shedding programme and electricity may be out for certain periods of the day.
Application & Price
There is an an application process which will give us clarity about your requirements. The full price of the retreat is £1,750 (early bird) including 9 nights accommodation, rooms on offer are solo occupancy. Flights are not included, a £500 deposit secures you place.
Question & Answer
There will be an online Q&A session on Wednesday 15th May between 6.30pm-8pm UK time. This will be an opportunity to find out more about the retreat and get your questions answered.
The Retreat Space an Oasis of Calm
We will be staying at a beautiful house in the heart of Johannesburg, close to shops and restaurants. The house is in a quiet area, close to Rosebank Mall in a culturally diverse area. It is owned by an African-American woman who lives between Atlanta and Johannesburg and she has created a retreat space that is welcoming and inviting. From the African-inspired decor to the the lush grounds and swimming pool, this is an oasis of calm in a bustling city centre. We aim for a community vibe and there are spaces for privacy, to breath outside, reflection and play.
The retreat will invite you to step into South African living and we will be working and living together during the retreat. Currently there is a load shedding programme on some days in may parts of the country including Johannesburg. This means that the electricity could be out for several hours at a time, although there will be generators to charge phones, computers and other equipment during the day. Please consider carefully before you apply, whether these factors would minimise your enjoyment of the retreat.
Comfortable Communal Spaces
A Place to Lay Your Head
A Garden to Relax & Unwind
The Retreat Package
What is Included:
Transport to and from retreat venue
9 nights accommodation
Welcome meal and opening ceremony
Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks
Constellation Gatherings
Ancestral Learning Circles
Excursions as indicated in schedule
Optional:Bone Reading with Mkhulu
What is Not Included:
Flights and visas if required
Travel Insurance (Required)
Food and drink outside of the retreat
Accommodation pre and post reteat
Any activities not indicated in the schedule
Reading the Family Ancestral Line
The Ancestral Constellations process draws on the Western development of the method and also explores the ancestral traditions of Sangoma bone readings. They aren’t the same, but they are similar paths and we can honour the source and lineage of one in support of the other.
Welcome to the retreat Guest teacher Dr Morongwa Makena. Sangoma, Mkhulu (teacher) and master practitioner with a wealth of ancestral knowledge and indigenous wisdom that she will share in circle and transgenerational consultations.
Ancestral Knowledge & Indigenous Wisdom
OPEN TO HEALING
- Bringing your body, minds and spirits to the earthly wisdom that is the soil of Africa. Feel the movements that emerge and and REConnect with ‘other ways of knowing’ self and others
INDIGENOUS WISDOM
- Accessing traditional indigenous wisdom that is deep within the systemic constellations method. Explore Ancestral Constellation and step into the transgenerational energy that is in your ancestral line.
ACTS OF LIBATION
- Connecting us to the history of South Africa and the liberation struggle as an act of libation. Claim the deep roots of Diaspora cultural heritage that can be found on African soil
THERAPEUTIC PRACTICE
- Deepening learning about the place of healing ritual in transgenerational therapeutic practice.Dance together in a journey towards a new framing of this work in a Diaspora context
I’ve Been Called….
“I’ve been called towards bringing in the spiritual more and more into my therapeutic practice and I’ve been finding my way with this. Coming to the training (if I can call it that) let me know that I had arrived. I’m where I need to be and the support for my people exists.”
Remi Arnold – Psychotherapist – March 2024