Returning to the Motherland: How Pilgrimage Awakens the Soul with Ancestral Healer Litha Booi

Introduction to Motherland and Ancestral Healing 0:00

Welcome back to Stepping Into Soul Power. I'm your host, Dr. Elizabeth Samanta, the intuitive psychiatrist. And today, friends, we journeyin'. We're going home. We going to the motherland. When I say mother land, you all think of different things. Sometimes it's not just geographical. It's spiritual. Spiritual meaning when we think about that. In this episode, We are returning to Motherland, We're gonna look at how pilgrimages can really awaken the soul. Our guest today is an ancestral healer, storyteller, spiritual activist from South Africa.

Rooted in the teachings of the Hosa lineage, he bridges ancient knowledge systems and contemporary social transformation through retreats. He's doing these pilgrims, and he's storytelling in best way possible. Lita, welcome to the show. It's an honor to have you here. Good to be here, thank you so much. Yes. We want to hear more about you. What led you to move in the direction of Ancestral Healing? Yeah, so before I start, I think it's important that I just, you know, welcome those that have walked before me.

And so I'm just going to call in my ancestors by honoring them for a moment and say, yeah, giving deep gratitude to my ancestor's, our ancestors, great ancestors that hold us all. Of course, we know that the ancestors stretch further than just the human beings. We know the that ancestors are the rivers, the mountains. the forests, everything. We give thanks, deep gratitude to all that is, all it was, and all ever will be. You help us today, guide us, today. I pray that my people and Elizabeth's people just, you know, work well together in a good way.

What needs to be said, be heard. And what needs Yeah. So to your question, how did I get you? You know, so I'm like, I've always been a kind of a deep kind spiritual seeker, for a very long period of time. And so starting off with my numerology, the number seven, which is always the see-ker. You now, The Hermit Seeker. I have traveled quite a lot and done quite crazy things in different spaces. When was it? 2006 or 2007. A while ago.

Calling in Ancestors and Spiritual Seeking 2:34

I can't even remember what it was, but anyway, I just had this inkling to explore the other than human realities, you know, and so I would go to various places. The first one that I went to was the Insight Training Center where it's this very powerful process that really helps you to strip yourself out of yourself to connect to something that's deep, You know? I like the ideology of really breaking down so that you can build from a different perspective or letting go so you stepping into spaces that you're unfamiliar with and your spirit just like it's like a great memory a Great remembrance, you know, and so after that, I just I was so hungry for more So I started to do a little bit more work with uh, You know the art of living join the arts of learning started do it a bit of meditation inward work and then I learned about psychic intuitive medium from various people and Yeah, and I've always worked with different beings and stuff like that.

But one day my ancestors came through in my dreams and they were like, we see you love to explore these many different spaces, but when will you come home? When will you come home? And so I sat down and it was so funny I'll never forget it because we were in a plant medicine experience and because I was co-facilitating these journeys for the longest period of time and they sat and then they looked at me they were like is it, because, we don't have fancy feathers because you know at that time I, was doing a lot of work in North America or We don't have fancy clothes and all these things, you know?

And then I had to make a decision and I said, no, of course not. Come as you are. And this ancestor sat me down and they were like, well, it's time that you started to learn the ways of the posa people, the way of connecting to the spirits, uh, ways overborn to, to ways have being that will deepen your wide broad perspective so that when you speak, he speak not from a grounded perspective, but from rooted perspective. Yeah. I see many questions running in your head. I just, okay, so some people have never done anything like this, right?

So what does it entail? Paint us a picture of what it means to connect with the ancestors, to return to the motherland, like what is this? Why do we do it? Well, I think the greatest, easiest way to talk about it was that, you know, always used to think about my grandfather who, i have a very very close relationship with him and you know i didn't get to know him as well as i would like to do it but after he's passing he would come to me and my dad as, well you, know and they are kind of my guiding ancestors and so i always think what kind, of relationship would i like, to hire with the ones that are close to, me now when they gone that's always been a good kind.

Of starting point for me it's, always, been like what, kind? Of relationship and how do i relate and, so For me, from an African perspective in general, when we die, we don't die. The spirit lives on, you know? And so I've found in many ways that the easiest way is to keep the memories alive, keep them memories of the ones we love, close by. I have a picture of my, he loves it, by the way, my grandfather right over here. Yeah, so. I mean, I just carry them with me everywhere I go around the world.

And that's my dad, you know, and so everything that I do that has to do with my my work in general ancestry. So it's really about developing relationships. I always say that the most powerful thing you can do is just think about what kind of relationship that you That's a good starting point. And then the beauty is once you explore from that perspective, the ancestors also come in and do their thing, you know, because nothing is more attractive to the Ancestors than a hungry mind, mind or heart that is desiring to to know heart and a spirit that Is desirying to learn the heartiness and so because for the longest period of time, they've always been demonized because of colonization and all those things.

What Ancestral Connection Means 6:34

Once you open yourself up to that, They show up in ways in your dreams and coincidences you'll find that, you know, your uncle just randomly has a family album. And it's like, whoa, where did that come from? And then you get, so you follow the little breadcrumbs that the ancestors lead you on the trail. It's very simple for me. Just think of what kind of relationship you'd like to develop with the ones that you have when they're gone. And then reach out to the ones that have gone from that perspective and follow the breadcrumbs because they literally give you signs on a daily basis.

Go here, do this. They'll come to you in your dreams. And it's intuitive sometimes, you know, and we've all got that. You know, I want to speak about some, in the United States, we have a history of slavery. And so as an African-American, sometimes thinking about, some of our ancestors, God, it really hits the heart home. Do you have any advice for those who might have, a little bit of trouble or feel uneasy about ancestors where there is a history that isn't so pleasant? Yes. I mean, like I said, the reality is everywhere in the world there was colonization.

Even within Africa, even in The Motherland, we've experienced large matters of separation from our people. They were demonized. You couldn't speak of your ancestors. you had to go through the ways of Jesus and all those things. And there's nothing wrong with that. For me, The First Step, We are all born to be generational pattern breakers or generational trauma to transformation kind of vessels. So whatever happens and what if, yeah, that's, all we are. That's all. We. And so when you feel like you're afraid to tap into your ancestors because of the painful past, your ancestor's chose you to transform that pain into power.

and the power really is, is about learning about who they were and how they lived and the magic in the mystery, because before slavery there was intact cultures, intact everything. So we could go back. The best place to start for me is, like I said, one, what kind of relationship would you like to develop with your ancestors? Number two, What kind if ancestor would like you to be one of these days? Because when you're gone, When you're gone, certainly you'd like people to remember you. Certainly you would like to think, what an incredible human being this was.

So just that mind shift for me just transforms everything because you open yourself up from a non-fear based perspective. I like that. I really, really love that, and then I guess I'll ask you, since you kind of ponder these questions, what type of ancestor are you aspiring to be? How do you want to do that? This is always, you know, for me, I don't want it to a serious answer. My path has always been about two ways and I always think from the idea that we've got two kind of aspects where there's this small naughty little boy as well as this large adult, you know, this elder, Both of them have a purpose and a...

purpose, you know, whereas the boys mischievous ways unfolds a whole lot of interesting things for people to start seeing and talking about. The trickster energy, for instance, where the little boy is the one that brings about all of these conversations by virtue of his naughtiness, of course. in line with the right thing. And my ancestors and the elders always say, be mischievous and find your passion, find you intrigue, follow it. But don't follow the rules sometimes, break the rule, but know how to work in between because the elder or the the eldest then would come and say what was the purpose of that and what did you discover?

You know, so I just want to be one that's playful I really want To push the boundaries and just force people to realize that there's so much more outside of there So much possibility outside the trauma that you're sitting with There's So Much possibility Outside of the pain that You're holding on to There so Much Possibility outside Of the reality that your stuck in There is so many possibilities Play more Explore, you know Because the universe and God created

Aspiring to Be a Playful Ancestor 10:50

this entire world For us to explore, You Know So that's the kind of ancestor I want to be. I wanna be a naughty little bugger. Okay. No, I'm kidding. You're bringing that fire. Laugh more, experience more is my motto. Play more laugh, more experience, push yourself. Very good. Yeah. And so tell us a little bit about pilgrimage. I've heard of it. There are many different types and I guess tell me a bit of the pilgrimages that you've done and what that experience is like and the shifts that what happens on so many different pilgrimage.

It's really funny because for me, the ideology of pilgrimage is a deeply rooted understanding that you're sent somewhere with a purpose to unlock whatever it is that's meant to be unlocked at a specific point in time. And so I like to call them ancestral missions that I keep getting on a daily basis and on monthly basis, and a yearly basis. So they would then open up the ways for to pilgrimage to somewhere, knowing that each step is very potent, powerful. And of course, there's many different initiators, you know, from our cosmology, we believe that space can be an initiator too, so we pilgrimage to the space so that we can learn from the Space.

So from across our Cosmology we would say that the mountains, the oceans, forests, caves are the most powerful place to pilgrimage intentionally to when you're called forward by the ancestors and You would go there and you'd go to these different places but listen to the messages that are seeking to come through you and to you. So it's not like I'm just going to caves, I am sent to them because they are ancestors or spirits that wish to communicate with me in that space. The idea of a pilgrimage for me is really about a deep connection with destiny.

alignment with the ancestors with nature spirits with animal spirits, you know, the cosmology around Ubuntu, which is the animal spirit, it's the land and the ancestor's as well as the people, so just a deep connection with that. So you'd find elders along the way. You'd find animals along the way that speak to you, totem animals that just come out of nowhere. Sometimes the leopard or sometimes the bee, sometimes, the fly, whatever it might be. They all carry messages because you're intentionally going on a pilgrimage, which is so spiritually aligned to your destiny and your purpose within this life and time.

Can you speak more specifically to a moment on the pilgrimage that you went on that really deeply transformed you. Wow, that's so many of them.

Pilgrimage as Ancestral Mission 13:38

This is just one, I mean. Okay. Okay, so, one of the things in our cross lineage, when it comes to initiation, as I mentioned, let me just stick to that, is you go to the specific places and you connect with them. You go into the mountains, you got to caves, the ocean, go through the forest. And so that was a massive ancestral mission as pilgrimage because there was something that is there that the ancestors sent me for. I recall when I was in the mountain, I went And the nice thing is that we've got a community that holds us within the pilgrimage, too.

We've a got community, that sings, dances, rouses up the spirits, drums, there's alcohol specifically made for the ancestors. There's meat and some offerings and all these different things. And so when I was at the mountains, I would call the space where they told me to go, which is close to my rural village, And I sat there all by myself, you know, because the whole idea, it's kind of like a vision quest from a South American perspective, so you go on this vision, quest, or we call it, we go there and you sit up on top of the mountains.

And, I was there by, myself and I, was praying and it is scary because there's all these animal sounds that you hear and these voices that your hear. And you try to sleep and we have this plant medicine that we use, you know, that specifically helps you to connect deeply to the space, to nature, and to your ancestors. My ancestors came through and it was so powerful and profound and one of the things that they said to me is that they gave me a name, which is the one who will look after the nations, you know, one, who is sent to many nations to look or to give.

It's very interesting to translate. And when I was there, they showed me what my path was and what My future would look like. Because we were so intentional and held by community and rousing the spirits, it was easy for them to come forward and speak to me and give me this name and tell me of my purpose in this life and this time. Because I was clueless before, I just like travelling, doing cool things, meeting cool people. But they were very specific that yours is to pretty much go to these spaces and teach and give the wisdom that is lost, you know, the Sankofa ideology.

So they pretty must gave me a detailed mission of what my life was through that. And so I've been privileged enough to be doing that traveling a lot since, and I call them in, I'm like, OK, guys, let's go. Where's next? Okay, you know, can you speak? I heard a term and Kofi can say that again. And Koffa San Koufa and can he tell us a little bit about Oh, that's an Akan, which is the Ghanaian people. The Akaan people believe that, you know, it's a bird. Actually, I've got a chair. So it is like this little bird, right?

And the whole idea is that you can see that it moving forward. But in order for you to move forward, You need to go back and fetch the wisdom. so that you can move forward in a good way, you know, so the ideology of Sankofa has always been that in order for us to, I guess, to transcend everything that is going on in this life and in the time and this world with the chaos and the anarchy, we need to go back and fetch that which our ancestors knew, which was living in harmony, living and balanced.

so that we can move forward in a good way. In good relationship to the people, in good relationships to ancestors, good relations to land, and good relation to animals. Because that was a way of life. It was highly relational and it was not filled with greed.

A Transformative Mountain Pilgrimage 17:28

take more than what we should, where we lose our connection to the divine purpose. So the idea of Sankofa has been a very strong guiding principle for me. Go back and fetch that which people have forgotten. Move forward into this present time and teach the messages of the past, the message of ancient, so that people can remember, because we all know it's just a remembering. That's all it is. Each one of us knows. I love it. Remembering, taking the space to pause and then remember. I wonder since you connected with people in different pilgrimages, different workshops, I'm sure you've seen people may have misconceptions about ancestral healing, what it means, Can you speak a little bit to that, what are common misconceptions people have about ancestral healing?

Yeah, I guess most people believe that the past should stay in the post. That's one of the greatest misconceptions, because if we don't learn from our past, how can we move forward to create a different new reality? And of course, the West would call it epigenetics. The ancestors and the mistakes that they've done lie within our DNA. A simple example, if I see my father was an abusive alcoholic, you know, as a kid seeing that, that influences me and I'll also probably become an abusive alcoholic unless I change it.

You know? So the misconceptions are that one, we leave the past behind us and two, our ancestors aren't real or we'd rather focus on ancestors of the ones that are written in codes like the Bible. Let's focus that. We call them the ancestors Abednego and all of these guys. But I'm like, what about your own? Know who you are. Know your people. Wouldn't it be great to call in the wise, grand auntie that you knew and loved so much to be like, listen, I've got a problem right now. Help me out. And they show up every single time.

A lot of misconceptions are that it's difficult to connect to the ancestors as well. So I facilitate and I hold a lot spaces where I'm like. Just knowing this one truth, you breathe the same air that your ancestors breathed. Therefore you are more connected now than ever before to the ancestors. And from a closer perspective, air is umoya. Umoya is spirit. So that which we breathe in and out is spirits all the time. We are so connected just by our breath. They are not these far away entities or beings.

They're right here with one breath. They can be with us and connect with this and talk to us. But our journey is to learn how to listen. You know, if we knew how, to better listen, the messages would be much more clear. So a lot of misconceptions around how do I connect? What do? I do just be who you are and. That's it. All right. We've got to be who we are and we've gotta sit and listen. I love it. Right now in the world, there's a lot going on. In the United States, yes. And in South Africa, I'm wondering how you envision this knowledge changing communities, changing families.

What are the possibilities? people are able to make pilgrimages or embark in ancestral healing journeys. Oh, the possibilities are powerful and endless. I mean, I'll tell you about a couple of the people that have come through to South Africa specifically. Um, and, um, speak about this, this pilgrimage that we're working on now is, is South African specifically holds ancient,

Sankofa and Returning for Wisdom 21:08

ancient ancient memory in the sense that it's the cradle of humankind, you know, in a sense, that's got some of these most oldest mountains in world in sense. And I love table mountain because it, it it got a powerful alignment to the universe. So. When you pilgrimage to these spaces, when you journey to be spaces it's highly transformational. It's impossible for you to step on the land and the lamb does not communicate and speak to you because the man is our first teacher. You know, the landlord will, if we are attuned and if We are open, The land will speak To us.

And every time that we pilgrimage, first thing that We say is how do we get into right relationship with the Land? Speak to the, introduce yourself, make offerings, you know? Go to The river. I always say the nice thing about the rivers and the oceans is that they're all connected. All around the world, there are rivers, all around. The world. There are oceans. So go to the river and speak and mention that you're about to pilgrimage to a different space so that she will be well met by the ancestors of the land and people that sign.

And so a lot of people just by doing these small rituals, truly transform and then they have the elders. Oh my goodness. the wisdom keepers. are the ones who hold, who have been tasked in this life and time to, to share the knowledge. I mean, we worked with Chitapi quite a lot to hold a space, which is the most sacred in the whole world, 75,000 year old stone calendar called Inzala Yelanga. And so when you go to these spaces, ancient technology it's life-changing you can't help but step on the land and feel the energy and very often some people might not be ready and the nice thing is this i always say when you pilgrimage never expect immediate results or immediate responses track your life six months 12 months i can guarantee you there are shifts in the spiritual realms in the physiological way of being because you would have interacted with people, your mentality, or emotional space.

So your bodies have shifted just by being on the land, just being with the elders, and just doing the small rituals of homecoming. We call them the home coming ceremonies that we hold people with. You know, we bring them home and we ensure that they land well. So that the land holds him and the elders holds them, you know, and then we journey with them and pilgrimage from space to space. You know we meet the animal spirits by going to the Kruger National Park, which is one of the biggest parks within Africa with elephants lions.

Misconceptions About Ancestral Healing 23:38

And it connects you to the ideology of totemism because the animal spirits and us are one. You know, I can take you places in Venda where small boys are swimming with crocodiles. It's just the craziest thing, but that's because it's such a relational thing. That's all they are. The totem animal is the crocodile, and so the Crocodile doesn't do any harm to them. And the purity that they carry and the innocence that the carry, the understanding from an ancestral lineage perspective that their whole holds them true and protects them from whatever dangers and whatever energies that we outsiders would look at and be like, Oh my God, it's a crocodile run.

What are you talking about? That's our relative. He's here to bless us. You know, so all these different aspects that you meet with when you connect deeply to the animal totems and the land. And then, of course, the ancestral spirits. A lot of times that we do these rituals, we always do rituals of forgiveness and cleansing so that can connect deeper to yourself and to your ancestors. How do we cleanse the path so the present can be filled with potential and possibility? And then the past relationship with the pain is transformed.

The trauma is transferred to power. You are more from an empowered perspective. And the ancestors come through and they give you wisdom and knowledge so that you can move in a different way, see in different ways the rituals of the drum. The rituals of the singing, the rituals, of cleansing, I could go on and on about the many different rituals that we do so that you're held by the spirit of land within the pilgrimage, within this space that travel to. But there's just so much that happens and the possibilities are just endless.

And I've never met one individual who's gone on a pilgrimage within South Africa slash Africa that has never felt transformed one way or the other. It's a transformative experience, life-changing experience. Yeah. I definitely encourage people to go out. Yes. Yes, it's on the 14th. I'm doing it. We're doing next year on 14 March for anyone that would like to go I don't know how if people are interested I can maybe send you an email with details whatever it might be I Don't how we can do that I'll leave that to you and the ancestors those that were meant to be they will be there Thank you so much for just allowing me to talk about my passion.

And I love it guys I love it so much.

Land, Rituals, and Community Transformation 26:08

Just like for me, it's like, oh, give me more peace and sister's peace. You know, I just want more people to experience. And that's the thing. It's, like I could tell you a story when I was in the States a couple of years, years ago, Very often I do a ritual tending to the land, tening to their ancestors and stuff like that. And I just felt these ancestors, many of them coming forward to me, and you know, we call them the Dr. Seastar, the ancestors that are not yet well in spirit. The ancestors have not crossed over to be with the well ones so that they can become illuminated ancestral guides.

A lot of then came towards me and one of the was wearing these blue jeans and I talk about him so often because I still feel his energy. walks up towards me in this very flustered perspective, you know, and there's many of them around. And he looks at me with tears in his eyes because he's lost and he is wondering. He says, take us home. You know, take us home. And I'll never forget those words, you know? I will never get those word because for me, that became my mission. My purpose is to take people home to themselves first and foremost, but to the land, to cradle of humankind where we're all going to Africa because Africa holds potent medicine.

Then another experience that I had was, oh man, I was in New York and I connected with a whole bunch of spirits. I immediately felt this longing and connected to this spirit of Africa again. other Africa specifically, you know, and what she was saying was, it's time that our children, my children came back home. You know? My children need to come back because they've lost their ways, to a large degree, if you look at all these things. And so of course what happens, I thought about this for the longest period of time, what I landed on was the fact that what the spirit or the energy of the birthplace of all civilization was saying, what do you do when life fails you or when you mess up?

We go home. We got home to replenish ourselves where we are held by the loving spirits of our mom cooking us a lovely meal or our dad or family holds us, you know? And so the energy and the essence of what was being said is that you know we're living in a time where we just need to reconnect back with home and realize through the spirit of a bunch of that we are so interrelated so into dependent and so interconnected and in south africa we so born and i see you need start seeing each other again we lost that.

And so there are all these medicines, all this medicine that is just waiting to be unearthed with you and for you as you pilgrimage through to South Africa, if not South African, to wherever in the world where you're called. Yeah. I love it. So for those who want to get in contact with, how can they do it? That's my favorite part. You can follow me on Twitter, follow No, so I guess my email address is Lita, L-I-T-H-A at litaboy at L I T H A B W O I dot com. And of course you can check my website out as well.

LITA www.litaboi.com. If you want to follow me on Instagram, it's at lita boy.

Homecoming, Contact Details, and Closing 29:18

Uh, and we'll send out information about the pilgrimage as Well. The whole idea of the pilgrimages is that we called it the heart and spirit. Connect with your heart, connect with the spirit, It's an opportunity for you to dive deep and transform yourself. Whatever you carry, I can guarantee you walk away far better and far lighter as a result of having stepped on these sacred lands. I love it. Thank you for walking us through this sacred terrain of memory, land. And your work just reminds us that returning to the motherland, going home is not only your journey of miles, but of spirit, to remember and to reconnect.

So thank you so much for being on the show. If you haven't heard it yet today, I appreciate you. The soul in me honors the soul you if you want to see more episodes like this, please subscribe or click here. And friends, if this spoke to you, leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you