07/05/2022
Umbilini is a primal force used by Zulu shaman to connect their minds with deities in the spirit realm.
Working the Snake Power: A Zulu View
My grandfather also taught me how to control my powers of seeing and how to sharpen them and make them more accurate and efficient. He taught me the art of breathing properly. He taught me the secret art of joining my mind to that of the great gods in the unseen world. He taught me how to sit still - very, very still - and eliminate all thoughts from my mind and call upon the hidden powers of my soul.
In short, my grandfather taught me the Zulu version of what is called in English, "meditation". How to breathe softly and gently like a whisper until you feel something like a hot coiled snake bursting through the top of your head - a fearsome thing that is known as the umbilini. This umbilini, my grandfather told me, is the source, the primal source of the sangoma's powers. A sangoma must be able to summon this umbilini at will through the beating of the drum and through meditation, very, very deep meditation.
Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa - Zulu Shaman: Dreams, Prophecies, and Mysteries p.13
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Documentary Ancestral Voices 2: Spirit is Eternal includes Baba Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa where he and others share information on African philosophies and ritual practices across the continent.
www.ancestralvoices.co.uk/av2