Pilgrimage painted with Zulu colours

Climb
Just one
Holy mountain~
Beyond
The crush
And stench
Of parchment city
Walls
~
Push the boundaries
Of old visions
But respect them for what they were



Let bare feet
Liberate
The auras
Of grasses
Twigs
And
Cooling
Bristly
Stones~
Linking
Tired frames
To sacred pictures
Of old motherlands~
~
Burn wasted scrolls
Along the way
~
Izimboko
Symbolic staffs
Of fighting
Spirits
~
And remember
To sing
Death's lullaby~
For legends~
With a fragrant essence of
Flowers~
~
Izimboko
Symbolic staffs
Of fighting
Spirits~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In response to South African pilgrims in pictures - BBC News - 21.01.08
An estimated one million followers of South Africa's Nazareth Baptist Church are coming to the end of their annual pilgrimage. They have spent the past two weeks on their holy mountain of Nhlongakazi, north of Durban. The church, also known as Shembe, has an estimated 4 million followers, or amaNazarites, mostly Zulu-speakers. The church was founded in 1910 by Isaiah Shembe, who died in 1935. Since his death, the church has split into several factions. The pilgrims walk barefoot for three days, covering 60km and sleeping in the open. They build fires along the way, sing and burn litter to purify their surroundings...Devotees or preachers wear white gowns and headdresses made of animal skins. They carry traditional Zulu fighting sticks called izimboko. Shembe women worship separately from men. They gather in a group and lay flowers on the hillside to remember the souls of the departed...Pilgrims believe if they reach the mountain, God will ease their pain, enable them to find employment and keep them safe in the year ahead. ~~Pictures and text by Alice Lander.