In 1999 Amanda Gcabashe went on a one-way trip into what she calls a “parallel universe” when she accepted her ancestors’ calling to become a traditional healer, or sangoma in the South African lexicon. With her day-job in the corporate world, she finds herself in the paradoxical situation of living two very different lives. It would be fair to expect this dichotomous existence—one foot in the ancient world of ancestors and spirits, and another in the modern world of boardrooms and pie charts—to unsettle her. But Amanda is not at all fazed. In this TEDxJohannesburg 2015 talk, she shares thoughts about the complexities and contradictions of her life, and reveals startling ideas that shatter conventional wisdom on the true limits of the human experience.  When she answered her ancestors’ calling to become a sangoma and an inyanga, Amanda retained ambitions in the financial world in which she was qualified. With the strengthening of her gift, she has since discarded those ambitions, and is now fully dedicated to her role as a healer and counsellor. A thoroughly modern African traditional medicine practitioner—an elegant paradox if there ever was one—Amanda’s approach seeks to challenge old, persistent stereotypes and stigmas about her profession. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

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