Thokoza Gogo rejoice grandmother

by Hazel (Dancing Rivers) Phillips-Dube   Jun 25, 2019


Thokoza!

I shout to you all Rejoice!
The fires of my heritage
Burn bright in my heart
As I journey once again

(Into the heart of myself.)

Rejoice for awakening;
Rejoice for seeking;
Rejoice for reconnecting;
Rejoice for this life.

Thokoza Gogo!

Mother of my mother
She, who was in life,
My greatest fear

Thokoza Gogo
For forgiveness!
Rejoice for this blessed union,
Rejoice for this healing!

I honour you...
Blood of my blood
She whose fires would consume me,
Your fires now guard my soul.

Thokoza,rejoice
Mother of my mother.
Siyabonga, thank you
Mother of my mother

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Latest Comments

  • 4 years ago

    by ddavidd

    O how I like this piece! It is like the fresh and bewitching smell of some unknown herbs. I think you should have left a link to some audio of your reciting this, it would have been fantastic, I think.

  • 4 years ago

    by Brenda

    Welcome back Hazel!

  • 4 years ago

    by Milly Hayward

    This is a thought provoking piece. At first I needed to look up the meaning of Thokoza which I believe is a place and the rest as I understand it is very spiritually based. I would love to hear more about the origins and motivations around this piece as I found it captivating. Best wishes Milly x

    • Thank you for taking the time to read this very personal piece and for your feedback. To explain,the translations are in fact in the poem itself, Thokoza meaning rejoice,it is also a way of greeting one's ancestors before beginning a ceremony.
      Siyabonga means Thank you (to give thanks,I give thanks etc) also part of the greeting when entering or leaving sacred space you acknowledge those that walked the earth before you,this encompasses ALL,not just your bloodline but nature, the elements the universe God/Goddess. All are encompassed within this greeting.

      This specific poem I wrote as an acceptance of a call to work I have been denying for many many years out of fear I guess, my Gogo (grandmother) was a very sore point in my life since she was the one whose anger at my conception (a mixed race abomination) set a trend of rejection and anger and denial of who I am in my life, and over the past 2-4 years she has been calling me to work with her to forgive and accept her love and guidance now in her spiritual form which I wasn't up until this Sunday,ready for. In a sense this was a humbling of my pride and release of my fear but also a song of praise from my spirit to those of my two guides my grandmothers from my father's European side and my mother's African side who now walk beside me and guide my journey and protect not only me but also my partner and our gorgeous daughter and our son whose arrival into this realm we are looking forward to.
      My grandmothers have chosen me to heal the wounds of both my bloodlines and therefore pave the way for love and peace for me and for my children and their descendents???

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