Wilderness and Belonging with Sicelo Mbatha

Thursday July 27th, 6.45pm
St Ethelburga's Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, Bishopsgate EC2

South African wilderness guide Sicelo Mbatha, otherwise known as Black Lion, has devoted his life to fostering deep connections between people and the more-than-human world. 

With the organisation he founded, Umkhiwane Sacred Pathways, he guides people along “healing paths” through some of South Africa’s wildest areas, including the Imfolozi Wilderness, the Simangaliso Wetland and the Drakensberg mountains. 

Born into the Zulu tradition, Sicelo believes this sort of immersion in landscape and nature can be transformative: it can help us connect to our own wildness and experience the spirit of collective humanity (or ubuntu), and it can help heal the wounds of environmental destruction and social injustice. 

In this talk, focused on two stories, Sicelo will explore how we might restore humanity’s sense of belonging within the natural world, what role indigenous ways of knowing have in the regeneration of our culture and our earth, and how a sense of kinship with all life could be fundamental to our survival.

The Tent, St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, 78 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG

Doors open at 6.45pm for drinks, talk starts at 7.15pm with a break for a one-pot vegan supper.

£5 members, £10 non-members. Includes food.