Makomati - Mystery of Mapumalanga

I hold many treasured memories from my childhood within me..."petroglyphs" if you like, from my old Arthur Mee Children's Encyclopedia. I was given a set as a young boy and every so often when I want to escape down the rabbit hole I will browse through my Arthur Mee's.

My fascination in ancient standing stones and stone circles dates back to my Arthur Mee's (Photo above). One of my favourite Scott Peck books is In Search of Stones. We've visited Stonehenge, Newgrange, and many of the ancient megaliths in England, Ireland, and Scotland thanks to my cousins Ken and Eleanor Garvie who share a similar interest in ancient monuments.

I often wondered, why, if the "Cradle of Humankind" was here in Southern Africa, there were no stone circles? That was until I came across James Bailey's The God-Kings & the Titans and later read Brenda Smith's fabulous little book, Spirit of the Rocks. I was simply oblivious to my own local heritage of ancient stone cultures. Of course I knew, being a child of the Drakensberg, that we were custodians of the greatest rock art gallery in the World! But standing stones and circles? Where?

A while back I was introduced to the books of  Michael Tellinger. Needless to say his discoveries and views are controversial and challenging, daring to speculate beyond the realms of traditional archaeology, anthropology, cosmology, and even theology. In his view "everything is connected", mythology is history.

An evening or two ago, Sylvia and I had the opportunity to attend one of Michael's presentations at Umhlanga Rocks, of all places. It was fascinating. We listened and watched enthralled at pictures of ancient stone circles and ruins, many only visible from the air or Google Earth. They are all over, but many centred in the gold rich Barberton, Carolina, Machadodorp Triangle in Mpumalanga, nostalgically called, Makomati. They were all too familiar.
 
My fascination was not only because of the beauty and mystery of these ancient ruins and interest in stones but engendered also because this was where I spent the first seven years of my life! In Makomati! I grew up on a farm, Gemakstroom (Leasure Stream) below Skurweberg (Rough Mountain), through which the Komati River flowed. Those ancient rocks, among the oldest rocks on the Earth must've rubbed off on me. As a little boy, I recall building little pebble circles in our Gemakstroom garden. My aloe rockeries were the same...stone circles.

More astonishing, I only discovered many years later that my wife Sylvia, who was born thousands of miles away in Nigeria, would come to South Africa and spend her childhood holidays on another farm at Moedig (Courage) also on the Komati River! My childhood farm, Gemakstroom, was a matter of a few miles from hers at Moedig, just downstream as it were! We never knew it! Destiny was then already conspiring to bring us together (again?)! We were Kids of the Komati! Talk about prevenient grace! I tease Sylvia that these ruins are the remains of her ancient ancestors. Her maiden name is Adam! Didn't Tellinger call it "Adam's Calendar"?

 As a small boy on the rocks of the Komati

Do read Michael Tellinger. You may not agree with all of his conclusions but you will certainly be intrigued!




Note:
Michael Tellinger will be one of the speakers at this year's Glastonbury Megalithomania Conference in May 2007. See http://www.megalithomania.co.uk/


©Colin G Garvie
HomePage: http://www.garvies.co.za

Kenya – the Call of Africa

Behind all seen things lies something vaster; everything is but a path, a portal, or a window opening on something more than itself. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The 19th, early 20th Centuries witnessed mass migrations of peoples especially in southern and east Africa. The mfecane  or "great scattering" of African peoples in the wake of the rise of king Shaka; the "Great Trek"  of Boers unhappy with British rule and the emancipation of slaves; and, the expansion of the British Empire leading to the Boer Wars were all manifestations of a migratory restlessness in the soul of people. This ultimately resulted in the unjustified domination, oppression, exploitation and wars, the wounds and scars that have continued to blight the African continent.

My Garvie ancestors were caught up in this demographic flux of colonial expansionism. The family had emigrated from Scotland to South Africa during the 1880s following the Scottish Clearances  (a form of "forced removals") and moved to Knysna (timber), Kimberley (diamonds), Johannesburg (gold), and eventually Kenya (coffee) at the end of the Boer War in their quest for their own little "acre of diamonds". Following the Boer War, circumstances in Johannesburg for the young Garvie brothers were dire. Then "opportunity" knocked at the door...

It was in January 1904 that John Garvie and his father met Mr Russell Bowker from British East Africa who was visiting Johannesburg. He informed them that the Government had decided to open up certain districts for settlement and was calling for settlers.

Bowker advised, says John Garvie, "that one or two members of the family should proceed to Nairobi and get in touch with the Land Officer there." So acting on Mr Bowker's advice the family delegated John and Lawrence to proceed to Nairobi and do their best each member agreeing to contribute a share toward expenses.

According to John, once in Nairobi "they immediately got in touch with the Land Officer Mr Barton Wright and in the course of a lengthy interview John told him all about the family of seven sons and the father ready to sell out and come to British East Africa and settle on the land. He was most sympathetic and promised to give them every assistance and there and then advised they go and see what he called 'the Plum of British East Africa', the Nandi Plateau."

So my grandfather, George, and several of his brothers, including John and Donald, settled in Kenya. However the so-called "plum" turned out to be a prune! Richard Meinertzhagen wrote in his Kenya Diary:

"It is absurd that settlers should be allowed in Nandi at present, as the country is by no means safe. Not only that, it is very bad for my men to be away from me and the strength of my company will not stand many such detachments. I have reported the whole affair to Nairobi for confirmation. These Boers (sic) came up here without anyone's permission and are squatting on Nandi-owned land for which they pay no rent. I asked Mayes if they had any right to be there; he said no and that they squatted at their own risk. Seems to me a pretty poor arrangement." (Meinertzhagen, Kenya Diary, page 186.)

They were duped. They had permission to settle....from a corrupt official! So there they were in 1904, illegal immigrants,  in Nandi territory granted leasehold of extensive lands by a corrupt official, who according to Meinertzhagen was none other than Mayes himself. Mayes was reported and dismissed. The farms then came to be referred to as the "Garvie Concession". They were victims of systems that were corrupt, exploitive, and expansionist. The "squatters" were fortunate not to have fallen victim to the incensed Nandis. Meinertzhagen provided some protection. Eventually it was mosquitoes and malaria that drove the Garvies except for Donald back home to South Africa. Donald Garvie moved to Nairobi where he introduced "bioscope" to Kenya.

But was there not another reason, other than security and wealth, driving this wanderlust? What was the big picture here?  ""Behind all seen things lies something vaster," says Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Kenyan historian, Errol Trzebinski, once scribbled on the back of an envelope to me that "Jung said.... 'the dark continent of Africa and its aboriginal people attracted Europeans because it provoked what was forgotten in their primitive selves." That intrigued me. I am not sure where Jung said that. By "primitive selves" I think Jung meant "our primal selves". Those who have been to Africa will know the feeling...a feeling of reverence and awe rather than domination and exploitation.  I mused, was this "back to Africa" theory not an irresistible migratory instinct, a "homing instinct", a deep ancestral memory connecting and drawing us back to our ancient African roots? I think so.

When he visited Kenya, Jung wrote:

"I was enchanted...it was a picture of something utterly alien and outside my experience...a most intense sentiment du déjà vu. I had the feeling that I had already experienced this moment and had always known this world which was separated from me only by distance in time. It was as if I were this moment returning to the land of my youth, and as if I knew that darkskinned man who had been waiting for me for five thousand years." (Carl Jung on arriving in Kenya, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 283)

Kenya....Africa stirs something deep within one. "We carry with us the wonders we seek without us: there is all Africa and her prodigies in us," said Thomas Browne.

©Colin G Garvie
HomePage: http://www.garvies.co.za

Richard Meinertzhagen, Kenya Diary (1902-1906)
Errol Trzebinski, THE KENYA PIONEERS.

Freedom and the Church, "Fightings without, and Fears within"

My hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A [person] who takes away another [person's] freedom is a prisoner of hatred ... is locked behind bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity. (Nelson Mandela, from his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom)

When I first read those words I was gripped by a sense of shame and remorse..."A person who takes away another person's freedom is a prisoner of hatred....is locked behind bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness." Contrary to what John Wesley wrote about bigotry I felt not just a little guilty. Today, I sense this more than ever before.

One of the great, unforgettable moments in my life came on the 18th September 1994. It was a Sunday. I was then a Minister and one of the Assistant Secretaries of our Methodist Conference. That year Conference had convened in the old Parliament building in Umtata, the very place where the former Transkei Government had banned the Methodist Church of Southern Africa - the only Church to be so banned. The irony hadn't escaped anyone.

It was a historic day. A rally attended by well over two thousand people was arranged to greet the State President, Dr Nelson Mandela. The people were exuberant with jubilation and joy. When Dr Mandela arrived, which he described as a "spiritual homecoming", the people exploded in a crescendo of Methodist song and praise. Here was the prisoner, who had become a prince, come home again. When the choir rendered the anthem, the President spontaneously stood up and started dancing. This was the Dancing President. The emotion was overwhelming. Tears flowed from my eyes. I was, the Weeping Preacher. It was a moving and deeply touching moment. With tears streaming down I looked across to a banner of a chalice with blood red wine clasped by a black and a white hand. The white hand had a dark thumbnail and the black hand a light thumbnail. This was our very own  African Yin and Yang holding up the Cup of Life to all. It depicted the reconciliation of opposites among us.

President Mandela concluded...

Mr Presiding Bishop,  South Africa now has a democratic government representative of, and accountable to, all  the people. By your fearless commitment to truth and justice, the Methodist Church and  other religious bodies helped realise this. But all governments, no matter how  democratic, need constructive criticism and advice. I ask you to continue to play your  prophetic role, always seeking to hold the nation and all its leaders to the highest  standards of integrity and service. ... I am confident that, with the support of the Methodist Church and the religious fraternity as a whole, our nation will reach the mountain-tops of its collective desires.  (Address by President Nelson Mandela to the Annual  Conference of The Methodist Church Umtata, 18 September 1994)

"Reach the mountain-tops of its collective desires." Sadly, as I look back, I wonder if we have failed the President. Not only is the Nation in dire need of reconciliation but our Church troubled by "fightings without, and fears within" (MHB 709) is desperately in need of renewal. The number of internal arbitrations, suspensions, discontinuances, and resignations within the MCSA is spiking. Suspicion and mistrust is on the rise. Membership is on the decline. Fundamental rights seem to be ignored. It was at that 1994 Conference that homosexuality and the ministry came to the floor of Conference and was referred to a Study Group and sixteen years later, much to the pain of many, is still not resolved. Instead, now seems to be heading for the Constitutional Court.

Perhaps the moment has come to consider again the words and challenge of former President Mandela, "A person who takes away another person's freedom is a prisoner of hatred....is locked behind bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness." Only when we confess to our own bondage and shortcomings can we "reach the mountain-tops of our collective desires"  enshrined in our Constitution.

©Colin G Garvie
HomePage: http://www.garvies.co.za
Gender, Race, Power And Religion: Women In The Methodist Church Of Southern Africa In Post-apartheid Society (Studien Zur Interkulturellen Geschichte Des Christentums)

"The Clock is Ticking!" Liberation Treatment - Hope for MS Sufferers

The thrill of genealogy, especially that branch of genealogy known as "One Name Studies", is that one frequently comes across stories of hope and inspiration. This week one such story broke in the course of my "Garvie One Name Studies" (GONS).

It is the story about Steve Garvie of Canada and the controversial new treatment for Multiple Sclerosis called Liberation Treatment or "blocked vein therapy" developed by Italy's Dr. Paolo Zamboni. It involves a relatively simple procedure to open a blocked vein from the brain. This is a story of a man set free from his limitations with the hope that others might be liberated too. (Photo Credit: The Globe and Mail)

Ten years ago Steve Garvie was diagnosed with secondary progressive MS. He had heard of Liberation Treatment. "The clock is ticking. People die. People with MS commit suicide at an alarming rate. There is no hope. So why don't we give them hope?" he wondered. So he approached vascular surgeon Dr. Sandy McDonald, who runs a clinic in Barrie, Ontario.

Steve says as soon as the vein was opened, he immediately felt warmth in the left side of his face and he could wiggle his toes.

"One of the nurses came over and said ‘Are you alright?' I said, ‘Yes, shake my hand.' She shook my left hand which was useless before," remembers Garvie.

 "It was quite remarkable," remembers McDonald.

Much research still needs to be done on the procedure but there is hope. Steve wouldn't call it a cure but "I am about 75 per cent better than I was before," he says.

He now has "energy to burn", reports the Globe and Mail.

Ordinary people can make a difference the minute we realise that "the clock is ticking". I sense Steve Garvie's story is a parable too!

For more read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Zamboni
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ms-patient-says-he-has-energy-to-burn-after-experimental-procedure/article1533739/
http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2010/04/liberation-war.html


















©Colin G Garvie
HomePage: http://www.garvies.co.za