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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:47 am

Dear All,

I have had this email from Stephen Hopkins in Australia....

Hi Guys. 5 weeks ago my wife and I had a tour around Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa with awell known tour guide working for Thompson Tours. We went to Rorke's Drift & Isandlwana. I have a question for you. Do you know If anyone has noticed at Isandlwana any spooky things happening. I came home and 1 of my pics of Isandlwana had a Red dot on a pic when blown up it looks like a person in a red jacked worn by soldiers of the battle even though It looks pixelated. I am willing to send you a pic of the red dot.

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:07 am

Would like to see that!

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:38 am

Ditto here!

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 5:50 pm

A sceptic would apply a scientific explanation of lens refraction. A picture taken when the sun is in front, at an angle leads to refraction. i.e. light hitting the edge of the lens is refracted like prism and leaves an outline in the shape of the diaphragm in red. A quite common occurrence.

To clarify that this phenomenon is on the supernatural plane and not a natural one, one would have to look at the angles of shadows in the camera. If these are long and pointing in the direction of the picture then the explanation is as above.

I am by no means a sceptic. I am believer in spiritual beings and have always been sensitive to their presence. The few times I have visited the battlefield I have always felt their presence. I also felt a profound sense of sadness and loss there. Not really surprising given the level of violent death.

If you are into this it would be an interesting project for one of the Scifi channels to visit with a medium.

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 5:50 pm

Martin
Are you sure it isn't Bill Cainan.. he keeps popping up all over the battlefield.. heck..even his Xmas cards have him on instead of the Angel Gabriel!.

Actually on my first trip my Trust olympus OM10 went berserk and all my images were hideously over-exposed. Those I took at Mangeni the same day were fine

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:59 pm

Well I guess this is as good a time to ask this question about Zulu culture. I'm aware of how the Zulus treated their dead enemies on the battlefield but is it inherent in Zulu culture to believe in "ghosts", specifically ghosts haunting the battlefields after death. And if they do exist are they "afraid" of them?

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:49 pm

The Zulu, in common with most of the indigenous peoples of South and Central Africa, practise ancestral worship. For many, their lives, good and bad luck is determined by their ancestors and whether they have pleased or offended them.

The Nyanga (medicine man) is really a medium and therefore plays an important role in communication with the ancestors.

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:03 pm

There was an unpretentious little thorn tree enclosed in a chicken wire fence near to the "necklace" memorial to the Zulu dead at Isandlwana. I trust it's still there and thriving as it was explained to me that it was planted there to catch the souls/shades/spirits of all those dead Zulu and prevent them from wandering about the vicinity and getting into all sorts of mischief. I was told that the thorn bush 's the "important" memorial while the big one is there for the edification of non-Zulu and Zulu who have lost touch with the Old Ways.

What I know about Zulu afterlife: There is none except insofar as the "soul" hangs about for all eternity after death-- no Heaven or no Hell to go to. These souls are very influential on the lives of those still around and most of what happens to a living Zulu is a result of their intrusions for better or worse. Bad things happen because an ancestor's spirit wasn't properly placated, good things because he/she was.

I heard this from an older Zulu and it struck me as a fascinating insight. Dreams are the means by which a dead Zulu communicates with his still living relatives and friends. Sleeping mats are generally the "domicile" of the spirits of the departed and often a sleeping mat is brought to the home of a friend or relative so the soul can "visit" as was requested in a dream. I asked if anyone ever dreamt that a dead relative was wishing to visit a deceased friend and how that might be handled. When it happens (and it does occasionally), the two sleeping mats are brought and left together for a seemly period of time-- long enough for the two friends to "catch up" with one another as it were. I wish I could tell it better...

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:37 am

Neil

I resemble that remark !!

Bill

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:29 pm

Hi if you have a look at the "didn't want to play nicely so set up me own" AZW site, they have a photograph of a supernatural thingie. or it might be a squashed midge.

Cheers
Steve

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 2:47 pm

Ha ha you you know I always look forward to your xmas cards Bill.
No offence.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:06 pm

I don't know about the red dot, but it's probably the 24,000 black dots you need to worry about ...

Wink

Following on from what Sawubona said, last year I had the extraordinary privilege of hearing an elderly Zulu gentleman tell me through a translator of how he and his family were made aware via dreams that his great-grandfather's spirit had not yet left the field of Isandlwana and wanted to be brought home. What happened, and how the warrior's spirit was eventually found and housed, was quite a story.

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:48 pm

Really fascinating stuff on the Zulu and how they view the after-life. Thanks. I find the dfferences striking in their beliefs vs non-African societies. Looks to me from the descriptions that nobody is 'afraid' of the dead who make their presence felt but rather to be welcomed and made a part of current life. And really it wouldn't surprise me if the Zulu tried to "force" dreams one bit to set up communication with those long dead.
From all that's been noted, they truly think on a different level than us when it comes to the dead.

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:20 pm

Rich, I didn't mean to imply that all "souls" are benign. Quite the contrary, some are malevolent and capable of truly evil influence on the living. The whole disembowelment thing and the cleansing rituals are a result of the need to defend from them. and woe to the killer who doesn't perform these to the letter. Even then the aggrieved spirit will attempt to perpetrate untold damage. One's enemy in life will likely remain one's enemy after death if the cause of his death was wrongful and these cleansing acts don't placate his spirit, just provide some protection from his actions.

The little thorn tree I mention above is as much to restrain the spirits of the Zulu dead for the safety of the living as it is for the comfort and rest of the souls themselves. Don't forget that a lot of dreams are nightmares!

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:26 pm

Saw..
Thanks for the clarification. And here's something I've been thinking about while reading this thread. Many Zulu died at Isandhlwana and I would like to think that they believe it's 'sacred' ground to them. From that, it stands to reason that their spirit world would object to the desecration of that battlefield that is symbolised by looting, disruption of cairns and unauthorized digging for bones, valuables etc of the dead. Because I'm not there, I don't know the extent to which modern life may have impinged on Zulu beliefs today and their relationship to something that occurred many many years ago. All in all, I'd think the Zulu are strong stewards of the battlefield and always try to protect it.