Alex Matlala
Alex Matlala
The heavens opened soon after the regent of the Balobedu clan blew the precious rainmaking horn in an ancient ritual that apparently never fails to get results.
"Our ancestors have never disappointed us since the history of the rituals," Modjadji royal family and council spokesman Clement Modjadji said yesterday.
"Each time we speak to them, they respond with heavy rains that fill dams and rivers flowing up to their banks."
He wasn't joking.
After Prince Mpapatla Modjadji blew the powerful and secret horn - also to appease the clan's ancestors - the weather changed.
The sky darkned, clouds gathered and the rain fell in buckets.
The ancestors were also seemily happy when the prince poured a mixture of home-brewed beer called mphapho onto a decorated piece of earth, thokoleng , near a tree believed to be more than 1000 years old.
If you're sceptical, consider this: since the rainmaking ritual this year in the Khethakone Royal Palace in Bolobedu near Tzaneen, more than 90,7mm of the life-giving water has fallen in the Modjadjiskloof area.
And weather forecast specialist Evert Scholtz said more rain is expected to fall in the area next week .
The SA Weather Service too confirmed good rainfall after the September rituals which will be repeated this weekend and next.
First, the Morwatshehla family will perform the ceremony, then the Matshwi family .
During the old and revered ceremony, family members gather at the royal palace and feed a black cow - kgomo ya thokola - with mphapho before pouring the brew on the thokoleng.
The magic and secret horn was inherited from the prince's ancestors.
The Modjadji family fled from Zimbabwe long before 1800 and were led by King Monomotapa.
Heavens open after rain ritual
Alex Matlala
Alex Matlala
The heavens opened soon after the regent of the Balobedu clan blew the precious rainmaking horn in an ancient ritual that apparently never fails to get results.
"Our ancestors have never disappointed us since the history of the rituals," Modjadji royal family and council spokesman Clement Modjadji said yesterday.
"Each time we speak to them, they respond with heavy rains that fill dams and rivers flowing up to their banks."
He wasn't joking.
After Prince Mpapatla Modjadji blew the powerful and secret horn - also to appease the clan's ancestors - the weather changed.
The sky darkned, clouds gathered and the rain fell in buckets.
The ancestors were also seemily happy when the prince poured a mixture of home-brewed beer called mphapho onto a decorated piece of earth, thokoleng , near a tree believed to be more than 1000 years old.
If you're sceptical, consider this: since the rainmaking ritual this year in the Khethakone Royal Palace in Bolobedu near Tzaneen, more than 90,7mm of the life-giving water has fallen in the Modjadjiskloof area.
And weather forecast specialist Evert Scholtz said more rain is expected to fall in the area next week .
The SA Weather Service too confirmed good rainfall after the September rituals which will be repeated this weekend and next.
First, the Morwatshehla family will perform the ceremony, then the Matshwi family .
During the old and revered ceremony, family members gather at the royal palace and feed a black cow - kgomo ya thokola - with mphapho before pouring the brew on the thokoleng.
The magic and secret horn was inherited from the prince's ancestors.
The Modjadji family fled from Zimbabwe long before 1800 and were led by King Monomotapa.
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