Mystery of the White Lions | Goddess Mythology from South Africa
Greetings
I am writing this in response to Mea Maa suggesting we share stories about Goddess mythology from the region we are from. I would like to share the story about the legendary White Lions of Timbavati which is very close to my heart. As told by Linda Tucker in her book Mystery of the White Lions, in 1991 she and a group of people were rescued by an African Medicine Woman / Sangoma Maria Khosa, known as the Lion Queen, when their vehicle was stuck and surrounded by lions. She came walking at night through the pride of angry lions carrying a baby on her back and rescued them. Three years later Linda gave up her career in international fashion and marketing after experiencing recurring nightmares of a lion roaring in her face, to go back to Timbavati to seek out Maria’s guidance. She was told that her shamanic title was to be the Keeper of the White Lions and she dedicated her life to saving these sacred Lions from the notorious canned trophy hunting industry.
Linda sought the guidance of legendary African Lion Shaman Credo Mutwa who was one of the last keepers of Africa’s Great Tradition known as Umlando or Great Knowledge, a tradition of oral history fiercely guarded through the ages. He was a Sanusi which is the highest ranking shaman entrusted to be a Guardian of the Umlando. He explained to her that the story of the White Lions is connected to the stars. According to the legend about 400 years ago there lived an African Queen Numbi in that region now called Timbavati close to the Kruger National Park. She was very ill and her people were praying for her. Then one night a bright light descended from the heavens and landed close by. The light emanated from a strange humming object. Queen Numbi was drawn to the light and entered the shining object which then rose up from the ground and shot up back to the heavens. Then it was observed many years after Queen Numbi’s disappearance that all the animals in that area were giving birth to snow white offspring, white leopards, white antelope, white elephants and white lions with blue eyes. After time only the white lions continue to be born there and this is the only area in the world where white lions occur naturally in the wild. Timbavati means place where the star lions fell to earth. He told her that according to the guardians Queen Numbi did eventually return to rule her people but she now had special powers and there are accounts of extraordinary deeds that she performed.
According to the Great Knowledge he explained that the lion is connected to the stars, in particular to the 3 belt stars of Orion, the middle one is Mbube which means lion. And that all life on earth is connected to Regulus the heart star of the Leo constellation, the central belt star of Orion they call Mbube (Al Nilam), and Sirius. Linda traveled to Egypt and did extensive research on the connection between the birthplace of the legendary white lions and Giza, site of the world’s greatest and most enigmatic lion monument, the Sphinx. Timbavati is situated on the 31°14ʹEast Longitudinal Line known as the Nilotic Meridian which defines the centre of the earth’ s landmasses. Linda made the connection that the pyramids and the Great Sphinx of Giza are situated on this 31° 14ʹE Nilotic Meridian, and hence the birthplace of the white lions of Timbavati are in exact geodetic alignment with the most sacred sites of ancient Egypt.
The Nilotic Meridian is also known as the “River of Gold” or the “River of Stars”. Gold is mythologically connected to lions and there have been many gold mining operations concentrated around the 31°14ʹ East meridian eg Barberton in South Africa, and Zimbabwe. According to the Great Knowledge there is a sacred subterranean river under the continent of Africa, some kind of power line linking Timbavati to Giza. It is also a celestial meridian out in space which corresponds at certain times of the year with the river of stars of the Milky Way. In ancient Egypt this was known as the Duat.
Many significant Sacred Sites are found all along the Nilotic Meridian, including the Giza plateau, the Temple of Philae, Great Zimbabwe and Timbavati, birthplace of the sacred White Lions.
Sacred Sites along the Nilotic Meridian 31°14ʹE
30°N -‐ The Sphinx and Pyramids of Giza
26°N -‐ Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, Valley of the Kings & Queens
Temples in Abydos & Dendera
24°N -‐ The Temple of Philae, dedicated to the Goddess Isis
0° -‐ The Equator, and source of the river Nile
20°S -‐ Great Zimbabwe
24°S -‐ Timbavati, birthplace of the sacred White Lions
25°S -‐ Blyde River Canyon
26°S -‐ Gold mining town of Barberton
30°S -‐ Phoenix settlement established by Mahatma Ghandi (Durban)
https://emanationofpresence.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Nilotic-Meridian.pdf
Then there is the symbolism of Akeru, twin lion guardians carved between the paws of the Sphinx. In sacred texts the Akeru are usually depicted as double headed, or back to back. In their position between the paws of the East facing Sphinx one faces North and the other South thus defining the North-South axis.
Linda discovered amazing connections between the Egyptian mysteries and the Great African tradition. She associates the Egyptian lion headed Goddess Sekhmet with Amarava, Credo Mutwa’s spirit guide, the fearsome Earth Mother. Just as Sekhmet was associated with Time before the beginning of time, Mutwa explained that Amarava was the Mother of the First People, and she would be the Mother of the Last.
Credo Mutwa told Linda that the Great Creator Goddess Amarava had instructed him that if he was to become the country’s leader one of his first tasks would be to stop the mining of gold. The scale of such a task, closing down South Africa’s gold mines, was not possible for him to achieve and Credo Mutwa suffered terribly in his life for breaking the silence of his great oral tradition.
https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-White-Lions-Linda-Tucker-ebook/dp/B003Z0CNWU
Goddess Blessings
Shirley Singer
🌷Thank you Shirley!