Linda Tucker

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Mystery of the White Lions

African shamanism teaches that nature is magical, and magic is natural. After being rescued from a life-threatening encounter with lions in the Timbavati game region by a sangoma known as the 'Lion Queen', Linda Tucker embarks on a journey into the mysteries of the most sacred animal on the African continent: the legendary White Lion. It is a mystical journey into the knowledge and ceremonies of Old Africa, in which humans and lions are able to cross the species barrier - in accordance with the most guarded secrets of Ancient Egypt and humankind's greatest riddle, the sphinx. It is also a real living journey. Scientists in our day have established that humankind's most significant evolutionary leap occurred as a result of our ancestors' interaction with great cats. The White Lion is a generic rarity of Panthera leo, and occurred in one region only on earth: Timbavati. Today White Lions form the centre of the notorious 'canned' trophy hunting industry - hand reared captive lions, shot in enclosures for gross money. By contrast, shamans believe that killing a lion-sun god is the ultimate sacrilege. How the human species treats such precious symbols of God in nature may determine how nature treats the human species.