Kamilah KaMaat says that she has always considered herself a bridge between the physical world and the spiritual world.
KaMaat is a Savannah-born and raised spiritual healer and founder of the Sankofa House Savannah, located at 1119 E 40th Street. Her name, which is rooted in Kemetic (or ancient Egyptian) and Arabic origins, means “complete soul of truth.”
Credit: Courtesy of Kamilah KaMaat
Credit: Courtesy of Kamilah KaMaat
In western society and culture, KaMaat’s line of work is not considered “the norm,” but healers like her can still be found sporadically across the United States.
The self-proclaimed healer serves the Savannah community and communities abroad as an intuitive spiritual advisor, certified yoga instructor, doula, kemetic reiki practitioner, certified spiritual life coach, and so much more.
KaMaat makes it clear that she offers her many services with one end-goal in mind. “We are healing the heart,” she says.
“People's hearts have gotten hard and cold. Many people don’t know how to connect with themselves or others. The methods we use to heal the heart are silence, stillness, breathing, and meditation. The heart has a voice of its own."
KaMaat facilitates healing rituals from the Sankofa House Savannah — an aged, yellow-faced house, adorned with windchimes, silver coins and amethyst at the windows — where she is referred to as the “Chief.” KaMaat shares that the Sankofa House has numerous nicknames including “home”, “the temple,” “the mothership,” and interestingly, “the unplug from the matrix” after the 1999 film, "The Matrix."
Credit: Brandy Simpkins / For Savannah Morning News
Credit: Brandy Simpkins / For Savannah Morning News
“The Sankofa House serves as a safe and sacred haven created with intentions to restore, revive and resurrect the community back to health, wellness and wholeness of mind, body and spirit,” KaMaat said.
On May 1, the Sankofa House will celebrate five years of open doors as a community healing space.
KaMaat said that she retrieved the location after turning to Facebook to request a building that she could rent or that could be donated for her to conduct healing circles (sacred, intimate gatherings) for men, women and children.
“I didn’t even know exactly what I would be doing. I just knew that it needed to happen, and I needed to do it,” she said. “As big as it got, I didn’t expect it.
Credit: Kamilah KaMaat
Credit: Kamilah KaMaat
“I knew this place was successful when I began to identify this space as an alternative healing space to the hospital because people would just show up at any time. When it’s night time, nine o’clock, they’re ringing my doorbell and before I had a doorbell they were knocking on my door. When they couldn’t get me at the front door, they came to the back.”
KaMaat says the operation’s expansion is endless.
“Sankofa House Savannah has attracted people from all over the world — not just people who came in need of healing, but people that came in honor of this space. This includes people from the MotherLand of Africa who came to honor this space on their knees,” she said. “Other healers like me, educators, and Priests and Priestesses from different backgrounds and religions all come here.”
The chief says that the Sankofa House is for people from all walks of life regardless of their religious background, social or economic status, creed or color.
Credit: Brandy Simpkins / For Savannah Morning News
Credit: Brandy Simpkins / For Savannah Morning News
Though she grew up in a Christian household, today, she considers herself a student of all religions, referring to them as “classrooms.” “Everything,” is KaMaat’s response when people ask her what she believes in.
“If it makes sense and it is love, truth, healing and it has depth and history… and importantly, if it is a belief that can take me from believing to knowing, then I’ll take it,” she said. “I never close myself off from being a student because I know that everything has something to teach me.”
Kamilah KaMaat can be found on Instagram @kamilah_kamaat and on Facebook at Kamilah KaMaat. When following, beware of illegitimate social media profiles who impersonate her to solicit funds.
The Sankofa House Savannah can be found on Instagram @SankofaHouseSavannah and Facebook at facebook.com/SankofaHouseSavannah/.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Sankofa House Savannah and its Chief find spiritual healing for the community
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