Medicine man to the stars

by BAZ BAMIGBOYE

Last updated at 12:04 23 February 2007


Well, if any place needs an African Medicine man to soothe wounded souls, it's Hollywood.

Dr Elliot Ndlovu burns African incense and dons a black, white and red-beaded headdress shaped like a Cleopatra wig when greeting visitors to his tiny hangout in a wing of a sprawling mansion rented out by London club Soho House in the week leading up to the Oscars.

"The incense - and some 140 other herbs that I grow myself - help a human being communicate with the spirits of their ancestors," Dr Ndlovu, a Zulu inyanga and sangmoma (medicinal and spiritual healer) from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, told me.

"There are a lot of troubled people to help here," he added.

Particularly during Oscars week, I suspect, which is why the Carneros Inn Spa - from way up in California's Napa wine region - flew the good doctor to Los Angeles to conduct enlightenment sessions for the over-priviliged at the Soho House mansion on the lower slopes of the Hollywood Hills, just off Sunset Boulevard.

It's part of the Carneros Inn's attempt to calm the frazzled nerves of those hundreds of folk participating in the Academy Awards.

Dr Ndlovu, on his first visit to LA, said most people assumed he was a witch doctor. "It's only the ignorant who call me that, but I can help them, too," he said.

He ventured across the courtyard to the Soho House set-up at night to catch a glimpse of stars such as Jude Law, Penelope Cruz and Leonardo DiCaprio as they came to wine and dine.

The mansion was empty when designer Amanda Masters and her team arrived to give it a makeover.

They spent more than $1 million decorating the house in a modern gothic style, with gold and navy blue wallpaper, Chesterfield sofas, chandeliers, a games room with pool table - and a DJ set-up.

At least Dr Ndlovu blessed this house.

Most watched News videos