My Story

My Story…

My name is Tanya Kayembe, better known as The Black Empress. Having encountered several charlatans on my spiritual journey and struggling to find healers I could truly learn from and resonate with, I made it my soul’s mission to one day be the answer I was seeking for someone else who finds themselves in my position.

After years of:

• Random inexplicable fainting
• Depression and anxiety
• Endless medical conditions that could not be diagnosed or treated
• Several suicide attempts
• Leaving one corporate job after another for reasons I could never explain

I found myself unable to sleep during the pandemic lock down. I had always struggled with fatigue, headaches, dizzy spells, ringing ears, and insomnia, so I thought nothing of it when it felt like these conditions were now on steroids during the lockdown.

That was until I had two weeks straight of insomnia! Yes, two weeks straight of no sleep, staying up day and night, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for two weeks! My life has always been crazy and peculiar, but this time I was convinced I was surely going mad! The first few days, I just sat on my phone, browsing the internet, going through social media…then I had the bright idea to re-brand my business.

Out of the blue, I taught myself how to design logos, flyers, labels, and a whole lot of stuff I used to pay a pretty penny for. I even went as far as to design my own website, complete with an online store! To say this was shocking to me and those who knew me is an understatement! I was the poster child for technologically challenged. I also started vlogging what I was going through and taught myself how to edit my own videos.

In my first vlog, I shared how I hadn’t slept in 10 days and thought I was going crazy. Four days later, someone I knew reached out to me after seeing the video and said the words that would change my life forever: “Tanya, I don’t think you’re crazy, I think you have a calling.” Mic drop.

Now to us African folk, a calling means ancestors, blood, and sacrifices. I was not surprised by the fact that I had a calling, as I grew up in the church, and as far as I can remember, I was always told that I was called into full-time ministry. But she wasn’t saying I was called into full-time ministry; she was saying I HAD A CALLING!!! Loosely translated, I had an ANCESTRAL calling! At this moment, I had stopped going to church for a few years since I felt that there was something missing after a lifetime of being a Christian. I was beginning to embrace my identity as an African and curious about what that entailed. I was exploring the law of attraction, and I think that is what paved the way for what I later discovered to be my awakening.

So I asked her, “Okay, so I have a calling, how do I answer it?” She said, “Well, if you accept the calling, just say you accept.” That night, as I sat up in bed, watching my husband sleep, I said, “To whoever has called me, if you’re listening, I ACCEPT.” I must mention that I had tried to use alcohol and heavy medication to try and get myself to sleep, and none of it had worked. But, on that day, as soon as I said that statement, I drifted off to sleep and slept like a baby till the next morning.

When I woke up, the first thing that came to my mind was the commitment I made the previous night. Next, I thought, “What now?” And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the journey began… I come from four generations of Christians (that I know of), and in all those four generations, no one had ever lifted their head to say they had an ancestral calling, let alone accept it! And yet here I was, tongue-talking, devil-stomping, and healing prophetess of the Church of our Lord and Jesus accepting an ancestral calling! I will leave it to your imagination how those two words to my calling, I ACCEPT, were received.

Naturally, when you have an ancestral calling, you go to consult with a Sangoma. In my very first consultation, it was confirmed I do have a calling, and when I asked what my calling was, I was told I’m called to be a healer and a prophet, meaning I had the dreaded combination of a traditional healer and a religious ancestral spirit, which is loosely identified as a prophet. After a few more consultations seeking clarity and guidance, I came across my fair share of charlatans and was frustrated because it all seemed so futile. The consultations all seemed to reveal that I was “very powerful” (no such thing, by the way) and that I just had too many gifts that no one seemed to quite know what to do with. I did notice, though, that most of them were eager to take me under their wing for their benefit, as they found my gifts quite interesting and peculiar, and they obviously wanted to benefit from them.

Needless to say, that never happened, and my ancestors, who I have now learned are just a fraction of all the other beings invested in my “calling,” i.e., spirit guides, took me on a journey of connection, healing, and expansion. I was hungry to learn and eager to serve, but I just couldn’t find someone who could train me. After lasting only two weeks in initiation school, I finally surrendered. Not long after, I met a beautiful soul who completely turned my life around just by redirecting me back to myself and teaching me that everything that I seek is already within me. This is when I started to find the answers to the questions I sought, and my gifts became clearer and stronger. I started to truly understand who I was and what my purpose was. It was a long and painful journey, the most difficult experience of my life (and it continues), and my heart’s desire became to hold space for those in the same shoes so their journey could be guided and hopefully lighter than mine was.

The more I surrendered, the more I grew and learned in my calling, and one teacher after another came into my life to train me, each in perfect timing. Those teachers were a game changer for my calling, and that is what my heart desires for me to be to you. I have a special affinity for born-again Christians and those who have been labeled to have a marine spirit, as that was the story of my life. Also, because after two years on this journey, I called “my calling,” I found myself coming full circle and returning to praise and worship and calling on the name of Jesus once again. No one could quite explain to me how to reconcile the two until I experienced it myself, and now I know just how to make it make sense for someone else.

This and a lot more is how I end up here, wanting to guide and support you and help you heal so you can walk in the fullness of what God has called you to. And yes, together with your ancestors… Looking forward to connecting with you soon.

Camagu 🙏🏾