We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dayle McLeod. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dayle below.

Dayle, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The personal documentary that I am distributing right now, The Day of my Death, about my initiation as a medicine woman in my ancestral lands of South Africa with elder African shamans has been the most meaningful project that I’ve worked on thus far.
I was led by my ancestors through my dreams to make this project as a way to reconnect with my heritage, the land, and the stories that run through my family lineage, as a result of the rupture of aparteid. I was put through ancient rites of passage rituals that activated ancestral memory in me. Through this journey I have learned about the importance of Black liberation through reconnection with indigenous spirituality. It is a direct way to decolonize our brains from white/colonial/capitalist/patriarchal culture. Weaving the wisdom of my ancestors into my life as an artist and filmmaker has made my practice one of devotion, making story telling a sacred art that is culture making and life giving.

Dayle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am an actor, author, musician and South African Sangoma from Ontario, Canada. I entered into the story-making business as an actor in MTV/CW’s ‘The L.A Complex’, and started making my own music and short films.

My folk music albums ‘In Bloom’ and ‘Snakes’ have been featured in a number of film and television productions including CTV’s ‘Kims Convenience’, Mary Harron’s film; ‘Charlie Says’ and Sam Coyle’s award winning web series ‘Avocado Toast’.

You’ve seen me in Amazon’s ‘The Expanse’, the CW’s ‘Burden of Truth’, the ‘Orphan Black’ reboot, ‘Echos’ & the Toronto edition of ‘Law and Order’.

My career took a turn into the deeper realms of sacred story telling in my mid-twenties when I experienced the ‘calling illness’ of a shamanic healer, and began studying traditional medicine, and the ceremonial elements of story telling as culture making business.
It was then I released my first book, ‘The Big Dream; My Terrifyingly Beautiful Shamanic Initiation into the Arts’.

Its a memoir and spirit guide for others who experience the calling of their ancestors back to the traditional harmonious ways of being with each other and the Earth.

Currently I am releasing my first documentary that follows my initiation as a Sangoma (traditional medicine woman/shamana) in South Africa, commissioned by the Toronto Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts, premiering in 2026 at the Black Lives Matter Wild Seed Center in Toronto alongside artist/Activist Ravyn Wngs and Playwright/Sangoma Makhosi Samson Ingwe on Feb 5 2026. At this premier we will have an intimate talk-back discussing about Liberation and empowerment through ancestral connection.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn all of the lessons that the colonial, capitalist patriarchy taught me about being a woman, being African, and being an artist. To the CCP (Colonial Capitalist Patriarchy) I had no inherent value, and my value was in being in service to men. I was taught that my power lied in my proximity to men.
This cultural conditioning lead me to make choices with no self worth informing them- I married an abusive narcissist who used to call me the ‘N’ word and sabotaged my career in acting so that I would become his trad-wife.
While in the depths of that despair, it was my ancestors who starting coming to me in dreams and visions reminding me of my power, breaking through the CCP’s brainwashing. They reminded me that as a woman, I was sacred & as an African, I had a long lineage of empowered healers, artists & storytellers standing behind me ready to help me get on track of living my purpose as an artist & healer. Through following their guidance I have created documentarys, books, music and now a film & tv series who’s stories reflect the wisdom of sacred storytelling and myth making. Through art we create culture, and through culture we create harmony. I had to unlearn everything I knew in order to get to this place.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

My creative practice is my spiritual practice, and my devotion to both reaps me blessings of community, abundance, and the thrill of collaborative creation. As an artist & shamanic practitioner I have to become a ‘hollow bone’, an empty channel for spirit to move through me. The better I get at surrender, the better an artist I become. The more I can release the grip of my ego in my spiritual practice, means the more I can play like a free, liberated child in my art. The two practices feed eachother. I have ancestors who were incredible artists, and being in communion in this way allows for their wisdom to move through me, making pieces of art that feel other-wordly. because they are!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.daylemcleod.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dayle.mcleod/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584572135567&notif_id=1765849628605439&notif_t=page_user_activity&ref=notif#
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dayle-mcleod-172b54182
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dayle.mcleod
• Other: www.dayofmydeathdocumentary.com
  www.thebigdreambook.com