It wasn’t so long ago that Thomas Heathfield was working in a bank.

But it was all getting rather routine and so he opted for something a little different – heading for South Africa, going without sleep for three days, putting himself in a trance and drinking goat blood

Mr Heathfield, 32, has given up his suit, laptop and his office to train as a witchdoctor.

Rituals: Thomas Heathfield, centre, smiles with his friend Lungile Tsetse, left and his trainer Gogo Dingani, right during his graduation ceremony

In South Africa more than 50 per cent of people refer to Sangomas such as these in the Eastern Cape of South Africa

He spent three months sleeping rough in the bush, wearing traditional robes and hunting for animal parts to prove he was strong enough to become a healer – known by locals as a sangoma.

The convert, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, previously advised a high street bank on management but said a spiritual awakening prompted his decision to drop everything.

‘The whole training process was really tough, but it means a lot to me so I’m really glad to have done it,’ he said.

‘It made me dig deeper and deeper to summon the will power to do things I never thought I’d be capable of. I’ve been interested in the work of sangomas for about ten years now, and really feel it is my spiritual calling.

‘Some people might see this as a weird decision because I had a successful job in the UK and quite a nice life. But I’ve realised that there is more to my life. Now I’m living in the real world more.

‘Here, if they want a chicken to eat, they kill it. In England I’d have gone to the supermarket.’

Mr Heathfield, 32, has a new life in South Africa, now

Mr Heathfield was given tribal name Gogo Mndawe by villagers near the town of Komatipoort, in Mpumalanga province.

The novice was banned from all contact with friends and family before his graduation ceremony on Sunday, attended by his parents Ally and Brian Heathfield who had travelled from the family home in England.

He added: ‘Mum and Dad were there, along with about 200 people from the surrounding villages. I hadn’t slept for three days, and I’d almost given up a couple of times. I had to give up my identity and the fact I am male. I was just a being.

‘My spirit wasn’t broken, though, and I’m relieved about that. It’s a great feeling.

‘It was a big deal for the locals, to see a white man like me joining them in their historic traditions. I think some of them probably thought I was a bit mad.’

Mr Heathfield had to learn enough of the local Swazi language, which is spoken in northern South Africa, to understand orders given to him at his final exam.

He learned how to put himself into a spiritual trace through a ritual dance called kuhlehla every day at 2.30am.