The Bushmen of the Drakensberg
South Africa: "A long, long time ago, we, the Bushmen, roamed these mountains, masters of the unpredictable ways of nature. We were nomads then, moving with the great herds of game and the changing of seasons. When the animals migrated, we followed, leaving no houses or roads to mark our presence here. All we left behind was our story painted on the rocks, in the shelters, the story of sacred animals and our journeys to the spirit world...." "These mountains once gave us shelter and the herds of antelope gave sustenance, and meaning to our lives. Especially the eland, for this is the animal of the greatest spiritual power. For us, it is the animal of well-being and healing, of beauty and peace and plenty. The eland could take us on journeys to the world beyond and connect us to God." Ancient rock art sheds light on the trance experiences of Bushman shamans and offer a record into ages past - two-
dimensional accounts of hunting and fighting and daily life. When entering a trance, shamans often bled from their nose and their arms stretched behind them as the transformation into the spirit world took place. Scholars believe that the trance dance served as the foundation for rock art. For the San, rock paintings weren’t just representations of life; when they put paint to rock, they believed they were opening portals to the spirit world. Some 20 000 individual bushman rock paintings have been recorded at 500 different cave and overhang sites in the Drakensberg. Subjects range from animals to humans, and mounted men with rifles. The paintings are often finely detailed
and exquisitely colored. They are largely narrative accounts of the bushman’s hunter-gatherer lifestyle. |
Where in Africa
|