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Halstone I
BT Rhodes
Halstone I
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ZA NASMUS NASMUS-NASMUS-RSA-HAE1-27.jpg
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Item
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15/11/2000
Part of National Museum
The eland was the first animal that the San trickster deity, /Kaggen created and it remained his favourite.
The eland is the largest of southern African antelope and is much desired for its meat and fat. The San say that all other animals are like servants to the eland.
The importance of this animal is shown in the great variety of postures and perspectives. It is depicted running with tail outstretched, with uplifted head smelling the wind, and upside down, presumably dead. The eland is also depicted from the front or from the back, and even from above.
The eland appears in four important San rituals it is the most carefully depicted antelope in both rock paintings and engravings: Trance dance, boy's first kill, girl's puberty and marriage. It is believed that eland fat contains a lot of potency and in a trance dance shamans aspire to possess eland potency. Halstone I
ZA NASMUS NASMUS-NASMUS-RSA-HAE1-30.jpg
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Item
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15/11/2000
Part of National Museum
Depictions of felines in rock art are common.
Lions in general were believed to have some of the shaman’s accomplishments: they knew things that ordinary people could not possibly know, they could become invisible, and they could cause things to happen by supernatural means. They could also transform themselves into hartebeest and then, when the hunters appeared, revert to their feline form.
Not surprisingly, Bushmen believe shamans can turn themselves into lions. It was also believed that shamans obtained lion-power by eating a lion’s gall, which is believed to be the seat of its potency. When malevolent shamans roam in feline form, the shamans in the camp enter trance and chase them off. Halstone I
