RARI - Rock Art Research Institute - Witwatersrand University

Rock Art Research Institute (RARI)
University of the Witwatersrand

This painting from the Eastern Cape Drakensberg shows a bird connected to an eland by a line of supernatural potency. Note that foam is depicted falling from the mouth of the eland to indicate that the animal is dying. Dying eland are common in San rock art. The explanation for this lies in the fact that the San word for dying is the same as the San word for entering deep trance. Many San painters depicted dying eland in close association with 'dying' dancers. The experiences of trembling, sweating and bleeding from the nose before finally collapsing were common to both; beyond this the eland was the supreme source of the potency sought by San dancers. The way that the bird is connected to the eland suggests that it is part of this same trance symbolism. The San describe their experiences of out-of-body travel as like flying. This bird painting seems to capture this metaphor.

	All people resort to metaphors when they try to express the ineffable and sometimes bizarre experiences of trance. Today Westerners speak of a 'trip' or a 'high'. San shamanic dances and art were similarly given form by a set of metaphors that were peculiar to their own circumstances.

In San thought and art 'death' in trance is closely associated with the physical death of eland which the San believe to have more supernatural potency than any other creature. When a shaman 'dies', he bends forward, bleeds from the nose, trembles, sweats profusely, staggers and eventually falls unconscious. Similarly, when an eland dies, it lowers its neck so that its head sways from side to side. Its hair stands on end, blood and foam gush from its nose and mouth. It trembles violently, sweats and staggers. Finally, it collapses. Sans artists were sensitive to these parallels and painted shamans in association with dying eland.

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