Bushmen Healing and Rock Art - Other Occurrences at Healing Dances

Other Occurrences At Healing Dances

Also in this powerful state, healers often walk on fire, see the insides of peoples’ bodies and scenes at great distances from their camp, or travel to God’s home, as observed by Elizabeth Marshall. One healer tells of a time when his spirit left the camp and came upon a pride of lions that had been troubling the people. The man’s spirit ordered them away, and they left and didn’t bother the people anymore. These activities would never be attempted in their ordinary state.

Along with healing, these dances and !kia also give the people more sense of self. K"au fDau, a healer that is blind, described becoming more his self, to Professor Katz, like this:

“God keeps my eyeballs in a little cloth bag. When he first collected them, he got a little cloth bag and plucked my eyeballs out and put them into the bag and then he tied the eyeballs to his belt and went up to heaven. And now when I dance, on the nights when I dance and the singing rises up, he comes down from heaven swinging the bag with the eyeballs above my head and then he lowers the eyeballs to my eye level, and as the singing gets strong, he puts the eyeballs into my sockets and they stay there and I cure. And then when the women stop singing and separate out, he removes the eyeballs, puts them back in the cloth bag and takes them up to heaven.”

So during the !kia state he becomes more than himself because he can then see, both figuratively and literally. Healing and this powerful energy are important to the Bushmen so they can identify themselves, and see who they truly are.