The San Religion: Beliefs And Rituals

The San are said to be the oldest people of the Southern Africa. The San have lived in the Southern Africa for roughly 20 000 years. The word San is mostly directed to various set of hunters inhabitantating the Southern parts of Africa sharing historica and same spoken language connections. The San can also be called Bushmen if only the word BUSHMEN has not been rejected as it is seen as abusive and pejorative.

The San Beliefs

The San believe in a supreme god, a more powerful god but at the same time they acknowledge other small or lesser also having their wives and children acknowledge it.

One other belief of the San is paying Homage to the spirits of the natives that have lost their lives. Some San(Bushmen) believe that tilling the soil is against the order of the world set up by their gods.

Some of The San also regard the moon with great devotion. The San believe in a said to be most important spiritual known as Kaggen, the trickster- deity. /Kaggen invented a lot of things and he appears in different myths where he can be fool or wise person, wearisome or helpful. /Kaggen could be translated as ' mantis' ( a very large insect that captures and eats smaller insects). This led to the a popular belief that The San served the praying mantis. The mantis is just one of /Kaggen' s manifestations, he can also turn into an Eland ( a specie of large South African antelope), a reptile(snake) a hate or a vulture. /Kaggen can transform into many animal forms and when he is not taking the form of any animal, he lives as a common San.

Rituals Of The San

The large South African antelope ( Eland) is the most spiritual animal and it appears in four of their rituals:

Marriage

The marriage ritual involves the husband giving the fat from the antelope' s heart to the girl' s parents. After a while, the lady is baptized with the fat of the antelope.

Girls' puberty

During a girl's puberty ritual, young girl is left alone in her hut at her first periodic discharge of the menses. The elderly women of the tribe perform the Eland Bull Dance by imitating the pairing act of the Eland cows.

Boys' first kill

The San hold a ritual where a boy is taught how to track an antelope and how the antelope will drop dead once shot using an arrow. The boy automatically becomes an adult immediately he kills his first Eland.

Possession dance

The possession or trance dance, the Eland is considered the most potent of all of Kaggen' s forms and all the priest doctors hope to take ownership of Eland power.

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