San drawings

Some of the San drawings we saw today – and a picture of Philip,  our guide, patiently talking to us about the history of the area and the habits of the Bushmen. Drawings are so elegant! A story to go with them: the San believed that every animal had its equivalent in the spirit world. Hence the drawing of the double antelope – the right hand side one is the present one, it has the normal complement of four legs. The left hand side one is the spirit animal that emerges from the present one,  so it has two legs. Shaman visited the spirit world during trances, taking back with them the vivid images they shared with their tribe.  Then a draughtsman  (or -woman?) made these wonderfully exact and fragile  drawings on cave walls.

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