The lion, the king of the jungle and of all beasts, hold a very different position in Khoisan culture. Fables around the world depict the lion as the strong and mighty master of the wild. However in Khoisan folklore, the lion is of a rather naive and foolish character. The lion is seldom the one that triumphs at the end of the story. In one bushman folktale, a pack of jackals triumph over a lion through their wits.
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The jackals said that he seemed to be a strong thing,but he was really only a little thing who had not been able to resist a small stone."- The Lion and the Jackal |
Lions are also frequently represented in the rock paintings. Knowing the bushman belief of shaman's transforming into various animals during trance, it is not surprising that it was believed that shamans could turn into lions.Lions were "believed to have some of the shamans' 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." (source: Images of Power, D.L Williams and T.Dowson.)
According to bushman sources, sometimes evil shamans would come prowling in their feline forms. Invisible to ordinary eyes, these evils spirits can only be warded of by another shaman. It is very fascinating to compare the two striking ways the bushman depict the lion. A powerful animal, ferocious and strong yet foolish and naive in behaviour. It has strong shamanic powers yet not as powerful as an eland. The Khoisan understanding of the lion poses a very beautiful juxtaposition that values mind over might.
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