Top 5 significant Bushman animals

Bushman cave paintings are full of animal metaphors and therianthrope characters. However among the various animals that do feature in their paintings there are certain which hold special position in Bushman culture. Here is a list of the TOP 5 significant bushman animals, in random order.

An Eland

1. Eland: The eland, the biggest antelope of Southern Africa, is the chief of all animals according to bushman culture. It was also /Kaggen, the mantis', first creation (see: Mantis makes an Eland) and was it's most dearest creation. The bushmen hold the eland in the highest regard and claim it is the most potent of all the animals. The eland is significant for all the important rituals of the bushmen; Inititation, Puberty rites, first menstruation, marriage etc. It is also called the rain animal. Shamans often try to harness the potency of the land in their rainmaking rituals.
Often a shaman's trance experience (dying) is paralleled to the death of an eland. The behaviour of a shaman in trance is very similar to moments after an eland is shot. The shaman like a dying eland bleeds form the nose, staggers and lowers his head and eventually falls down unconscious. All these features simply put the eland on top of the list and makes it the chief of all the animals in Bushman culture.

An Hartebeest

2. Hartebeest: The Hartebeest is one of the most painted animals in the cave paintings. It is another of /Kaggen's creations and bears a strong resemblance to a mantis. Bushman talk of /Kaggen sitting atop a Hartebeest, between it's antlers, while moving about in the wild.

"He made his heart of the eland and the hartebeest. The hartebeest and the eland are things of the Mantis; therefore they have magic power."

3. Rhebuck: Rhebucks often appear in cave paintings as animals in their true form or as therianthropes. There are several depictions of shamans with rhebuck heads and hooves for legs. Rhebucks are said to have powers like that of a shaman. 'Men with rhebuck heads...tame elands and snakes' said one bushman informant.

4. Elephant: Apart from antelopes, elephants and other pachyderms like rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses do appear in bushman cave paintings. Sometimes therianthropes with elephantine features may appear instead of whole elephants. Therianthropes with protruding tusks and trunks are often appear in the cave paintings, as seen in the illustration below. Elephant drawings are usually seen surrounded by entoptic dots which prove it may have been a shaman's vision during the trance dance.

Therianthrope with a rhebuck head

Elephant theriathropes

5. Baboon: The baboon is revered sacred as it bears the closest resemblance to humans. The baboons are said to have powers like that of a shaman: predicting danger, protection from sickness etc. The baboons were said to derive their powers from the stick of a sho:/õӓ plant. The plant cannot be identified but it is described as a plant with a red top and long roots.

Apart from these animals there are several other animals that appear in San rock paintings: snakes, fish, jackals/ foxes, crabs, birds, lions etc. Every animal plays a unique role in the paintings they appear. For instance, fish and birds act as metaphors to illustrate the underwater/ flying trance experience. Snakes are one of the forms that the Mantis assumes to scare hunters during game hunts. Foxes, contrary to their cunning reputation in other cultures play a very protective guardian figure role in bushman mythology. Many times shamans are believed to assume the form of a lion and go on out-of-body journeys.