Publications

Book Review by Jaime Blanco
Shaman's Drum, Number 63, 2002

Kalahari Bushmen Healers
Bradford Keeney, editor
Ringing Rocks Press 1999
Book and audio CD
127 pages
16 b&w photographs
35 color photographs
Hardbound $39.95 (ISBN 978-0-9800543-0-9)
Paperback $18.95 (ISBN 978-0-9800543-1-6)

Edited by Bradford Keeney, an American healer who has experienced ecstatic trances while working with the Bushmen, Kalahari Bushmen Healers is a marvelous piece of ethnographic documentation that should appeal to anyone with an interest in African trance dances or ecstatic possession states. By all accounts, the Kalahari Bushmen of Botswana practice one of the most potent — and quite possibly the oldest-extant forms of ecstatic trance dancing. For millennia — "back to the beginnings of time," as one healer put it — the once-nomadic hunter-foragers of the Kalahari have gathered at night around communal fires and danced to the rhythm of clapping hands until they are infused with an intense, often hot spirit light known as xhau and they experience a sense of ecstatic lightness, or 'num, that empowers their healing work. This book, the third volume in the Profiles of Healing series, provides firsthand insights by twenty Bushmen healers into the nature of their healing practices.

In contrast to most general books on Bushmen culture, the text of Kalahari Bushmen Healers is composed almost entirely of firsthand observations and comments by male and female healers from eight Kalahari communities. Occasionally, Keeney provides short editorial notes explaining vital points, but he doesn't encumber the text with lengthy analytical commentaries — and this has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, readers already familiar with 'Kung or other Bushmen doctoring traditions should find this volume provides some marvelous insights into the subtle aspects of Bushmen trance practices. On the other hand, some of the esoteric observations made about trance healings may leave some readers scratching their heads and hungry for more direct explanation. For this reason, I would encourage any readers new to the subject of African trance healing to begin by reading Keeney's epilogue, in which he describes his own understanding of Bushmen healing trances, before jumping off into the main text. Readers may also find it useful to explore some of the many informative books included in the reference list.

By addressing parallel topics from multiple perspectives, the descriptions of trance states and healing processes reveal subtleties about Bushmen trance healing methods that may help outsiders understand the experience. For example, many of the healers indicate the healing power is connected to an intense light experi­enced during healing dances. One healer, Mabolelo Shikwe, states, "There are moments in the healing dance when I feel like I am standing in a ray of light. In this light I am able to see inside others. I see everything as if I'm inside you. I can see the lesions on the liver or disease in the intestines." Another healer, Rasimane, offers a slightly different perspective: "During the dance I usually see a light that comes from the people around me. This light goes straight up to the sky. I begin to see this light when I start healing during the dance. First I get filled with pain, then the light comes. It takes away all the pain. When there is no light, I feel pain. When the light arrives, the pain disappears." Yet another healer, Motaope Saboabue, states, "When you see the light during the healing dance, it is so bright that it looks like daylight even though it is actually evening. This light brings about very special kinds of things. I become so tall that I see the people as small, as if they are standing far below me. It's like I am flying over them. Although I am physically blind, I can see everything in this light. This is when I truly see."

One of the strengths of this and other books in the Profiles of Healing series is that the series designer, Karen Davidson, skillfully uses the techniques of graphic layout and multiple photographs to convey a sense of the culture and environments — the set and settings — surrounding the healing rituals. For example, this volume is peppered with Izak Barnard's excellent photos of Bushmen engaged in daily activities — collecting water, making rope, starting a fire, setting a trap, picking medicinal plants, hunting antelopes, and performing social dances — that provide a good sense of their rigorous lifestyle, while Kern Nickerson's dramatic photos offer a close-up view of the healers and healing ceremonies themselves. In addition to many photos, this volume includes an interesting set of drawings by the healer Kua, depicting some of the mythic beliefs of his people.

One of the themes that stands out in the healers' comments is their incredibly positive outlook on life. Despite living in what we might consider abject poverty, the Bushmen appreciate that they are incredibly rich in spirit — something that they attribute to their dances and healing work. In one community, Mabolelo Shikwe explained the secret of Bushmen happiness: "This is why we live the way we do. We forget all the bad things that happened and carry no malice in our hearts. We only remember the good things, and our heart is always open to the present." In another community, Rraditshipi Mokwaledi told Keeney: "I will dance for you tonight when the fire burns strongly. I will show you that dance is the life of the Bushmen. It is the happiest time of our life. Dancing is how we receive the help and happiness we need. Our happiness, life, and spirit, Kaemme Teberi offers these words of encouragement to all who might be listening: "To all those people who live far away from the Kalahari, I say open your hearts to others. When you do so, you will feel our spirit. It will make you dance and it will make you happy. And then you, too, will be a Bushman."

CLOSE