[.ca] Kalahari Bushman Healers (ISBN 0918172241)

Incisive testimonials by a score of traditional healers:
The Kalahari desert area is a rather large region mostly encompassed by the modern nation of Botswana, in southern Africa. There exist a number of tribal constituencies, collectively referred to simply as Bushmen, which there maintain a rather precarious existence, sometimes by means that to us would probably seem magical. This monograph is aimed at the growing population of people in the United States (and around the world) who avail themselves to (and some who practice) forms of healing which stem from indigenous cultures around the globe. I am surmising that it is because of this narrow focus that there is no introduction to apprise the reader of the very fertile range of mythologies, which are part of Bushman lore. (Nor is any other sort of cultural context attempted!) Instead, the text plunges directly into a series of inspiring, spiritually significant monologues, which have been directly transcribed from what the healers have spoken. There are features of this 'outback phenomenology' which are common to many of those who are speaking. But we also hear of individual characteristics, as well as different levels of attainment amongst the various healing practitioners. For the most part, their manners of speaking are cogent, honest, and delightfully graphic, coming straight from the heart. Healing in all shapes and manners always, for these groups of people, occurs within the context of specific dance forms (along with their accompanying music). There is (so common in numerous other cultures in sub-Saharan Africa) that severe shaking which overtakes the healer/dancer, subsequent to which he/she gets in contact with his/her ancestors. These entities from beyond the grave enter into close quarters with the 'afflicted' healer, explaining how to doctor the given patient, as well as helping to locate who within the crowd needs healing. Often the best healers experience a great light as if from within; some may see themselves out of their body, or up above it - as if witnessing the scene from another dimension \othough the normal world would generally still be seen from/through it\c. When the healer takes the pain of the patient, it can hurt a lot, but afterwards the healer feel much better, and elevated. There are many variations on these basic experiences. One of the most profound is that a healer may initiate someone else by transferring the power/knowledge/energy (which he/she holds) to the initiate (and without losing power in the process). The healer him/herself would usually have been initiated this way, or by one of the ancestral spirits from beyond the grave. All in all, this is a beautifully packaged fount of knowledge. Though the hardbound text is only 5/8 of an inch thick or so in its slipcase, it is profusely endowed with numerous, beautifully tinted colored photographs of varying sizes. The CD accompanying the text is glorious. There are healing songs recorded on site, as well as a number of spoken blessings. Bushmen dialects include several different oral 'clicking' sounds as part of their alphabet, so that even their speech is like a subtle music, which most of us have not heretofore had a chance to hear/experience.