In the world, we live in today we have a lot of different religions. Every religion has different beliefs and practices. Today we are going to look at the differences between the San and Christians beliefs and practises.
Firstly, we will have a look at the beliefs of the San. The san believed that by painting on rocks there is a spirit realm beyond the tangible world around them. As stated in tutorial letter 104 “This spirit world was inhabited by strange rain and spirit animals, humans with the heads of eland or smaller antelope and cloven hoofs, as well as the malevolent spirits of some of the dead. San shamans, while in a trance, often imagined climbing a rope to the spirit world, where they would plead with the supreme creator god and receive supernatural potency to heal the sick, facilitate success in the hunt and make rain”. They also believed that once they are in a trance they would climb a rope and plead with the supreme creator god and then they will receive supernatural ‘powers’. They believed that the painting is the rope represented the thin red line fringed with white dots, that intertwined the spirit animals with the human-like beings.
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For the San, the most important ritual was the trance dance. The trance dance traditionally consists of men with rattles around their lower legs dancing around a fire at night for long hours on end, while using short steps to rhythmic clapping and singing of women. They eventually fell into a trance, where they believed it enabled them to enter the spirit realm. As stated in the tutorial letter 104 “The purpose of the ritual dance was to enter the spirit realm, where spiritual potency or supernatural power would be acquired to effect healing and bring rain for the