San spirituality : roots, expression, and social consequences / J.D. Lewis-Williams and D.G. Pearce.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lewis-Williams, J. David

Contributor:

Pearce, D. G. (David G.), 1978-

Series:

African archaeology series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

San (African people)--Religion.

San (African people).

Cosmology, San.

San (African people)--Psychology.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 267 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Walnut Creek, CA : AltaMira Press, [2004]

Summary:

At the intersection between western culture and Africa, we find the San people of the Kalahari desert. Once called Bushmen, the San have survived many characterizations-from pre-human animals by the early European colonials, to aboriginal conservationists in perfect harmony with nature by recent New Age adherents. Neither caricature does justice to the complex world view of the San. Eminent anthropologists David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce present a instead balanced view of the spiritual life of this much-studied people, examining the interplay of their cosmology, myth, ritual, and art.

Contents:

Mind, stone, spirit

Roots in the brain : a neurological interlude

Cosmology, graves, and transitions

Kalahari life : a photographic background

Metaphors of transition

Punctuated normality

Controlling rain

Reticulated transformations

Spirituality in society

Götterdämmerung

San spirituality today.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-257) and index.

ISBN:

075910431X

0759104328

OCLC:

54007266