The Soul of Safrica

You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing, and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.

-Krishnamurti

Let there be a place for everyone under the sun - and everyone to take their lawful place - even the bushman to tame nature and to dance for the rain.

-Henry Jansen alias Xam

The National Coat of Arms of South Africa captures the very essence of our land and people. As such it is our National Icon!

Every South African should reflect long and and deep on its profound symbolism. It is well worth reading about it at the "National Coat of Arms" site.   I find it profoundly spiritual. For personal reasons the Khoisan element is especially interesting which is more fully explained on the Linton Panel page   The human figures in the Coat of Arms derive from the Linton Stone, now preserved in the SA National Museum in Cape Town:

Credit: Dr Ben Smith, Wits Rock Art Institute.

The panel shows people capturing a power the /Xam called !Gi. The San sought and used this power for the benefit of their community. It allowed for the healing of the sick and for the healing of divisions within society. San rock art was believed to be rich in this special power.

Credit: Dr Ben Smith, Wits Rock Art Institute.

This delicately painted figure has power that we can all share in. It was intended to have special power as it was painted straddling a line of !Gi. Within the new Coat of Arms the figure will continue, as its painter intended, to channel its power for the benefit of all.


This caught my attention. What is this !Gi?

!Gi refers to what has been variously described as "supernatural potency", "magical power",  "spiritual energy", or simply "spirit" or "soul" and even “sorcery" depending on the context. Some Christians may have difficulty with some of these concepts but without going into the anthropological explanations or theological implications, I think of !Gi as the "wind" that Jesus speaks of, "the wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth" (John 3.8). Or we can think of it as the Shekhinah of God permeating all of Creation. Hinduism speaks of the Atman -  the Universal Life Principle, and Taoism of Qi.

"The people who possess !gi  are called !gi ten, meaning 'those who are full of supernatural power", writes Cherrie Rhodes. However we may wish to think of !Gi, the intention of our National Coat of Arms is that Holy Spirit Power is for "the benefit of the community, the healing of the broken and divided". This is the essence of ubuntu ...

A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.
-Desmond Tutu, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(philosophy )


To read:
Lewis-Williams, D.J. & Challis, S, Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art
Lewis-Williams, D.J. and Pearce, D.G., 2004. San Spirituality: Roots, Expressions and Social Consequences. Double Storey, Cape Town.
Solomon, A, The myth of ritual origins? Ethnography, mythology and interpretation of San rock art. South African Archaeological Bulletin, http://www.antiquityofman.com/Solomon_myth_ritual.html
Rhodes, C, Shamanism Across Cultures: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the !Kung and Ainu,


©Colin G Garvie HomePage: http://www.garvies.co.za