I felt as if I was falling. But not downwards. I felt as if I was falling upwards.
Some time ago I was extremely fortunate to observe a San Bushman healing ceremony in the Kalahari A young child was suffering from epilepsy and the community gathered around with group of traditional healers. What followed was a marathon event of repetitive clapping, singing and dancing. Eventually after some hours, one of the healers arrived in trance and touched the child, running his trembling hands over his tiny head and body.
It was clear that the healer was out of his normal body state, and at one time actually fell into the fire and hot coals, emerging unburned or injured. The moon had long since set and the ceremony continued; the rhythm and intensity of the dance and song escalated dramatically. One of the ladies who was under 5 feet tall took over the clapping and foot stamping. Despite the smallest smallest feet I had ever seen in my life, the sound of her foot-fall resonated into the Kalahari night like a thunder storm. How could so much power emerge from someone so small. It was breathtaking.
Eventually a healer, deep in a trance state, came over toward me. It was clear that he was ‘out of it’. Or perhaps, should I say, ‘in.’ Gently, he ran his hands over my head. They were hot and pulsing, and I still am not sure of he actually touched me or not, but I sat in the sand incapable of moving until the most unexpected feelings washed over me. Like a bucket of warm water on a cold night.
Something momentous was happening; something that defied all attempts of conventional explanation.
Within the cozy cocoon of the campfire, there was a coming together. Of ancientness and the modern. Of ancestral and the contemporary. There was no boundary between time or times. The moments merged, blurring the lines of what was physical, rational or spiritual. Transcendence. An inter-being across the centuries. And it would transform me.
I felt alive, electric, inspired. A cramp began in my calves and it slowly rose up to my stomach, chest and head. My hands tingled. I felt a warmth, an ease, a deep and surprising peace. One which I have not felt before nor since. I felt as if I was falling. But not downwards. I felt as if I was falling upwards.
March 2025
Some time ago I was extremely fortunate to observe a San Bushman healing ceremony in the Kalahari A young child was suffering from epilepsy and the community gathered around with group of traditional healers. What followed was a marathon event of repetitive clapping, singing and dancing. Eventually after some hours, one of the healers arrived in trance and touched the child, running his trembling hands over his tiny head and body.
It was clear that the healer was out of his normal body state, and at one time actually fell into the fire and hot coals, emerging unburned or injured. The moon had long since set and the ceremony continued; the rhythm and intensity of the dance and song escalated dramatically. One of the ladies who was under 5 feet tall took over the clapping and foot stamping. Despite the smallest smallest feet I had ever seen in my life, the sound of her foot-fall resonated into the Kalahari night like a thunder storm. How could so much power emerge from someone so small. It was breathtaking.
Eventually a healer, deep in a trance state, came over toward me. It was clear that he was ‘out of it’. Or perhaps, should I say, ‘in.’ Gently, he ran his hands over my head. They were hot and pulsing, and I still am not sure of he actually touched me or not, but I sat in the sand incapable of moving until the most unexpected feelings washed over me. Like a bucket of warm water on a cold night.
Something momentous was happening; something that defied all attempts of conventional explanation.
Within the cozy cocoon of the campfire, there was a coming together. Of ancientness and the modern. Of ancestral and the contemporary. There was no boundary between time or times. The moments merged, blurring the lines of what was physical, rational or spiritual. Transcendence. An inter-being across the centuries. And it would transform me.
I felt alive, electric, inspired. A cramp began in my calves and it slowly rose up to my stomach, chest and head. My hands tingled. I felt a warmth, an ease, a deep and surprising peace. One which I have not felt before nor since. I felt as if I was falling. But not downwards. I felt as if I was falling upwards.
March 2025