The Eland and the Weeping Woman
Slipping through the veil, emerging from the cracks
The charcoal descends onto the page like a dark, thick veil, a small A4 portal into another world. I gaze into the darkness and slip through to the other side. Perhaps this is the place where images emerge from, the surface they push through, some kind of backspace. Countless images lie hidden within the surface, waiting to be found. Today, it is the Eland and the weeping woman.
In Lewis-Williams & Dowson’s (1990) paper, Through the veil: San rock paintings and the rock face, they argue that the cave walls are not a ‘blank canvas’ or ‘invisible support’ waiting to be inscribed upon, but rather a living surface that interacts, entangles, and shapes the images. At times, the rock paintings appear to ‘enter and leave the cracks’ in the rock face, appearing and disappearing through the walls of the caves. Animals, therianthropes, and humans emerge from the surface of the cave walls. At times, thin lines weave in and out of the cracks in the rock face, extending throughout the paintings, connecting distant images. Surface and spirit meet and co-create upon the cave walls.
“The walls of rock shelters were in some sense a veil, a ‘painted veil’, suspended between this world and the world of spirit” (Lewis-Williams & Dowson, 1990, p.16).
Upon entering a deep state of trance, the San Shamans would experience travelling through tunnels, ‘waterpits’, and cracks, descending through the earth as they traversed into the spirit realm. In the spirit realm, they would transform, merge with animals, fetch medicine and messages, and meet their god /Kaggen. In the spirit realm, the Eland, closely connected to /Kaggen, would often lead the way, helping the shamans find /Kaggen. At times, Eland blood would be mixed into the paint to imbue the paintings with Eland potency and spirit.
Let’s crossover, through the veil and into the image, into a world where the lines between animals and humans blur, a world that is animate and full of feeling, a world where everything is thick with spirit. Let’s enter the Eland’s world.
You might know Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories, ‘How the leopard got his spots’, ‘How the whale got his throat’. I wonder, though, how did the Eland get their thin white stripes?
I enter the image, play with imagination and narrative, and slip into a story.
Eland was amongst his herd, grazing in the open plains. It was a sunny day, punctuating the rainy season, and the streams were flowing. Eland saw some brilliantly green foliage growing along the stream’s banks. As he neared the stream, his great big furry ears wiggled, attuning to a far and distant cry, a soft and somber whimper. He walked and he walked, determined to find the source of all of this sorrow.
In the far distance, he saw a young woman sitting in a heap. Her body was bent, and her head hung low. Tears were streaming from her face, and milk was spilling from her breasts. Her wild, long, dark hair was like a narrow and knotty shadow all around her. Wild animals circled her. The hyenas were cackling, the vultures were craning, and the leopards were crouching low. Eland moved majestically and swiftly, cutting through the hungry crowd toward the weeping woman.
He bent down, rubbing his neck and head against her stooping shoulders, gesturing for her to look up. She tilted her head towards him. Her eyes were sealed shut from all the time spent crying. Salty puddles, mixing with sweet and sour milk, settled in the earth around her. His hooves sank into the softened ground. He licked her crusty eyes, encouraging them to open. He so badly wanted her to see that today, even the sky had stopped crying! “Don’t worry,” he whispered, “I have come to take you some place safe. I don’t know what you have lost, but I am glad I found you”. He nudged her and tucked his hooves under his body, bending his knees, allowing her to climb onto his back.
He walked with her, back through the hungry crowd, past the brilliantly green foliage, and through the plains, until he reached his herd. The herd gathered all around him and their unexpected guest. They sniffed her and nuzzled her, licking her skin and tasting her hair. The young and the old came to greet her.
Overcome by this growing circle of belonging and protection, she threw her arms around each Eland. Her breasts settled on each of their backs, and her milk spilled into each and every coat, leaving thin and delicate white lines behind.
She lived amongst them for years and years and even suckled some of their orphaned young. To this day, when you walk amongst the Eland, you will find the thin and delicate white lines left behind from a most uncanny kinship of kindness, love, and protection.
Home Practice - write your own just so story
Find an animal that has been visiting you lately, perhaps through a dream, an artwork, in nature, or the imaginary. Once you find your animal, identify an aspect of them that makes them unique. Perhaps it is Robin’s red chest, Lion’s mane, Cobra’s hood. Then you can begin to ask the question: how did they get their…. Ask to enter their world and let your imagination roam, letting your story develop.
Thank you for continuing to find me here in the dark! As always, I am interested in your thoughts, feelings, and impressions. Please leave a comment, and hitting the like button or sharing this with a friend goes a long way!
I would love to hear your just so story if you would like to share it :)
References:
Lewis‑Williams, J. D., & Dowson, T. A. (1990). Through the veil: San rock paintings and the rock face. South African Archaeological Bulletin, 45(151), 5–16
Wow! So much pleasure and belonging!
Beautiful Amy! Just reminded me of a powerful encounter I had…that speaks to this I think?
Did you see Herzog's film ‘Cave of Forgotten Dreams’?
I was studying extraordinary states (trance) at the time and had an extremely powerful shamanic jolt of how the whole cave, art and artist were integrated in the alchemical process of creating the lived reality of the tribe, using firelight and shadow play to embody the act of the hunt… the animation symbols flowing out into the world beyond the cave...