The Religions Book

20

UNSEEN

FORCES ARE

A T W O R K

MAKING SENSE OF THE WORLD

T

he question of why human

beings first develop the

idea of a world beyond

the visible one in which we live

is complex. Motivated by an urge

to make sense of the world around

them—particularly the dangers

and misfortunes they faced, and

how the necessities of life were

provided—people in early societies

sought explanations in a realm

that was invisible to them, but

had an influence over their lives.

The idea of a spirit world is

also associated with notions of

sleep and death, and the interface

between these and consciousness,

which can be likened to the natural

phenomenon of night and day.

IN CONTEXT

KEY BELIEVERS

/Xam San

WHEN AND WHERE

From prehistory,

sub-Saharan Africa

AFTER

44,000 BCE Tools almost

identical to those used by

modern San are abandoned

in a cave in KwaZulu–Natal.

19th century German

linguist Wilhelm Bleek sets

down many of the ancestral

stories of the San.

20th century Government-

sponsored programs are

set up to encourage San

peoples to switch from hunter-

gathering to settled farming.

1994 San leader and healer

Dawid Kruiper takes the

growing campaign for San

rights and land claims to

the United Nations.