Khoisan Religion

The Supreme Deity

Each tribe has its own name, attributes, and myths for the Khoisan supreme deity. Even so, all agree that this supreme being is the creator god.

Kaggen is the chief deity of the San people. He is most often described as a praying mantis with trickster attributes. Kaggen appears in most San myths, as he is the god responsible for creating all living beings. Kho is another name for Kaggen, used by the San people when they are referring to the moon—one of the supreme being’s many forms.

Tsui-Goab, meanwhile, is the chief deity of the Khoekhoe people. His name translates to “Wounded Knee,” referring to an injury he sustained in his battle with Gaunab, the god of darkness. Tsui-Goab is responsible for bringing the dawn to earth each day by vanquishing Gaunab every night.^[3]

Hishe (also known as Gauwa) is another Khoekhoe creator god; his name means “The One Whom No One Can Command.”^[4]

The Heroic Figure

Many of the key figures of Khoisan mythology were originally mortal but were later deified. These heroic characters are sometimes viewed as manifestations or aspects of the supreme being.

Gaona is a mythical hero of the !Kung tribe (one of the three main subgroups into which the San people are divided).^[5] In some traditions, Gaona is not only a hero but also a creator deity, appearing under the names Hishe and Gauwa (see above).^[6]

Kai Kini is another notable San hero; he was the first person to possess fire and eat cooked food. But the god Gaona stole Kai Kini’s fire sticks and scattered them throughout the world, claiming that it was unjust for one man to keep fire all to himself. In the end, Gaona turned Kai Kini into a bird.^[7]

Heitsi-Eibib is a Khoekhoe mythical hero and god. After dying multiple times, he was ultimately deified and became the god of hunting. He is best known for defeating the man-eating monster Ga-Gorib.^[8]

Other Gods

Other gods also play a key role in the Khoisan religion. Gaunab, for example, is the Khoekhoe god of death and darkness. He engages in battle each night against the god of light, Tsui-Goab. As the personification of evil and death, he is highly feared.^[9]

Creation of the Milky Way and Orion’s Belt

According to Khoisan tradition, a young girl was once angry at her mother for not giving her any more delicious !huin roots to roast over the fire. In a fit of rage, she grabbed the ashes from the fire and scattered them across the sky.

From the ashes, red and white stars formed. These stars stayed wherever they had been thrown and became the Milky Way, which illuminates the night sky for hunters in search of prey.^[11]

In another story of astrological creation, there was a young girl who possessed the ability to turn animals into stars simply by looking at them. She used her magic to transform a group of lions into stars, which became the constellation Orion’s Belt.^[12]

The Creation of the Sun and Moon

According to Khoisan mythology, the sun was once a man. He had a powerful light that shone from his armpits; whenever he lifted his arms, daylight was created. But as he grew old and slept too long, the people grew cold.^[13]

One day, some children snuck up on him and threw him into the sky, where he became round. There he stayed and was transformed into the sun, which always shines during the hot days in the desert.^[14]

The god Kaggen, meanwhile, created the moon. Unable to see as he walked through the desert, the god threw his sandal into the sky. The sandal remained in the heavens and became the moon. An alternate version states that the moon was once an ostrich feather, which Kaggen threw into the air after wiping his tears with it.^[15]

The Creation of Humankind

There are many variations on the Khoisan myth of humanity’s origins. One familiar San account claims that the first humans crawled through the roots of a tree and emerged from a hole in the ground.^[16] They were closely followed by all the animals that now inhabit the earth.^[17] The god Kaggen is said to have created both the hole and the people who came out of it.

An alternate San tradition agrees that Kaggen created humans but claims that these first humans angered the god, who destroyed them with fire and returned them to the sky.^[18]

Trances and Rituals

Adherents of the Khoisan religion often perform trance dances during healing ceremonies. In these ceremonies, the women of the tribe sit around a fire while the men dance around them.

Ritual specialists or shamans, who are mostly men, enter a trance-like state, which allows them to travel outside of their bodies. During these travels, they fend off the malevolent spirits responsible for causing illness.^[19]