DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49271#0124
Rites of transition and the conception of !Nau among the Hottentots
69
things, become !nau without some individual or group of individuals being !nau. This
is when an animal is struck by lightning. A sheep so struck is very highly !nau and none
but the very old will touch it. They cook and eat it and make use of the skin. When
one realizes that the Hottentots will eat any meat however high, and any animal even
though it has died of disease, one realizes how strongly this !nau influence works in making
them afraid to touch an animal killed by lightning.
As soon, however, as some person becomes !nau certain things also become !nau.
First of all the fire in the hut in which he is secluded is !nau. It must never be allowed
to go out, nor must the ashes be removed until the day comes for the purification of the
house and the renewal of the fire. During all this time nothing must be cooked at the fire,
and no one who might increase the peril in which the !nau person finds himself must come
near it. Thus pregnant or menstruating women are always excluded. All these pre-
cautions seem to show that it is the patient’s safety that is bound up with the fire. The
!nau fire must be respected, not because other people may suffer from the breach of the
regulations, but because the patient will suffer therefrom. In this connection it may be
noted that the Hottentot hut is peculiarly private and can be used as a sanctuary.
The hearth is therefore most intimately bound up with the inmates of the hut.
Raw meat and cold water are sources of great danger to a !nau person, and must be
kept away from him. All my informers denied that water ever became !nau, but every
!nau person has to be carefully protected from it, and reintroduced to it with much cere-
mony once the period of seclusion is over. I have a good many facts which show that
water is endowed with a peculiar potency by the Hottentots, which is perhaps not wonder-
ful if one considers how valuable a thing it is in their extremely arid country. One instance
may suffice to show its powers. The Hottentot witch doctor, or !gai-aop, never touches
cold water, and never washes from year’s end to year’s end. His power resides, as it were,
in the dirt which clings to his body, and this is always an ingredient in any medicine he
gives. Should he touch water this power would be diminished, and complete immersion
in water would cause the disappearance of all his potency. The chief Christian Goliath
gave me an account of such a happening at Berseba in the time of his grandfather, when
a !gai-aop who had been using his power for evil was ducked in the pond by the chief’s
orders, and pushed under again as his head appeared above water. Thereafter his evil
powers were gone.
The clothing and utensils of the patient also become !nau, but these are a source of
danger to others than himself. Their’s is the peril if they inadvertently make use of them
before he finally discards them and gives them to the person taking care of him. An
instance was given me of a woman who brought her husband to death’s door by striking
him with her !gus, or petticoat, when she was !nau.
69
things, become !nau without some individual or group of individuals being !nau. This
is when an animal is struck by lightning. A sheep so struck is very highly !nau and none
but the very old will touch it. They cook and eat it and make use of the skin. When
one realizes that the Hottentots will eat any meat however high, and any animal even
though it has died of disease, one realizes how strongly this !nau influence works in making
them afraid to touch an animal killed by lightning.
As soon, however, as some person becomes !nau certain things also become !nau.
First of all the fire in the hut in which he is secluded is !nau. It must never be allowed
to go out, nor must the ashes be removed until the day comes for the purification of the
house and the renewal of the fire. During all this time nothing must be cooked at the fire,
and no one who might increase the peril in which the !nau person finds himself must come
near it. Thus pregnant or menstruating women are always excluded. All these pre-
cautions seem to show that it is the patient’s safety that is bound up with the fire. The
!nau fire must be respected, not because other people may suffer from the breach of the
regulations, but because the patient will suffer therefrom. In this connection it may be
noted that the Hottentot hut is peculiarly private and can be used as a sanctuary.
The hearth is therefore most intimately bound up with the inmates of the hut.
Raw meat and cold water are sources of great danger to a !nau person, and must be
kept away from him. All my informers denied that water ever became !nau, but every
!nau person has to be carefully protected from it, and reintroduced to it with much cere-
mony once the period of seclusion is over. I have a good many facts which show that
water is endowed with a peculiar potency by the Hottentots, which is perhaps not wonder-
ful if one considers how valuable a thing it is in their extremely arid country. One instance
may suffice to show its powers. The Hottentot witch doctor, or !gai-aop, never touches
cold water, and never washes from year’s end to year’s end. His power resides, as it were,
in the dirt which clings to his body, and this is always an ingredient in any medicine he
gives. Should he touch water this power would be diminished, and complete immersion
in water would cause the disappearance of all his potency. The chief Christian Goliath
gave me an account of such a happening at Berseba in the time of his grandfather, when
a !gai-aop who had been using his power for evil was ducked in the pond by the chief’s
orders, and pushed under again as his head appeared above water. Thereafter his evil
powers were gone.
The clothing and utensils of the patient also become !nau, but these are a source of
danger to others than himself. Their’s is the peril if they inadvertently make use of them
before he finally discards them and gives them to the person taking care of him. An
instance was given me of a woman who brought her husband to death’s door by striking
him with her !gus, or petticoat, when she was !nau.