Circles of Stone by Dan Arnold

Author:Dan Arnold [Arnold, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arnold Partners
Published: 2017-11-29T23:00:00+00:00

11-A night among the stars

Inapitak, the Khoikhoi shaman, fasted during his vigil. Although he only missed one meal, it helped him focus on the heavens. He neither ate nor drank, but stood in the center of a stone circle observing the lowering of the sun. He prayed to the god of daylight and warmth, asking that he be given insight as he observed the stars and planets.

As the last pink light diminished on the horizon he began to shake his rattle and dance, quietly chanting to himself. He had no idea he was being watched by a small, wiry man on the edge of the forest.

Seeing the Khoikhoi shaman was disturbing to the hunter/gatherer. It meant sharing this land with yet another group of interlopers. He’d seen these people before, farther north. They were many and they loved to be close together.

There were never many people in a group of San. The various bands of his people were mostly clans or extended family groups. They only gathered with other clans on special ceremonial occasions. The San had learned through much suffering to avoid other tribes and people. Theirs was a life of freedom and isolation from other people groups.

The San regarded the Khoikhoi in the same way they did the other recent arrivals, the Bantu people—they were slow travelers.

His own people were not tied to livestock or agriculture, so they could move without any delay. They wandered the land following migration patterns and seasonal fluctuations. They lived off the land, but called none of it their own.

Why the Khoikhoi shaman danced in one of the circles of stone, was a great mystery. The San avoided such places. Indeed, the San never returned to any encampment where someone died. These stone circles were constant reminders of death. In this place there would be many spirits watching the shaman dance. Sitting on his heels, the San decided to watch and see what the spirits would do to the Khoikhoi.

When full darkness descended, the moon grew bright, attempting to dominate the early night time sky.

The Khoikhoi shaman, Inapitak, paid little attention to the glowing orb on this night. It was weakened, showing only a sliver of itself. Soon enough it would fatten and create mischief, but in its present state he would not be harmed. The sun god alone dominated this cycle and season of time

Within an hour, his eyes were filled with the wonder of the celestial host. The heavens were filled with more lights than could be counted. He danced, praying for a vision. As he danced he began to see the gods arrange themselves in the grouping of brighter stars, forming constellations.

The shaman felt himself becoming one with the heavens. In his mind there was no beginning or end, just a vastness beyond human understanding, and he was part of it. He no longer felt the earth beneath his feet or the beating of his heart.

Shooting stars passed across his vision. At first he paid little heed because there were always some shooting stars at night.

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