Katz also says, the singing of these powerful n/um songs helps awaken the n/um and awaken

the healers heart; their heart must be awakened before they can begin to heal. he healer
undergoes a transformation, which comes after a painful transition into an enhanced state of
consciousness, called !kia. his connects the healer and their spiritual healing power, and the
community. "hen healers are e#periencing !kia they can heal all those at the dance. !kia is a
$ery special and e#traordinary state.%&' %('
here are se$eral instances of how the healer undergoes this transformation of intensifying n/um
and going into !kia. )saacson says, they sometimes dance themsel$es into a trance, sometimes
screaming in pain, and other times laughing or singing.%*' hey can also suddenly fling their
arms into the air and with a piercing shriek crash to the ground, as obser$ed by +lizabeth
,arshall.%-' he transformation e#perience was described to .ichard Katz by an e#perienced
healer, Kinachau, in the following /uote0
1ou dance, dance, dance. hen n/um lifts you up in your belly and lifts you in your back, and
then you start to shi$er. %2/um' makes you tremble, it3s hot. . . . 1our eyes are open but you don3t
look around; you hold your eyes still and look straight ahead. 4ut when you get into !kia, you3re
looking around because you see e$erything, because you see what3s troubling e$erybody . . .
n/um enters e$ery part of your body right to the tip of your feet and e$en your hair.
To enter the spirit world, trance has to be initiated by a shaman - three trance phases
o enter the spirit world, trance has to be initiated by a shaman through the hunting of a tutelary
spirit or power animal.%56' he eland often ser$es as power animal.%55' he fat of the eland is
used symbolically in many rituals including initiations and rites of passage. 7ther animals such as
giraffe, kudu and hartebeest can also ser$e this function.
8sychologists ha$e in$estigated hallucinations and altered states of consciousness in
neuropsychology. hey found that entoptic phenomena can occur through rhythmic dancing,
music, sensory depri$ation, hyper$entilation, prolonged and intense concentration and migraines.
%5*'
he psychological approach e#plains rock art through three trance phases.
)n the first phase of trance an altered state of consciousness would come about. 8eople would
e#perience geometric shapes commonly known as entoptic phenomena. hese would include
zigzags, che$rons, dots, flecks, grids, $ortices and 9:shapes. hese shapes can be found
especially in rock engra$ings of ;outhern <frica.
=uring the second phase of trance people try to make sense of the entoptic phenomena. hey
would elaborate the shape they had 3seen3 until they had created something that looked familiar to
them. ;hamans e#periencing the second phase of trance would incorporate the natural world into
their entoptic phenomena, $isualizing honeycombs or other familiar shapes.
)n the third phase a radical transformation occurs in mental imagery. he most noticeable change
is that the shaman becomes part of the e#perience. ;ub>ects under laboratory conditions ha$e
found that they e#perience sliding down a rotating tunnel, entering ca$es or holes in the ground.
8eople in the third phase begin to lose their grip on reality and hallucinate monsters and animals
of strong emotional content. )n this phase therianthropes in rock painting can be e#plained, as
heightened sensory awareness gi$es one the feeling that they ha$e undergone a physical
transformation.