There is a high God; //gangwan!an!a (big big God) a lesser God; //gangwa matse (small gangwa) who is sometimes affiliated with Satan, and a host of minor animal spirits that bring luck and misfortune, success and failure.
As far as I can make out the Ju/"hoansi do not seem too concerned with the Gods probably because they believe that the Gods have bigger issues to address than bothering the Ju. The main evil, as the San people see it, is the behaviour of their deceased relatives who come back to cause mischief in the form of //gangwasi. Any serious illness or misfortune is attributed to the activities of //gangwasi.
There are contradictory views on why //gangwasi act and how they work but an answer was once given by an old !Kung woman that seems to represent the general consensus.
"Longing for the living is what drives the dead to make people sick. When they go on the road that leads to the village of the //gangwasi they are very, very sad.".
So death is seen as a battle between two souls, one living the other dead each wanting the individual for them selves. In defence against the supposed attack from these malignant spirits and in response to matters of physical and psychical ill health the Ju have developed an effective method of social healing based on the principle of n/um.
N/um is believed to be a substance that lies in the pit of the stomach of men and women. The power of n"um is dormant in the body's normal condition so a special dance has been developed to awaken this power. This dance is not a symbolic ritual; it is the means to reach an altered physical and psychical state. All aspects of the dance: the vigorous movements; the passionate singing and clapping of women participants; the consistent heat and spectacle of a fire have actual purpose in the activation of n/um energy. When the n/um boils it rises up the spinal column as vapour and explodes in the brain. At this point the dancers reach !Kia (trance) state, they feel enormous power coursing through their body and are ready to perform the healings.
