BEADED LEOPARD 115 or otherwise, was seen to possess the potential to have a spirit animal or even a were-phenomenon, having a separate existence spiritually linked to but materially independent of the person who “owns” it.35 Often these attributes seem to be a metaphor for the special capabilities or character traits of a person—the realization of a dark side or a cruel trait, for example. Such were-animals could be anything from a bee in the case of a child to an otter or any number of other creatures. Large animals and predators, as well as great natural phenomena— a rainbow, a waterfall, or a thunderstorm, for example—were reserved for kings and high-ranking members of cult associations. Whatever form were-animals/ phenomena took, all of them manifested a second, or alternative, identity of the individual. Such spirit manifestations could be sent out, usually at night during sleep, to act in the bush realm of the were-animals, believed to exist parallel to that of the observable world. Individual informants have provided varying interpretations of this complex situation.36 For example, the word lekang (pl.
untitled
To see the actual publication please follow the link above