As part of my journey of learning more about the indigenous firewalking traditions from around the World I’ve been looking at the African traditions recently, particularly 

The Firewalk traditions of the sans people of Southern Africa

In the Kalahari region of Southern Africa, particularly the Western Edge of the Kalahari, the ¡Kung of the Sans people still practice Firewalking in their traditional way, even to this day.  What they create and carry out with the Firewalk is extraordinary. 

(In writing this post I was fortunate to be given access to pictures from Grashoek, Namibia from 2016 – these pictures are held under strict copyright and should not be duplicated in any way)

 who are the sans people?

The Sans People are the indigenous peoples of Southern Africa in the Kalahari region.  Also sometimes referred to as Bush People, or Saans People, they are a hunter-gatherer culture and one of the oldest surviving cultures of their kind.

There are still around 100,000 sans people in the region living to some extent in the ways of their ancestors, so that their culture is thought to be the oldest still practiced culture today. The name San itself translates as forager (from the khoekhoe language), reflecting the lifestyle of its people.

The ¡Kung are a small group of Sans People living in Namibia.  The name literally translates as ‘people’ and is the preferred name of this specific group, they’re firewalk traditions are legendary within the firewalking world.

 how do the sans people firewalk?

One of the most distinctive features of the Sans culture and their indigenous practices is the Trance Dance.  These healing dances take place through the night around 4 times a month, and often include walking the fire.

While the community gather around the fire with the women singing, and the men dancing single file around the fire with dry cocoon rattles tied round their legs, the energy (n/um in their language) was activated within the bodies of those that heal. 

 how is the sans people firewalk used for healing?

As the n/um energy rises the healers anmong the people gathered enter a transformed conscious state known within their community as ¡kia.  When in ¡kia they do not just firewalk, but pick up handfuls and rub them over bodies also. It is believed that they cleanse and purify their hands, by washing them in the fire, before placing their hands and hot coals on the chest or affected area of the person receiving the healing.

Kinachau, an experienced Sans Healer described the process of intensifying n/um and going into ¡kia..

‘You dance, dance, dance. Then n/um lifts you up in your belly and lifts you up in your back, and then you start to shiver. N/um makes you tremble, it’s hot…

Your eyes are open but you don’t look around. You hold your eyes still and look straight ahead. 

But when you get into ¡kia you’re looking around because you see everything, because you see what’s troubling everybody.

N/um enters every part of your body right to the tip of your feet and even your hair.’

 Trance dances of n/um and ¡kia last the whole night round the fire, until after dawn when everyone collapses in exhaustion and sleeps the day away, before sharing stories of their experiences together later in the day.

In our modern lives of peer pressure and FOMO one of the key things about the Sans firewalking traditions that I immediately noticed is that only a very few people actually firewalk, but everyone at the fire is believed to receive the healing.

 what we can learn from the sans people firewalk

So, we won’t rub hot coals over your body here at Wild Soul Firewalks, BUT I do think there are some key points about firewalking that I have learned from the Sans People’s unique way of meeting with the fire.

🔥 In our modern lives of peer pressure and FOMO one of the key things about the Sans firewalking traditions that I immediately noticed is that only a very few people actually firewalk, but everyone at the fire is believed to receive the healing.

🔥 If done right Firewalking isn’t just a simple ‘breakthrough your fears’ activity, it carries the ability to create deep healing for all those involved, both emotional and physical.

🔥 Although I’ve never tried actually washing my hands in it! Fire carries great cleansing and purification properties that have been recognised by indigenous peoples from around the world for as long as we have records for.

🔥 When we want to receive healing we often have to stick with it for longer than we might like.  It may be exhausting, and we may feel like giving up, but, just as the Sans People continue through the night almost once a week, keeping focused and keeping going is key.

🔥 Working with fire is high energy, and it’s fun! I can definitely think of worse ways to spend time than dancing and singing the night away, with rattles and drums gathered round the fire.

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