Eland Poems

List of New Poems

Eland Poem Example

Cagn

in the beginning,
first being and creator:
the shape shifting Cagn.
foolish or man of wisdom;
either helpful or tiresome.

In the shadow of a crag, overlooking the tarn, Coti gave birth to Cagn’s first creation, the eland. While she bathed in the crystal clear water, Cagn whisked the eland away and hid it – to be fed by him on wild honey. This is where the two brothers, Cogaz and Gewi, found the object of their father’s love and devotion and killed it. Cagn was distraught and ordered Coti to mix the blood of the eland with the fat of its heart in a cauldron over a fire. Cagn sprinkled this potion on the barren desert soil and a herd of eland sprang from it; which became the symbol of fertility to his clan and all people that followed.

tracking the eland,
young boy hunts with tribesmen -
running it to ground.
arrows dipped in poison;
hunter's knife slits eland’s throat. 


alone in her hut
at her first menstruation: 
the Eland Bull Dance – 
the women become the cow;
men mimic the eland bull


Poetry form: tanka prose (not listed here on PS)
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Glossary:
The San Religion consists of the spiritual world and the material world. The modern Bushmen of the Kalahari believe in two gods: one who lives in the east and one from the west. Like the southern Bushmen, they believe in spirits of the dead, but not as part of ancestor worship. The spirits are only vaguely identified and are thought to bring sickness and death.

Cagn (also known as /Kaggen) is the supreme god of the Bushmen of southern Africa. He is the first being and the creator of the world. He is a trickster god who can shape shift, most often into the praying mantis.

The bushmen believe that Cagn’s favourite animal is the eland, which is the most spiritual animal in the religion. The eland appears in some of the rituals: boys' first kill, girls' puberty, marriage, and the trance dance.


•	A boy is taught how to track an eland and how to kill it. The boy will be considered an adult once he kills a big antelope, mainly the eland. The eland then gets skinned, and a broth is made with the fat and the collar bone. 
•	The ritual for the girls' puberty starts when they get their first menstruation in which she becomes isolated in her hut.  The women in the tribe do what is called an Eland Bull Dance, by which they imitate the eland cows’ behaviour when mating; while the the men act as an eland bull. This ritual is to keep the girl beautiful and peaceful and also free from hunger and thirst.
•	In a marriage ritual, the man gives the fat of the elands' heart to the woman's parents. Then the woman is anointed with the fat. 
•	In the trance dance, the shaman tries to possess eland potency because the eland is considered to be the most potent of all.

The shaman: When an eland is killed, they believe that there is a link that opens up between the cosmos. When this happens, the shaman dances and reaches a trance to enter the spirit world. Once in a trance, they are able to heal people and protect them from sickness, protect people from evil spirits, control weather, see the future, ensure good hunting, and basically look out for the well being of their group or tribe.

Poem Copyright © Suzette Richards