69 the medicine songs are sometimes affected by the saturation of n/om to the extent that they may shake as they sing (Keeney 1999: 111).
Fig. 7. A group with a central shaman, people clapping and ‘prowling’ spirit creatures around (Drakensberg)
The dance is also a context in which the “The activation of num in one person stimulates the activation in others” so that it “becomes available to all” (Katz 1982: 198). Medicine specialists in such situations are able to enter trance and healers can then cure other people, or can ‘see’ supernatural elements, such as ‘arrows of sickness’, invisible sickness in people and related mystic features not perceivable by ordinary people. The efficacy of the dance can be explained further by reference to some San beliefs. Its importance does not only lie in allowing the generation and manipulation of n/om, but it also is a context that attracts spirit beings since they