Editing Sympathetic magic (section)

==Hypotheses about prehistoric use==
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Sympathetic magic has been considered in relation to [[Paleolithic]] [[cave painting]]s such as those in [[North Africa]] and at [[Lascaux]] in [[France]].  The theory, which is partially based on studies of more modern [[hunter-gatherer]] societies, is that the paintings were made by magic practitioners who could potentially be described as [[Shamanism|shaman]]s. The shamans would retreat into the darkness of the caves, enter into a [[trance]] state and then paint images of their visions, perhaps with some notion of drawing power out of the cave walls themselves. This goes some way towards explaining the remoteness of some of the paintings (which often occur in deep or small caves) and the variety of subject matter (from prey animals to [[predator]]s and human hand-prints). In his book ''Primitive Mythology'', [[Joseph Campbell]] stated that the paintings "were associated with the magic of the hunt". For him, this sympathetic magic was akin to a ''[[participation mystique]]'', where the paintings, drawn in a sanctuary of "timeless principle", were acted upon by rite.

In 1933, [[Leo Frobenius]], discussing [[Cave painting#Africa|cave paintings in North Africa]], pointed out that many of the paintings did not seem to be mere depictions of animals and people. To him, it seemed as if they were acting out a hunt before it began, perhaps as a consecration of the animal to be killed. In this way, the pictures served to secure a successful hunt. While others interpreted the cave images as depictions of hunting accidents or of ceremonies, Frobenius believed it was much more likely that "what was undertaken [in the paintings] was a consecration of the animal effected not through any real confrontation of man and beast but by a depiction of a concept of the mind."

In 2005, Francis Thackeray published a paper in the journal ''[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]]'', in which he recognised that there was a strong case for the principle of sympathetic magic in southern Africa in prehistory.  For example, a rock engraving from [[Wonderwerk Cave]] in South Africa (dated at 4000 years before the present, BP) showed a zebra which had probably been "symbolically wounded", with incisions on the rump being associated with wounds.  Ochre on the engraved slab could represent blood. A prehistoric rock painting at Melikane in Lesotho shows what appear to be men (shamans) bending forward like animals, with two sticks to represent the front legs of an antelope.  Thackeray suggests that these men, perhaps shamans or "medicine-men" dressed under animal skins, were associated with hunting rituals of the kind recorded by H. Lichtenstein in 1812 in South Africa, in which a hunter simulated an antelope which was symbolically killed by other hunters, in the belief that this was essential for a successful hunt.  Such rituals could be represented in prehistoric art such as paintings at Melikane in Lesotho.  Thackeray suggests that the Melikane [[Shapeshifting|therianthropes]] are associated with both trance and the principle of sympathetic hunting magic. In 2005, in the journal ''Antiquity'', Francis Thackeray suggests that there is even a photograph of such rituals, recorded in 1934 at Logageng in the southern Kalahari, South Africa. Such rituals may have been closely associated with both roan antelope and eland, and other animals.

In the [[Brandberg Mountain|Brandberg]] in Namibia, in the so-called "[[The White Lady (Namibia)|White Lady]]" panel recorded by the [[Henri Breuil|Abbé Henri Breuil]] and Harald Pager, there are "symbolic wounds" on the belly of a [[gemsbok]]-like [[Shapeshifting|therianthrope]] (catalogued as T1), which might relate to the principle of sympathetic hunting magic and trance, as suggested by Thackeray in 2013.

At the [[Apollo 11 Cave|Apollo 11]] cave in [[Namibia]], Erich Wendt discovered mobile art about 30,000 years old, including a stone broken in two pieces, with a gemsbok-like therianthrope that closely resembles the Brandberg therianthrope which Thackeray catalogues as T1.  Both examples of art may be related to sympathetic hunting magic and shamanism.

In 2013, Thackeray emphasised that in southern Africa, the principle of sympathetic hunting magic and shamanism (trance) were not mutually exclusive.

However, as with all [[prehistory]], it is impossible to be certain due to the limited evidence and the many pitfalls associated with trying to understand the prehistoric mindset with a modern [[Mind#Evolutionary history of the human mind|mind]].