Does Mirage-Derived Mythology Give Access to San Rock Art?

Many San lived in an environment where optical mirage phenomena were part of their experience. Mirage elements are reflected in their rock art in the form of elongated figures, flying antelopes, double antelopes, upside down creatures, huge flying creatures rain animals , creatures on sky ropes , land creatures with fins, undulating or zig zag features and floating mirage water. Since mirages were interpreted as encounters with another world, San mythology may have been inspired by these phenomena. This would permit a tentative new interpretation of San rock art and confirm that the San were realistic observers of nature. Superior mirages, which are typically observed in the still lull before rainstorms and which occasionally show stretches of the horizon projected into the sky, may have been interpreted as giant sky water snakes or rain animals , upon which they tried to exert spiritual power. This was done by painting, i.e. creating a twin image, by involving sky ropes or by simulating the inverted world seen in mirages, i.e. hands in back position, legs crossed. The concept of underwater , where souls and the sorcerers went to become stretched , may have been derived from the mirage illusion of water. The way in which the transcendental world of the San may have worked within this concept is demonstrated by analysing some of the key symbols of the rock art