Ancient Cave Art, Magic & Sorcery.

In this course, we build on our understanding of San Bushman rock art and then journey northward into Europe and Asia, following the deep prehistoric roots of human spirituality. As we move beyond southern Africa, we encounter the great Paleolithic cave sites of Europe—such as Lascaux, Chauvet, and Altamira—where vivid animal imagery, abstract signs, and mysterious human–animal figures cover the cave walls. These images are not treated merely as decoration or hunting records, but as expressions of altered states of consciousness and ritual practice.

Guided by Dr. David Lewis-Williams’s groundbreaking work The Mind in the Cave, we explore the idea that Paleolithic art emerged from shamanic trance experiences shared by early human communities. We examine how entoptic phenomena, therianthropic figures, and layered symbolic spaces point to visionary practices remarkably similar to those of historically documented shamans. The course connects neuroscience, anthropology, and archaeology to reveal a coherent model of Paleolithic religion and cosmology.

By comparing San Bushman traditions with European and Asian cave art, students gain a unified framework for understanding prehistoric myth, ritual, and the origins of symbolic thought. Ultimately, this course offers a profound glimpse into the spiritual lives of our earliest ancestors and the deep continuity of shamanic consciousness across human history.