In the San's mental universe, adjoining our everyday world is an otherworld populated by deities, spiritual creatures and ancestral beings, some of who constantly circulate between the two worlds. Far from being a simple frontier where daily existence ends, the otherworld seeps into the living world; jointly, they comprise an aura-reality in which no phenomenon, element or being is ever simply itself but also embodies a force of which it is a property or manifestation, to a varying degree. The Ju/’hoansi call this force n/om, which means energy, power; indeed, spirit; n/om can be harmful as well as beneficial, and this ambivalence makes it dangerous, calling for the observance of rules that determine the direction of its impact. The /Xam, meanwhile, call this force !gi. Beings particularly endowed with !gi are known as !gi:ten (plural of !gi:xa, full of power). Since !gi:ten can mean real individuals as well as spiritual entities, including illness, I prefer the expression ‘powerful ones’ (or ‘holders of power’) to the traditional terms of ‘sorcerers’, ‘medicine men’ or ‘shamans’. Many beings, phenomena and substances are intrinsically rich in !gi. The ‘possessors’ of !gi, or ‘holders of power’, stand out for their ability to manipulate it, which they do in order to take action in three spheres: rainfall, hunting and health. Whether they bring rainfall, master game, heal people or, on the contrary, embody the spirit of illness, all are given a /Xam name based on the same root, !gi. Painting, too, should be considered the work of holders of power because it is a special field where a face will be put on these forces that enjoy the power of cloaking themselves in invisibility (which must therefore be made visible in order to establish ritual contact with them). Even if such figures are not depicted nearly as often as animals, their role is equally important. These galvanic bodies not only trigger the energies circulating between the world and the otherworld, they also represent the link between the first and second Creations.