!Num Boiling Energy
!Num Boiling Energy is a !Kung / San — n/um boiling energy body system as transmitted through the lineage Ethnographies of !Kung healing describe n/um as a potency that “boils” during healing dance and becomes !kia, a heightened state. The diagram translates those experiential descriptions into cautious body anchors and explicitly avoids presenting them as a standard anatomy.. This page lists every point in the system with sourced placements and links to cross-tradition correspondences curated for The Body Spiritual.
Open in interactive explorerPrimary sources
- Richard Katz, Boiling Energy: Community Healing among the Kalahari !Kung (Harvard University Press 1982)
- Richard B. Lee, The !Kung San: Men, Women, and Work in a Foraging Society (Cambridge University Press 2003)
Known lineage variants
- Spellings and translations of n/um and !kia vary; this map follows Katz’s ethnographic vocabulary. Point locations are editorial projections from embodied descriptions.
Related systems
No other systems share this tradition label.
Points
- n/um seat — base of spine / stored potency
- !kia trance crown — heightened healing state
- Healing sweat locus — heat, exertion and communal release
- Healer hands — laying-on and social care
Frequently asked
What is n/um seat?
Katz describes n/um as a potent substance cultivated and activated in healing dance, often discussed in relation to the lower body. The lower-spine point is a deliberately approximate visual anchor, not a universal !Kung anatomical statement.
What is !kia trance crown?
The !Kung healing dance is described as reaching !kia, an intensified state in which healers work for the community. The crown coordinate is an editorial attention marker for altered-state ascent, not a textual location.
What is Healing sweat locus?
Sweat and heat are central experiential signs in Katz’s account of trance healing and dance. The chest point gathers that bodily experience into a single diagrammatic locus, with broad uncertainty.
What is Healer hands?
Healing work is performed by people in a social dance and touch context rather than by isolated points alone. A hand point is included as a visual reminder of enacted care and is not a canonical pressure-point map.