Janice Boddy is a Canadian anthropologist who specializes in medical anthropology, religion, gender issues and colonialism in Sudan and the Middle East. In Spirit Possession and Gender Complementarity, an excerpt from her book Women, Men and the zār Cult in Northern Sudan, she describes her experience at a zār ritual ceremony among the Hofriyat people of Sudan. The zār ritual is performed to bring about certain spirits who then possess a human host and manipulate their behavior in a way that allows for identification of different zār species.
The cult exists today throughout northern Sudan and similar versions of the name can be found in Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Arabia, and southern Iran. Background information aside, what is this whole zār conspiracy anyways? Boddy describes it as a spontaneous ritual with an imaginative basis that draws inspiration from a comprehensive collection of symbols and spirit roles. She compares the ceremony in a way that reminds me of a theater where choreography, improv, themes and costumes are all part of the performance. The zār rituals are also full of apprehension because at any moment a woman may be seized by an unknown spirit.
What is Zār?
Zār refers to the spirit, the illness brought on by spirit possession and the rituals necessary to their pacification. In her book, Boddy describes several of the many different spirits that can be encountered at a zār ritual. The ceremony begins in an open area called the mídān which is bounded on three sides by palm fiber ground mats. The priestess, or shaykah, incessantly drums a dallūka, which is then followed by the beating of another dallūka in shifted accents. The drumming is accompanied by the ringing of a nugarishana which is a brass mortar (similar in sound to a cowbell), as well as the beating of an inverted aluminum washtub called a tisht. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a party without the ceaseless and mesmerizing drone of chanting women, adding a hypnotic touch to the whole orchestra. These chants are called “threads” or “khuyūt” and they are said to be “pulled” as opposed to be sung. Once the procession has begun, the shaykah will pull various threads that each call upon different spirits.
The first spirit Boddy describes is a more intensified version of the somniferous beat and leads the ayāna to rise and dance in the mídān. The ayāna is a sick woman for whom the zār ceremony is held. The Hofriyati people believe that women often fall ill due to a spirit that possesses them and so rituals are held in order to ask, and sometimes bribe, the spirit to refrain from damaging the woman’s health any further. This particular ayāna was possessed by Khawaja (westerner) spirits of a doctor, a lawyer and a military officer. Three spirits at once….no wonder she’s sick, right? Her dance is described as a slow, rhythmic walk crisscrossing a chimeric square, which sounds like she is displaying attributes of the latter most spirit mentioned.As the ceremony progresses, several more women rise to dance in the mídān under the enchantment of a spirit. In this trance, the women are pretty much at the will of whatever zayran (spirit) has taken over their body which means these ceremonies witness some pretty bazar behavior. The degree of bazarness can range anywhere from smoking, drinking and wild dancing to sword fighting and threatening men publicly. You know that a spirit is leaving the woman’s body when she begins burping, hiccupping and scratching herself uncontrollably.
Maybe there’s something to the whole scaring-the-hiccups-out-of -someone thing.
On the last day of the ritual, a sacrificial ram (or chicken) is slaughtered by the ayāna’s son and is served later in the night. But that’s not all. The blood of the animal is collected in a bowl and placed before the drums. After daubing it on herself, the shaykha and then anoints the ayāna’s feet and arms. The other possessed women perform this act as well and some even sip the blood. Pretty eerie, right?
Hofriyat women stand upon a moral ground fermented in dignity and propriety, so why are they so often found smoking, drinking alcohol and blood, sword fighting, wanton dancing and flailing about to incessant drumming?
Cultural understanding of Zār
When trying to make sense of these rituals, Boddy notes that it is important to consider the cultural context in which they are taking place. Possession appears to be viewed not so much as a blessing but rather a condition or an illness. Once a spirit chooses a host to possess, the person will experience suffering at first, however, the relationship can progress into a positive symbiotic existence. Another frightening concept about this relationship is that once you are possessed, you are always possessed. Zayran never abandons its host and has the ability to infiltrate their body at will at any time. When the spirit takes over the host’s body, that person becomes entranced. Hofriyati say that the possession trance is a state induced by the spirit’s forceful entry into the body, which displaces the human self-awareness to another perceptual plane. Basically, they are kicked out of their body momentarily. Bourguignon describes trance as “A radical discontinuity of personal identity” (1973: 12-13). The only issue with this model is that, in this case, the disrupted perception is not limited to just personal identity but affects other entities as well. In the Hofriyat society, trance is only one version of spirit possession and it can manifest in various ways. These spirits are constantly hanging around their human host through the course of daily life, influencing what they do and how they perceive things whenever they want.
Another interesting aspect of this culture is that trances seldom occur outside of a premeditated ritual setting. This means it is not a spontaneous phenomenon and instead a learned, practiced behavior requiring skill and control.
Many observers seek biological understandings for spirit possession. Among them, Kehoe and Giletti attempted to explain the phenomenon on the basis that it is caused by “a spontaneous neurological manifestation of nutritional deficiency” (1981). This model is potentially blurred by western rationalism which inevitably discredits any mode of consciousness other than critical self-awareness. In the search for biological explanations of trance occurrences, a crucial point is missed: possession is logically and contextually prior to the trance. In Hofriyat, one is not said to be possessed because she becomes entranced, moreover, she becomes entranced because she is possessed.
Where are the men in this picture?
Possession is mainly only experienced by women. More than 40% of Hofriyat women over the age of fifteen and married claim zār affliction as opposed to 5% of the population of adult males. During Boddy’s six year absence from the village, only one man became possessed in contrast to sixteen women who became possessed. She did note, however, that a few of her male acquaintances privately confessed they were inflicted with a spirit but refused to make a public declaration in fear of “losing face”. What creates this disproportion of gender? I.M Lewis proposed a sociological explanation for this occurrence stating that zār possession is a strategy by women to overcome their subordinate social status. This model underestimates the unchallenged factuality of spirits within Sudanese society. Possession is a widespread matter of fact to the Hofriyati and therefore it cannot be limited to the strategic social strife of a minority group. It also assumes that women wish to acquire the social status of men in a society where the roles of men and women are distinctly different and separate. This is not due to men’s triumph rather it is the product of cultural design.
But this still doesn’t explain the discrepancy.
In Hofriyati, both sexes agree that women are more vulnerable to spirit custody because of their femininity. Spirits are attracted to women and covet the precious perfumes and gold jewelry that they wear. They are even more enthralled by those who are married because they have “activated” their fertility. Religious authorities attribute the vulnerability of women to their moral frailty. Because of this, women find it more difficult to resist the infliction of a spirit. Finally, men feel that women are more likely to become possessed because they see no difference between the zār and Islam. To women, they are just performing a part of the general Islamic religion and therefore they put themselves in the position to be overtaken by zayran.
One possessed, always possessed.
Unfortunately, there is no cure. The spirit is forever bound to its host. Through a propitiatory ceremony, however, symptom relief is possible. The spirit may agree to refrain from further destruction of the human’s health so long as she attends regular ceremonies, avoids mourning behavior, associates herself with clean and sweet smelling things and avoids being consumed by strong emotion. This contract is infinitely renegotiable, though.
This was interesting to say the least. I find it fascinating that this phenomena is mostly found in women and that men see it as a combining of Islam and zar. The article talks about the cultural reasons for these possessions, and the women most likely to be possessed. I wonder if the women chosen by the spirits are ones that have a higher status? Since the Hofriyati believe that the spirits possess women because of their jewellery and their marital status. Does this mean that them women being possessed are of higher status than those not? Another interesting point is that it only occurs in women because they are seen as weaker, but was this phenomena created as a way for women to have a sort of power in society? Since the spirits never leave their bodies, to me, it seems that they can use that as an excuse later in life. For example when becoming enraged with their husbands they could blame it on the spirits.
Another point to be looked at is how it is a learned thing. Therefore, it shows that this is not just a random thing created in their society. It goes deeper than that, another thought I've had is it seems to be a way for the women to let loose. From what I gather its the only time in when they can smoke, drink, and dance without be estranged from society. For the outsider it would appear to be a very strange and pointless ritual, but for the women it means much more. Even if they don't realize it. I'm curious as to how the other tribes in different countries perform this ceremony. Do they have variations between one society to the next, or is it all the same kind of possessions and rituals?
It also seems as though this as another function than just focusing on women. The feast makes appears to be a socializing event, though it is weird that they drink the animal's blood. I wonder if that has any type of nutritional benefits. Especially sense some have questioned their nutritional deficiency.
I'll be honest, I haven't had a chance to read the article yet, but the blog post was so interesting I'm going to ASAP. I didn't know any of this was a thing. It reminds me of a scene in the movie Eat Pray Love, where the main character goes to Bali and sees a medicine man treating a "child tormented by demons." She says it looks like teething, and a local woman comments, "Same thing." Might this be a similar phenomenon? I doubt these women would attribute their sufferings to something scientific and mundane, but maybe the symptoms they're experiencing could be tied to something other than spirit possession if studied in a different context. I guess I have a hard time conceptualizing this as reality when I have absolutely no context of my own in which to understand it. Not only is Sudan extremely different from the United States as a whole (especially the culture surrounding spirit possession), but women here have a different collective culture than Sudanese women it seems.
The ritual itself sounds similar to that of the Pentecostals; the buildup of stimulation until a certain point, which brings direct communication with a spirit or the Holy Ghost. The individual then becomes entranced and is no longer "there" until the episode is over. This seems to be a common theme among the topics we've studied. I'm interested in the commonalities between all these various experiences.
I'm also interested to know how many men may experience this phenomenon but keep it silent. Could it change the ritual or the cultural perception of spirit possession if more men claimed to have it too? Maybe they feel that if they confess to being possessed, they will be seen as feminine or emotional. Do they consider this a bad thing?
I'm stopping myself before I Feminist Rant.
I think this is a powerfully interesting topic and look forward to discussing it.
It kind of bums me out that most people in the western world don't really believe in possession by spirits. Life over here would be so much more interesting if the ever lurking threat of spiritual possession constantly terrified the morally feeble women in America. In the modern world, we believe that everything can be understood and no spiritual mumbo jumbo like this is possible. I have to admit that I am one to think there is probably something other than spiritual possession going on (though the thought of it terrifies me), but I do think that there has to be something deep at work. We can understand a lot, but we are lacking in our understanding of the human soul and connection with spirits. Though I think a lot of people fake things like speaking in tongues, I think there are also many people who genuinely believe they have been invaded by some sort of spirit. What really affirmed this belief for me was the fact that some men confidentially told the researcher they were afflicted but didn't seek help, because i tend to think people don't fake things they are ashamed of. Perhaps this feeling of possession is caused by malnutrition or some chemical imbalance in the brain, but those western medicine excuses actually seem so dull and easy comparatively. I'm having a little trouble grasping the bit about women claiming possession to overcome their subordinate social status. Maybe it has something to do with their behavior while they are possessed? I dunno.
The part of this article that caught my attention most was at the very end, dealing with the reasons for which "women are more vulnerable to spirit custody." I believe we've mentioned in class that females generally have more developed senses of empathy and intuition, and have speculated that women are more inclined to spirituality. I hear this same thing said at my own church all the time, and I challenge you to find a Relief Society (the LDS women's organization) meeting in which nobody is "moved to tears;" I can promise you nary a tear-less Sunday for the Mormon women. However, in Hofriyati, this vulnerability is attributed to
1. Femininity
2. Fertility
3. Moral Frailty
4. Ignorance: "they see no difference between the zār and Islam."
A quick Google search of the Hofriyati reveals that they perform "Pharaonic Circumcision," that is, Type III Female Genital Mutilation called Infibulation. I won't describe that procedure in any more detail on this blog, mostly because I don't think I could stomach typing such atrocity, but if you really want to know (trust me, you don't), there's Wikipedia. Anyway, my point in this is-- with all attempts not to be judgmental and intolerant of other cultures, and keeping in mind my aversion to profanity-- these guys are the worst sort of oppressive patriarchal assholes out there. It is interesting to note that in patriarchal societies, "femininity" and "fertility" are desired, even demanded qualities in women, and yet they are here citing them as weaknesses alongside "Moral Frailty." But it's the claim of ignorance that gets me; it's essentially patriarchy complaining about the system it created itself. Women are not educated, and are therefore intellectually and morally inferior men, and in turn are not considered worthy of the same rights as men as they have demonstrated themselves to be inferior. I don't even really consider myself a feminist, and this really riles me up. It reminds me of a quote from one of the few chick-flicks I've ever liked:
If you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners corrupted from infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded, but that you first make thieves [or morally and intellectually inferior women] and then punish them? (Ever After, 1998)
Going off of what everyone else said, I too find it fascinating that really only women are possessed in this context. It made me think about the neurological differences between women and men and how these could possibly be factors. Don’t they always say that women have a type of sixth sense, a kind of intuition unique to them? Women are known to be more clued in to emotional and spiritual type things, this is why mothers are traditionally considered the “spiritual” leaders of households, and tend to be the ones who install moralistic virtues in their children. Could this make women more vulnerable to possessions such as these? Could it be this factor rather than the sexist notion that women are weaker mentally?
I personally think that women possess a special ability to access a type of consciousness that men cannot, purely due to biological differences in the brain. The male and female brains have many differences, which explain why relationships of any kind dealing with the opposite sex can be frustrating. We simply do not think the same way and the mapping of our brains are a factor. I remember my dad explaining to me when I was little that when a man says he has nothing to wear, it means he has no clean clothes, but when a woman says this, it means that she simply can’t decide.
I did some side research on this and found information of the differing anatomy of the male and female brains. Men do typically have larger brains than women, but the proportions and set up are completely different. Women have more connections between neurons in their brains, and also have different proportions. The frontal lobe and limbic cortex are larger in women, responsible for problem solving and emotional behavior respectively. Men have a larger parietal cortex and amygdala, regulating spacial, sexual, and social elements of life.
I personally think that this plays a large role in why women are more susceptible to zar possessions. They are more clued in to language and communication from birth, so why would this be different when interacting with a spirit rather than another human?
Women’s brains are also proven to be more connected from the left to the right hemisphere, while men’s usually are isolated on one side. I don’t know how zar spirits exactly work neurologically, but who knows, this could relate.
During our in class activity, I did take notice to the high number of female spirits. I was a southern prostitute, and I noticed that the role of a prostitute was a common one in this practice. Women relate better to other women, so do you think this too could be a factor? If I was a female spirit I would probably want to inhabit a female body, or else I would feel kind of weird. I don’t know that much about this practice, I just thought this was an interesting angle to take. I don’t completely understand spirit possession, or necessarily believe in it, but who knows?
It seems so weird that so many women in the zar culture have been possessed and yet so few men have. Ascribing this discrepancy to “moral frailty” in women sounds like a cheap copout. These societies sound like they tend to be patriarchal so maybe the women use spirit possession as an excuse to act out when generally they’re actions would be suppressed. The religious officials in the zar culture claim spirits are also more likely to go after women because of their jewelry and perfume. In a patriarchal society it sounds like this could be a way of the men belittling the actions of women by saying that things women wear and do have negative influences on the way these powerful spirits view them. While the men view these trance states as weakness in the women who experience them, I think the women would find them to be times of reprieve. They can act and do as they please while entranced and claim it wasn’t their consciousness. In a place where men judge every action a woman makes this brief period of trance is probably extremely liberating. I mean they get to publicly threaten men and drink and smoke, it sounds like a pretty good deal. Furthermore, if men see possession as a sign of weakness then the fact that five percent of them acknowledge possession. I could see all the guys sitting around a table drinking their fine scotches and toking tobacco laughing at the poor guy who experienced spirit possession. I doubt that’s what actually happens since spirit possession is so common, but I still couldn’t imagine it being good for a man’s reputation. Since trance states induced by possession almost exclusively during ritualistic experiences, does the zar culture have a negative view on becoming entranced out of ritual? You said it’s a learned and practiced skill so I could imagine people would assume that trances at other times would just seem like a cry for attention rather than real possession.
The different spirits that can possess people are so interesting. I find it fascinating that they personify many of the spirits with common things like jobs. The example in the article actually caused me to chuckle quite a bit. Being possessed by a doctor, lawyer and military officer? Sounds to me like the woman might have been complaining about her husband’s crummy job. I can’t even imagine how being possessed by a lawyer should make you act. I guess that’s why the military officer was the one that she actually acted like.
Revisiting the comments from this blog, I am going to go off of what Hannah Gene was discussing in her previous comment. It is indeed fact true that the society in which these possessions are widespread are very sexist and brutal in their treatment of women. This makes me change my mind regarding my first point. I do think that women being more susceptible towards spirit possession can be construed as a positive thing, but this is not the case where it is centrally happening. I am not so sure that I believe in these possessions, but I don’t think the society means them to be womanly friendly. Just think about it, they are viewing woman as the only gender easily controlled.
Also, from our group activity, I remember the name of the spirit many of us, namingly AnnMarie and I, were given. They both had the term “prostitute” in the name. This terminology to me is derogatory to women and I feel that men in this society use these possessions as a way to further reinforce negative stereotypes and views towards women.
I agree with the interpretation of Zar spirit possession as a form of empowerment for women in a culture where they possess so little power. Though men seem to control their lives, what’s truly higher than a god or spirit, right? As a woman, I can easily see this rationalization taking place and especially being used as a form of escape. As Hannah Gene mentions, women also are more capable of theory of mind and empathy which may be another reason why they have chosen spirit possession rather than other ways to achieve the same feeling of empowerment.
While the men in their culture seem to think that women “can’t see a difference between zar and Islam,” I do not think that these women actually can’t see the difference. Perhaps they simply do not want to see the difference- after all religion is religion and if this specific type of ritualistic religion is helping them achieve a higher status, at least within their own groups, then is their really a difference, or rather does there need to be? If my culture dictated I only have one religion and yet another was helping me cope, I would also contend that they are the same.
Like Hannah Gene, I hate how all of the “weaknesses” cited for why these woman experience possession are also things that are required of them. How in the world is fertility a weakness? How is carrying a baby for nine months and then rearing that child a weakness? I just do not get it. Nor do I want to. In every biological sense, fertility is a strength. Reproduction is basically the meaning of life and females are the ones who do most of the work. There are some species of lizards out there which are entirely female and reproduce via parthenogenesis. You don’t see any male species doing that, do you?
As a feminist, I can’t say that I really appreciate the “why”s behind Zar spirit possession. Most of me just wishes that women already had that sense of empowerment within their daily lives without needing a ritual to achieve the same feeling. I know that I should probably find this article interesting, but instead I just feel frustrated and sad. I am very glad to know that these women are able to cope with their lower social status through ritual. However, I just wish they were fine on their own and had no need for it.
Follow up:
I have to admit I was slightly terrified of this activity at first and was glad to have it postponed until after spring break. Being outside and dancing around with a bunch of people that I hardly know is not something that I feel truly comfortable with. However, I think that if perhaps we had taken a jog first and tired ourselves out, or maybe had the music been louder and the atmosphere darker, it would have been a bit easier to experience a truer sense of what the ritual feels like.
As I have discussed in other comments, it’s extremely difficult for many of us, including me, to break from our normal stressed out thought processes. But, it is much easier to focus on a different subject or to drift into another state of consciousness when exhausted or drunk or in a more confusing and chaotic atmosphere. Maybe I was under Zar spirit possession all those times at fraternity parties my freshman year. That would explain my odd behavior. I guess I would consider myself “morally frail” during my first year of college as well. Thankfully though, in my case the spirit does not seem eternally bound to me.
Like Hillarie, I was not ready for this activity and was glad it was extended to after spring break. But after we found a nice secluded spot outside and we all started to play out our spirit cards I did get into it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear the music which, I think was an important part of the activity. Even with the absences of music I still got into my roles. I will admit it was easier for me to participate after seeing others portraying their roles. Bringing this back to the zar I do believe that the having group possessions would allow for the women to become easily possessed. Especially since they truly believe that they are being possessed by different spirits. Secondly, they in the description of the possessions, and from our activity it seems that they feed off of each other. I imagine that with a steady beat in the background and substances that alter their state of mind that they could easily slip into a possession state of mind.
It seemed from our class discussion the reason why the zar only possess women is because they have control over this ritual and has a show of status. I am curious as to what lower-class women do if they are omitted from the possessions. As Hannah Gene and Ashlyn noted the possessions and spirits did seem very negative towards women. Which makes me wonder what are the origins of these possessions? Did women create them or need the men impose it onto the women?
Coming back to this topic of spirit possession, I find that it is still just as hard for me to write about it as it was last time. I can't rationalize, explain away, or mentally reconcile it. I think probably the closest experience I have to something like this would be, sadly not our recreation of the zar ritual, but the feeling of being someone else when I am dancing. Throughout my dance career I have had to embody many different essences to convey the message of the choreography, and isn't that basically what zar spirit possession is--embodiment? If there were no instances of embodiment, there wouldn't be a need for the ritual, which is why I think that is the most important part of this phenomenon to study. What ailments signal to the woman that she is possessed, and what bodily sensations signal that the spirit is no longer pissed off? I want to see a full body and brain scan of these women before and after the rituals.
Furthermore, what is the practical benefit of this system? Are there any secondary benefits that come from a "symbiotic relationship" with a spirit? It seems like the requirements to keep the spirit happy (attending ceremonies, smelling good, not having strong emotions) are just mechanisms to keep the women appearing and acting acceptably within the community. It's important to note that while the spirit makes these women do masculine, outlandish things during possession, the spirit also requires that they return to a traditionally feminine role of quiet, well-behaved, and aesthetically pleasing. Maybe it's true that these women use spirit possession to experience things they never would otherwise.
Again, stopping myself before I feminist rant.
I really wish we would have been able to do a more genuine imitation of the Zar ritual. There were so many aspects of this cultural dissociation practice that my activity could not cover such as the use of costumes, loud repetitive drumming, incense, flailing about and of course, dissociation (otherwise known as spirit possession if you're a Zar believer). One aspect that sets this ceremony apart from the others that we have read about is its exclusivity for married women. There is so much socially and economically factored into this religion that it, in my opinion, meets a ten out of ten on the vitality and stability scale. I agree with the majority of the posts on here that what is taking place in Sudanese society is tragic and horrific but there are some points made in Janice Boddy's article that suggest a less direct correlation concerning male brutality and the emergence of the Zar ceremony. For one, spirit possession is a matter of fact to all the Sudanese people, men and women. Some men even claim to have been possessed themselves. So I'm not sure I agree that this is some sort of degrading humorous ritual that men allow to take place just for kicks and giggles. They believe that these women are possessed and not only acknowledge, but fear the possibility that they themselves could become possessed. The derogatory associations are present towards women without the Zar ceremony and so the fact that women are the ones practicing the ritual, the derogatory association follows. But the actual spirit possession itself is very real to them.
I think we were all a little too tense and not comfortable enough around each other to appreciate the activity we did outside. Also, Like Dr. Lynn pointed out earlier in the year, activities like this are something that you have to practice.
Anyways, I find it intriguing and a little sad that possession is the only way that women in this culture can be empowered. I am also a little confused how their empowerment through possession is seen as a weakness to men. I read this article thinking about how backwards the culture must be, but realized this time around that we also attribute some things that women suffer from to their perceived frailty. In our society, people who suffer from depression or psychological disorders are sometimes described as acting 'like a woman' and need to 'man up'. I'm not a feminist, but it is pretty disappointing that such archaic expressions still carry weight in our society.
I don't know much about theory of mind, but I saw that some of the other comments point to women having a greater capacity for it. I might be wrong, but I think that some of the women in zar culture just play along with spirit possession to pull a fast one on the men, and I can't say I blame them. As long as they have a way of leveling the playing field with men, I don't see why the women wouldn't take it.
Probably the biggest question that this article left me with is what happens after the women are released from the spirits? Are they treated like they were before, or do they maintain a higher status?
Ah, the Zar ritual, by far my favorite class activity. Watching Dr. Lynn crawl on the floor like an alligator will be a story I tell my children about the good ole college days in years to come. Zar rituals are extremely interesting considering their origins come from the shamanistic rituals of the past and give many of the same benefits that shamanistic rituals did in the past. However, one main difference between societies from then and now is the gender reversal. While the Zar rituals of today are largely associated with women, we have to remember the gender structure was not the same in the past. Many hunter gatherer societies were matriarchal in the past (now I’m only talking thousands of years ago rather than tens of thousands) while most societies now are patriarchal. The Zar rituals might primarily target women because that’s how it was in the past rather than them having something to do because they are at such a disadvantage in society. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that they suffer from lack of some basic human rights, but that is just how their society is. What I wonder is, if possession is considered an illness or a condition, why do these rituals continue to take place? And why are women likely to take this role of being “sick?” But in response to some of the other comments, I don't think that women are intentionally targeting themselves, its a sort of unspoken peer pressure to be possessed. I don't know much of the culture, but it might be a bad omen or something to never be possessed if you are a woman or countless other scenarios than they become possessed to empower themselves or put themselves down.
When returning to Sudan's Zar possession rituals with the context of the rest of the class in mind, I can't help but to see it as a part of the secular utility of religion that Matt talked about being used in the wrong way. While I agree that religion can provide many positive aspects for a society, even evolutionary benefits as I have come to learn, I still view all of religion's motives rather cynically. I am of the belief that most religions are a means to keep control over society, which probably influences my takeaway from this lesson. When I initially read this article, I was surprised that it was mainly women that were afflicted by the spirit possessions, but after considering the Sudanese social hierarchy, I realized that Zar rituals have a negative secular utility that works to keep women subservient to men in the culture. It appears to me that Zar rituals and religion in Sudan is heavily influenced by the Sudanese cultural design that keeps the roles of men and women distinctly separate. When the religious leaders attribute female susceptibility to possession to their "moral frailty" I tend to disregard the practice in general. I also find it hard to believe in true possession, which makes reading about these practices even sadder to me. It seems as though the women buy into this ideal and make themselves willing to learn how to become "possessed," thus reinforcing their status below the males. The fact that women see this practice that holds them back as merely "performing a part of the general Islamic religion" is rather disheartening.
Follow-up comment:
My original comment on this post was somewhat of a negative reaction to the implications of female weakness, vulnerability, and ignorance, which I said were not at all the inherent fault of the women, but artificial handicaps cultivated by the culture in which these women reside.
I'd like to make a more open remark at these implications in a more positive perspective. The idea of women being more inclined to spirituality and religion is a widespread theory than found only in the Hofriyati. Even in this class we acknowledged this seeming trend and attributed it to women having more developed senses of empathy and intuition. I don't know that I can affirm a generalization like that, as there are certainly some extremely empathetic and intuitive men out there, as well as apathetic women. However, if we assume that this is a generally accurate quality of the gender, it would certainly be one way to make sense of the religiosity of women.
But another point, which was mentioned in this post, is that religious observance is an outlet of social equality and even authority to women, when such position and opportunity is otherwise unavailable to them. This is seen in Ancient Greece, where women were given extensive religious privileges and responsibilities-- even as full-time priestesses and prophetesses, but were not allowed rights in any other facet of public life. This is seen again in the early Roman Empire when women were attracted to Paul's of (relative) equality in the Christian gospel:
Galatian 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, I do find this aspect of explaining the trend of female religiosity to be rather compelling.
Interesting article and dovetails with some of my own experience. 10 years ago, as a belly dancer, I came across the ayoub beat.....something that lurks in many belly dance music, and hence the trance state. A number of my troupe members were from Somali, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and they were very acquainted with the Zar ritual. As I am a writer, did a lot of research (what there was) and ended up going to a Zar ritual. Amazing, and it IS an empowerment vehicle for women of these oppressive and traditional societies. The possession of a women by a Zar gives a certain freedom to a woman: she can blame the Zar for her 'words' to her husband, (i.e. sassing him back, etc) and the man can't blame the woman. And he would be well advised not to go up against the Zar demon. It is 'true' that you can never expel he Zar from his possession, but you can certainly extract and negotiate new terms of his behavior. This morning, on my blog, (ladynyo.wordpress.com) I posted "A Turkish Tale" about a Zar possession and the ritual. It seems that these things are a mental health vehicle for oppressed women and I think they are of benefit.
In order to understand what this is about, I encourage the understanding of how far the patriarchy goes back. many researchers don't even accept the concept of the patriarchy, but to me it is clear. basically it is the belief in 'evil spirits' and literal 'possession' by them. This belief has been used as still is to mind control and physically control people. ALL you have to do is push a belief that certain individuals, or groups, or whole countries are possessed of evil, and then this can justify your abuse and even genocide of them.
It is therefore always fruitful to go right to the ROOTS of this meaning of possession, and as far as I know it is connected with psychedelic mushrooms! Checkout 'enthousiasmos'--an ancient Greek term from where we get our 'enthusiasm' and 'possession' from, and its definition is of being possessed by a god. What god? Well, I cannot got too in-depth in this little box, but again in Goddess mythos the psychedelic mushrooms are her son/lovers which once eat die and are reborn again as a bigger experience of you. Dig? Suddenly you feel connected to nature, you dance and you ARE the dance, you sing and you ARE the song---there is no cultural block to your connection to the mystery which is life. However when this original direct mythical experience is denied by the patriarchy comes the literalized myth of 'spirit possession' and division of 'spirits' into 'good' and 'evil'. So that is what is really going on above. it is mostly men making it us and making sure women are targeted as being 'posession-ridden'. That men are not affected SURPRISE SURPRISE is a dead giveaway that this is the patriarchy in action.
What we really are, as well as ciritcal thinkers are deeper beings who can feel free to allow ourselves ecstatic expression because it spiritually connects us to others and to nature, as LONG as we see through the patriarchal cooption of this very ancient living mythos.
The above article bears a striking resemblance to West African Vodun rituals centered around mambos and their female followers. In fact, I have been conducting research on the cultural phenomenon of shamanism and its history in humanity and I have been struck by how the vast majority of shamanistic practice is centered around women. This is true in vast regions where shamanism is prevalent such as Africa and Eastern (both northeast and Southeast) Asia as well as Siberia, Central America and parts of the Amazon. Even in cultures where shamans are predominantly male, they have traditions that the first shamans were female. Mind you, the earliest historical descriptions of shamanic ecstasy at least in the so-called 'West' comes from Greek writings describing pharmakia (witches) and especially oraklei (oracles) entering states called "mania" through signals such as music or dance mostly in the case of the former but sometimes the latter as well.
As such, I seriously doubt that the practice in Zar originated as a therapeutic affect for women who suffer social oppression or discrimination, especially when not only are there cultures where women are not oppressed at all but have high status (such as the mother-right Kunama of Eritrea) and still practice Zar but that even many Ethiopians maintain that women in pre-Christian and pre-Judaic times had higher status and that their rituals of Zar were more central to society.