Spirit possession in african drama pdf

Pdf god, divinities and spirits in african traditional. Source for information on divination and spirit possession in the americas. Spirit possession is a frequent phenomenon in african societies because it is seen as an. Psychoanalytic theory appears flawed in its notions of universal oedipal conflict and repression, and unsuitable for the study of pathological spirit possession in south asia. Symptoms of spirit possession include violent unusual movements, shrieking, groaning, and uttering disconnected or strange speech. Honk horn music of ghana world premiere recording released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ghanas independence.

Ibenwa1, and gloria tochukwu okeke1 abstract conflict is a universal phenomenon that is inevitable in human interaction. Jan 20, 2015 by innocent tinashe mutero zimbabwe has a rich, diverse cultural heritage and her music and dance are intertwined. Spirit possession and purity a case study of a brahma kumari ascetic tamasin ramsay phd candidate social sciences and health research unit school of psychology, psychiatry and psychological medicine monash university australia this is a case study from my. Spirit possession is a phenomenon that often elicits a response of fear, particular in those who are ignorant of its meaning and role within its particular religious and cultural traditions. Spirit possession is not something that everyone believes in at all, let alone believes that it is an actual illness. Religion, altered states of consciousness and social change. In african societies, dance serves a complex diversity of social purposes. Aug 25, 2012 african metropolitan architecture david adjaye 2011with a mix of photographs and text about buildings, and the spaces and lives around them, this is an arresting visual introduction to cities. Spirit possession is a common dissociative phenomenon, manifesting not only in african, asian and caribbean countries but also in europe and north america bourguignon 1973, 1976. For many in the contemporary world, the notion of spirit possession would be seen as. This audio example of adaban was recorded in sesease on may 24, 2004. At least three african and africana studies courses must be taken in at least two. African religion, from its earliest existence in this country, started at a disadvantage. Traditional modes of dealing with spirit possession states normally include gently cajoling the spirit or accommodating it, rather than brutally expelling it, but the treatment practised in britain may be less confident and culturally validated.

The african heritage has been localized, creolized or indigenized in guyana and is therefore a part of the national culture. Kumina in jamaica kumina is described as one of the most african religious expressions in jamaica. African immigrants and musical traditions download a pdf lesson plan for grades 5 and up. Exorcism of spirit possession analysis holistic intuition society page 3 the harmful effects of possession what is meant by possession it is the interference by others physical and nonphysical in the mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical wellbeing of a person. Gordon and atoulaye sall 67 chapter 4 weapons of faith in a world of illness. In this lesson we will discuss the instrument and its history. Practitioners are known as mediums or spirit mediums. Conclusion spirit possession is a viable method for women across africa to gain social power and religious authority yet despite the consensus among the authors of the power of spirit possession, in their own ethnographic writing they objectify and depower these very women. The shona concept of spirit possession kusvikirwa and the pentecostal phenomenon of getting into the spirit kupinda mumweya francis machingura 267 the concept of the holy spirit and speaking in tongues, although a neglected dimension in written african theology and many western mission churches, permeates the activities. As a multicultural country, zimbabwes traditional music genres are just as varied as the ethnic groups inhibiting the country.

The traditional spiritual beliefs of the chewa people of zambia, for example, are humancentered and socially oriented. Graham harvey the open university, uk what shamans do is sometimes said to involve possession by spirits. Pdf spirit possession, modernity and power in africa michael. Distinguishing between the western actor and the african roleplayer, and between intense impersonation and possession, he suggests also some generic parallels between western theatre and african performance. Pentecostals see a sharp distinction between all forms of traditional spirit possession be it ancestral spirit possession or possession by the local divinities which is normally accompanied by the supernatural ability to speak a language that is not normally spoken by the possessed and holy spirit possession. A list of the personae, human and spirit, whom the reader will meet in the course of the work, precedes the first chapter.

Implied is that the two are inseparable there is no music without dance. An insiders view of the inner workings and prevalence of spirit possession in our modern world provides practical techniques for. Conflicts between african traditional religion and. The book focuses on one possession troupe in the town of tillaberi, situated on the niger river. It is important to know what roles spirit possession plays in those and related societies, how people view them, and how the phenomena are treated by the healers. Deity and spirit possession in south asia blogging south. The following evening she becomes the protagonist in a scatological comedy to mark the successful expulsion of the spirit. There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including seance tables, trance, and ouija. It is therefore important to gain an understanding of this practice in its cultural context before.

However, there are rare instances where real spirits attach themselves to a place and may cause upset and discord. Spirit possession note that spirit can mean different things in the african context may also be used to refer to the same thing if the spirit was not invited to take possession of some ones body. Ritual possession generally refers to a voluntary and reversible form of trance done in religious ceremonies and attributed to religious spirits. Students will conduct independent research about an aspect or kind of folk healing that they are interested in. Bourguignons 22 phenomenologically sensitive account of vodou dwells neither on medical implications nor on manifestations of the sacred, but demonstrates the everyday reality of spirit possession african and afroamerican spirit possession as it is imitated in childrens games and as it is called into play in interpersonal relations between. Dissociative episodes, or even dissociative disorder, may explain the symptoms involved with spirit possession. Spirit possession in south asia, dissociation or hysteria. The authors account, which includes chapters on liturgy, scripture, doctrine, faith, poetry, political theory, icons, and ethics, is broad yet selective, and it.

Encyclopedia of africanamerican culture and history dictionary. Like all the great religions vodou has an external, public practice of rituals and ceremoniesand also an internal, mystical dimension. View spirit possession anthropology research papers on academia. Sounds of africa from smithsonian folkways presented in collaboration with the smithsonian national museum of. Lewis published 1971 sociology towards a sociology of ecstacy trance and possesion affliction and its apotheosis strategies of. The concept of god, divinities and spirits in african traditional religious ontology has been so misunderstood by many scholars to the point of seeing africans as people who did not know the. This chapter proposes that approaching shamans and their activities, ideas and communities via. Article pdf available in culture medicine and psychiatry 181. In his book he reproduced an important foundation myth, as told to.

It is also played during traditional healing ceremonies in preparation for spirit possession. It begins with the idea that recovery hinges on the ability of subjects to relate to their distressing experiences in ways that expand rather than diminish. Possession, in religious and folk traditions, condition characterized by unusual behaviour and a personality change that is interpreted as evidence that the person is under the direct control of an external supernatural power. May 07, 2016 during worship when the singing and dancing penetrate wholly into every being of the worshipper, spirit possession may follow and the possessed devotee may give message from the divinity as a.

Topics will include, but not be limited to, mexican american curanderos, spirit possession in the african diaspora, chinese traditional medicine, and twelvestep programs for alcoholism. Application of an ethnographic methodology for the study of spirit possession by terry palmer. Spirit possession leads to the understanding of culture, with its gender and political ideology, because it implies more than what appears as a severe psychosomatic symptom. Spirit possession and mental health psychology today. An ancestor cult called kumina and belief in obeah sorcery are living survivals of the african heritage. The concept of spirit possession exists in many religions, including christianity, buddhism, haitian vodou, wicca, hinduism, islam and southeast asian and african traditions. In defining the religious worldview of africa, mbiti stresses the fact that the spirit world of the african people is very densely populated with spirit beings, spirits and the livingdead or the spirits of the ancestors mbiti, 1969. Music and religion in subsaharan africa the most compelling reason for music making in africa derives from religious experience, for it is generally believed that the spiritual world is responsive to music and deeply affected by it. In most discussions and essays on contemporary african drama and theatre the. Spiritual people tend to believe in spirit possession as an ailment, and different religions deal with it differently. A critical and appreciative perspective 3 these questions, we will first seek to develop a better grasp of religion as a major constituent of the worldview of african people. Crew and the ancestors return to speak through the living from a 1792.

Intended for the general reader, the spirit of early christian thought provides a wellwritten and sympathetic portrayal of early christian ways of thinking about god and creation. Exorcism plays a major role in the mission activities of many african. African dance refers mainly to the dance of subsaharan africa, and more appropriately african dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles. Sam ukala is a professor of drama and theatre arts at edo state university, ekpoma, nigeria. Drawing primarily, but not exclusively, from ethnographic data collected during eighteen months of fieldwork in belem, northern brazil, this book combines fine. Invasion of spirits nordic journal of african studies. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Through a profound reexamination of western concepts of. Spirit of early christian thought yale university press. Since the child is not allowed real friends, they are happy to have demons to play with inside their mind. Spirit possession is one of the most common forms of energetic illness in existence with more then 75% of the population in the u.

African drama and theatre, imaginative hypnotic impulse, african. Drama is the least developed performing art, but it has been experiencing a new surge of energy. This book tells the story of spirit possession among the tanzanian maasai. The panafrican theatre ensemble presents an echo in the bone. The state of the physical and social sciences there are physical and social science programs at the university of west indies uwi and the institute of jamaica and its ancillary research bodies such as the african caribbean institute of jamaica. This should be clear to all who know the agonies of exile. Many of these demons and ghosts influenced japan, korea, thailand, malaysia, singapore folklore.

Comparison of two therapeutic interventions for spirit possession christy schuetze 33 chapter 2 the relevance of worldview interpretation to health care in south africa j. The mbira is a traditional african instrument that has been played for over a thousand years. Demons, monsters and ghosts of the chinese folklore. In africa as well as in europe, many spirits and their mediums are part of. At least two, and no more than three, courses must be completed in the departmental major. Regardless of psychological reduction of a spiritual phenomenon, spirit possession is still a popular topic in anthropological studies. The essays and the introduction by behrend and luig consider a range of topical themes. Health and the holy in african and afroamerican spirit. Mediumship and spirit possession in a crosscultural. Zar harmful wind refers to the spirit possession that causes illness. The theories pertaining to spirit possession are generally centred in cultural belief. Apr 09, 2016 the five thousandyear chinese culture, over the centuries has produced hundreds of legends about monsters, ghosts, demons and spirits. Believing in the zar illness and the practice of the zar ritual as a therapy originated in northern and eastern africa and was transported to other countries in the middle east such as kuwait and iran through slavery. It focuses on spirit possession in afrobrazilian religions and spiritism, as well as discussing the notion of exorcism in charismatic christian communities.

The culture bound syndrome zar is found within north african and middle eastern. Culture of jamaica history, people, clothing, women. An anthropology of religious experience is divided into three sections which present the three main areas in the study of spirit possession. Smith proposes that positive oracular or ecstatic possession is the most common form of spiritual expression in india, and that it has been linguistically distinguished from negative, diseaseproducing possession for.

The science of spirit possession 2nd edition xiii participation with the society for psychical research spr that was founded in london in 1882 by a group of scientists and philosophers who wanted to apply scientific investigation to those areas of human experience that had hitherto been confined to religious beliefs and to those. Included are ritual elements from kumina, an african jamaican religion with its distinctive dance, music, trance, and spirit possession practiced by bakongo kongo descendants whose ancestors arrived in jamaica pre. The 10 best contemporary african books culture the guardian. A standard parapsychologicical definition of spirit medium might be. One major religion whose adherents publicly seek spirit demonic possession although they again view spirits as being capable of both good and evil, neutral in connotation much like the greek gods, is voodoo. Smith proposes that positive oracular or ecstatic possession is the most common form of spiritual expression in india, and that it has been linguistically distinguished from negative, diseaseproducing. The evaluation of the evidence for deity and spirit possession in south asia, in both classical texts and modern practice, is framed by prevailing characterizations of such gravity that only with great effort is it possible to escape from beneath their weightand in doing so. Smith, motilal banarsidass, delhi, 2009 originally the self possessed, columbia university press, 2006, pp. A person who regularly, and often at will, receives purported communications from the dead mental medium andor causes physical materializations physical medium. The concept of god, divinities and spirits in african traditional religious ontology has been so misunderstood by many scholars to the point of seeing africans as people who did not know the supreme being nor worship him.

The panafrican theatre ensemble presents an echo in the. Article about spirit possession by craig hamiltonparker. Before nan domi, works about vodou have concentrated on the spectacular outward manifestations of vodou observancehypnotic drumming and chanting, frenetic dancing, fits of spirit possession. Spirit possession, modernity, and power in africa edited by heike behrend and ute luig a valuable contribution to the literature of african religious experience. Spirit possession is a term for the belief that animas, demons, extraterrestrials, gods, or spirits can take control of a human body. The central feature of the pukumina sect, for example, is spirit possession. May 16, 2012 though spirit possession was practiced in many different ways in african cultures, in the americas, africans had a more intense encounter with european notions of the holy spirit, noel said. This paper seeks to examine how africans conceive of the supreme being, divinities and spirits. The prevalence of spirit possession in the caribbean religion is high and found within obeah, voodoo, hinduism, spiritual baptist tradition, islam, buddhism, santeria and most christian faiths. However, shamanism has also been defined in opposition to spirit possession. Spirit possession in various cultures neurocluster brain. An anthropological study of spirit possession and shamanism, authorioan m. In the fall of 1996, following the june 1996 delivery of playwright august wilsons now famous speech the ground on which i stand at the eleventh biennial theatre communications group tcg national conference at princeton university, the news publication of the black theatre network organization, btnews, began a series of reports and articles designed to investigate and.

Conflicts between african traditional religion and christianity in eastern nigeria. Pdf spirit possession in south asia, dissociation or. The traditions and techniques of spirit possession kenaz filan, raven kaldera on. There is an immense literature on spirit mediumship, spirit possession. She ends the family history in luigs spirit possession. African and africana studies bi co 30 haverford college catalog 20172018 courses from a list approved by the concentration coordinator. African traditional spirituality as an african heritage must be taken seriously for a fuller understanding of african christian spirituality, particularly of the african pentecostal churches. Modernity, and power in africa find, read and cite all the research. These dances must be viewed in close connection with subsaharan african music traditions and bantu cultivation of rhythm. Deity and spirit possession in south asia by frederick m. The self possessed is a multifaceted, diachronic study reconsidering the very nature of religion in south asia, the culmination of years of intensive research. Psychosis, spirit possession and recovery in the western desert of egypt this article explores an aspect of the cultural modulation of recovery in psychosis. Spirit possession as a crosscultural experience craig s. Spiritpossession, exorcism and social context housewife, is in trance, her possessing spirit being interrogated by a malay bomoh, or shaman.

Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between spirits of the dead and living human beings. African traditional spirituality as an african heritage must be taken seriously for a. An overview spirit possession may be broadly defined as any altered or unusual state of consciousness and allied behavior that is indigenously understood in terms of the influence of an alien spirit, demon, or deity. Children play at spiritpossession and are encouraged in doing so by their elders. Ethnographic and experimental evidence emma cohen and justin l. I have explained that many ghosts are psychic imprints that have been left behind, rather like a photograph, and that they can sometimes be created by our own mental energy. William baldwin the condition of spirit possession, that is, full or partial takeover of a living human by a discarnate being has been recognized or at least theorized in every era and every culture. The biological theory of contemporary psychiatry is no more effective in this analysis because mental illnesses are constituted within culturebound categories of experience. The language and the dances of kumina are so undiluted that they can be traced back to tribes in the congo in africa. Instead, the essays included in this collection concern the influences of spirit possession on modernday societies. Though spirit possession was practiced in many different ways in african cultures, in the americas, africans had a more intense encounter with european notions of the holy spirit, noel said. Standing the test of time, kumina has managed to survive the influences of western culture. Spirit possession is the supposed control of a human body by spirits, aliens, demons or gods.

In the ethnographic literature, the term spirit possession is often used to describe what parapsychologists refer to as mediumship. Fritz kramer this remarkable and controversial book explores the ways in which colonial europeans have been represented in african ritual art and drama. Sound as a mechanism for spirit invocation and possession in igbe. University school of drama 19861991, and director of the jamaica school of drama in kingston, jamaica 19771983. Main article background reading web links articles. Spirit possession syndrome piercing the veil of reality. The drumming of traditional ashanti healing ceremonies. Spirit possession is a topic of supreme interest to anthropologists who study the phenomenology of spirit possession in shamanic practices in traditional religions around the world. The illuminati formula 10 spiritual control techniques. As heike behrend and ute luig make clear in their introduction, this book is not a sequential account of the development of spirit possession cults throughout history, nor is it a desperate attempt to keep them alive. Lewiss classic study of ecstatic religion a study of shamanism and spirit possession, i was also much inspired by a chapter in jan fries book on european trance technique known as seidr which he found analogous to the zar tradition. This study of a neglected field in indology raises many questions while providing some clear insight. The mind possessed examines spirit concepts and mediumistic practices from a cognitive scientific perspective. Abstract in my own doctoral thesis i argued the case for a revised epistemology for spirit release therapy srp according to the conceptual framework of f.

Kariamu asante argues that one cannot discuss zimbabwean dance as an. Possession by divine beings such as spirits or gods is, however, a key practice in religions worldwide. Obeah and etu similarly recall the cosmology of africa, while revival zion has elements of both christian and african religions. Oct 29, 2014 oni demons and yurei ghosts have played a role in japanese culture for thousands of years, and stories of new spirits continue to be told today. Jan 28, 20 the religion of the slaves was based on african beliefs and practices, such as ceremonial spirit possession, spiritual healing, sorcery, and drumming and dance as forms of worship.