Rhythm and Repercussions of Difference: On Bodies at Rituals of Spirit Possession in Morocco
匠 山口
Institutional Repositories DataBase March 1, 2022 DOI: 10.34428/00013287 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Attendees at a spirit possession ritual in Morocco |
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Keywords | Trance Possession linguistics Social phenomenon Perception Variety cybernetics Islam Religious experience Aesthetics Epistemology Expression computer science Elite Social group Social function Resistance ecology |
| Key findings | The variety in bodily reactions among attendees, including trance, reflects a shift in the appreciation of the ritual and its music in Moroccan society. |
Abstract
Sprit possession is a mysterious phenomenon that confronts the modern perception of human as a set of one mind and one body.Anthropologists, along with researchers from other disciplines, have long argued its nature and proposed various theories relegating it to, for example, a cultural expression of mental afflictions, a form of resistance by marginalized groups within the society, or performance acts of social drama.Taking a case of the spirit possession ritual in Morocco, this paper does not take a reductive approach that only assigns a single social function or psychological effect to the ritual and trance that occurs in it.Instead, the paper focuses on the corporeal aspect on the part of attendees at the ritual and argues that their variety in bodily reactions including trance reflects a shift in the appreciation of the ritual and its music in the society at large.In Morocco, as in other Islamic regions, possession is caused by the invisible being called jinn.The mischievous character of this creature makes it hard for people to fully prevent their attacks against humans.For the possessed, there are two options to get rid of difficulties brought by the possessing jinn; total eviction by the help of knowledgeable religious figures, or attending a ritual conducted by musicians of specific Sufi orders or a group of Sub-Saharan descendants called Gnawa.Their music in the ritual can prompt
Comparable studies
Other case reports and case series on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The vidente phenomenon in third world traditional healing: An amazonian example Urban healer don Hilde and his patients in Pucallpa, Peru | 1984 | Case study | |
| In the Pause and Listening to the Little People Folk healer (White Bear) | 2011 | Qualitative case study | |
| The Bad Seed: Mystical Experience and Time Travel in the Treatment of Psychopathy A psychopathic personality | 2023 | Case study | n = 1 |
| Safavid Twelver Lettrism Between Sunnism and Shiʿism, Mysticism and Science: Rajab al-Bursī vs. Maḥmūd Dihdār Two Twelver Shi'i lettrists, al-Ḥāfiẓ Rajab al-Bursī and Maḥmūd Dihdār Shīrāzī | 2023 | Comparative case study | |
| Newer substances and their effects: A case report 36-year-old woman immigrant from South America | 2016 | Case study | n = 1 |