Illness, therapy, and change in Ethiopian possession cults

Abstract

Abstract This article examines patterns of continuity and change in spirit possession phenomena among the Sidamo of southern Ethiopia. Traditional possession rituals appear to be losing cultural relevance, owing to the increasing popularity of possession and exorcistic healing enacted within the ritual context of independent religious movements. Such movements emerged in the region as a response to widespread conversion to Christianity and Islam in the 1950sand 1960s. Patterns of possession healing in the new cults are analysed in relation to the prevailing holistic definition of health and the role attributed to supernatural agents i n illness aetiology. While outlining points of convergence and divergence in the recodification of rituals, this article highlights their therapeutic objectives and the centrality of healing in the newly emerged cults. It is argued that the political and sex antagonism model proposed by ‘deprivation theories’ is inadequate to explain the changing modalities of spirit possession and its persistence on the African scene. Independent healing movements should be recognised as an important health resource where rural and urban Africans seek relief from a wide range of organic and mental illnesses, personal misfortunes, and stressful life situations.