The Zar Ceremony

[shango]

The Egyptian Zar
www.touregypt.net/featurestories/zar.htm

"The purpose of the Zar ceremony is to cure mental illness through contact with the possessing spirits which cause maladies. Though there are several methods for dealing with psychological disturbance, the Zar is the last resort which is supposed to have powerful therapeutic effect for several kinds of ailments," writes John Kennedy in Nubian Ceremonial Life. It should be noted that this ceremony is not widely practiced in Egypt.
The Zar ceremony is most prominent in southern Egypt and is practiced further south into the Sudan, though in fact it may be performed anywhere in Egypt. This is a region that was least exposed to the many invaders from Greece, Rome and the Middle East, and the ceremony can be considered as a holdover from older African religions when older women were frequently priestesses.

For entire article:
www.touregypt.net/featurestories/zar.htm

[shango]

THE ZAR REVISITED
by Me'ira - The Joyful Dancer
1/6/96

PT I: History of the Zar
Despite the fact that the Zar, which is the trance ceremony of North Africa and the middle east is technically prohibited by Islam, it continues to be an essential part of these cultures. Since I've been fortunate to find some new information on the Zar, I wanted to take another look at this phenomenon.

The Zar is best described as a "healing cult" which uses drumming and dancing in its ceremonies. It also functions as a sharing of knowledge and charitable society among the women of these very patriarchal cultures. Most leaders of Zar are women, and most participants are women. Many writers have noted that while the majority of the possessing spirits are male, those possessed are generally female. This is not to say that the men do not contribute to zar ceremonies: they may help with drumming, the slaughter of ritual animals, or may themselves be a husband or relative required to make offerings to the possessing spirit. In fact, it is perhaps an unfortunate trend that in cultures where the zar becomes more visible, there is more of a tendency for men to co-opt the ceremonies, and for men to become zar leaders.

for more:
www.bdancer.com/zarrevis.html