When people speak of African religions they mostly think of West and Central Africa. But north-eastern Africa has a great tradition that has crossed borders, languages and religions: zār. It is a complex of beliefs and rites linked to spirits of the same name, found in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt and Somalia, and reaching as far as the Arabian Peninsula and the southern coasts of Iran.
A tradition on the move
The origin of zār is debated. Many scholars place it in the Ethiopian highlands, from where it is thought to have spread along the routes of trade, migration and, sadly, the slave trade that linked the Horn of Africa to the Nile, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Each region absorbed and transformed it, so that Egyptian, Sudanese and Iranian zār today show important differences while keeping a family resemblance.
One feature is especially striking: zār developed mainly within Muslim and Christian societies, coexisting with them in an often ambiguous relationship. Religious authorities have at times criticised it, but communities have kept it as part of their culture.
The zār spirits
Zār spirits are not generic demons. They have their own names, characters, tastes and stories. In many traditions they are organised into families or groups, and each has its own songs, colours, clothes and favourite foods.
A fascinating aspect, documented above all in Sudan, is that many spirits represent foreigners: Ethiopians, Arabs, Europeans, colonial officers, desert nomads, court dignitaries. In ceremonies, a person possessed by one of these spirits takes on its manners, its demands and sometimes its clothing.
The Canadian anthropologist Janice Boddy, in her study Wombs and Alien Spirits devoted to a village in northern Sudan, showed how these foreign spirits allow women to reflect, almost theatrically, on their own identity, on gender roles and on the outside world.
A pact, not an exorcism
The most important difference between zār and many exorcism practices lies in its aim. In the logic of zār, the spirit, once recognised, is not driven out. Instead, a lasting relationship is established with it, a kind of pact: the person undertakes to honour it with ceremonies, gifts and pleasing behaviour, and the spirit, in return, stops causing unrest and becomes a presence to live with.
For this reason many people take part in zār throughout their lives, becoming part of a community of devotees bound by shared experiences.
The ceremony
Zār ceremonies take place in private homes or dedicated spaces, often over several nights. Despite many local variants, they share recurring elements:
| Element | Function |
|---|---|
| Drums and songs | each spirit has its own songs, which call it and make it manifest |
| Incense | the aroma purifies the space and attracts the spirits |
| Dance | swaying movements of the torso and head that lead to trance |
| Clothes and objects | the person wears the garments requested by their spirit |
| Offerings | food, drink and, at major ceremonies, the sacrifice of an animal |
Who leads the rite
Ceremonies are led by an experienced figure, almost always a woman, known by different names depending on the region: in Sudan she is often called shaykha, in Egypt kodia. This person knows the songs, the spirits and the rules of the rite, and can recognise which spirit is manifesting and what it asks for.
A world of women
Zār is above all a women's tradition. In societies where public spaces were largely male, zār ceremonies offered women a place of their own, where they could meet, sing, dance and express themselves with a freedom otherwise rare.
The British anthropologist Ioan M. Lewis interpreted this kind of possession as a way for marginal groups to make their voices heard. His reading was highly influential, but later studies, such as Boddy's, insisted that zār is not only a social strategy: it is a deep and coherent system of meanings.
There are also variants with strong male participation, such as Sudanese tumbura, linked to a large stringed instrument of a similar name.
Zār today
In some regions zār is now in decline, owing to social change and religious criticism. At the same time, its music has found new life: in Cairo, for example, some traditional ensembles perform zār songs in cultural settings open to the public, helping to preserve the repertoire.
In short
- Zār is a possession tradition found from the Horn of Africa to Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula and southern Iran.
- Zār spirits have their own names, characters and tastes, and often represent foreigners.
- The aim is not to drive out the spirit but to establish a lasting pact with it.
- Ceremonies, mostly led by women, combine drums, songs, incense and dance.
- The studies of Lewis and Boddy offer different readings of its social and cultural meaning.
