Zār

In the cultures of the Horn of Africa and adjacent regions of the Middle East, ''Zār'' ( ar, زار, gez, ዛር) is the term for a demon or spirit assumed to possess individuals, mostly women, and to cause discomfort or illness.
The so-called ''zār'' ritual or ''zār'' cult is the practice of exorcising such spirits from the possessed individual.

''Zār'' exorcism has become popular in the contemporary urban culture of Cairo and other major cities of the Islamic world as a form of women-only entertainment. ''Zār'' gatherings involve food and musical performances and they culminate in ecstatic dancing, lasting between three and seven nights.
The '' tanbūra'', a six-string bowl lyre, is often used in the ritual. Other instruments include the '' manjur'', a leather belt sewn with many goat hooves, and various percussion instruments.

History

Scholarship in the early 20th century attributed Abyssinian (Ethiopian and Eritrean) origin to the custom, although there
were also proposals suggesting Persian or other origins.
Thus, Frobenius suggested that '' zār'' and '' bori'', a comparable cult in Hausa culture, were ultimately derived from a Persian source. Modarressi (1986) suggests a Persian etymology for the term.

The origin of the word is unclear; Walker (1935) suggested the name of the city of Zara in northern Iran, or alternatively the Arabic root '' z-w-r'' "to visit" (for the possessing spirit "visiting" the victim). The ''Encyclopedia of Islam'' of 1934 favoured an Ethiopian origin of the word.cited after Fakhouri (1968), p. 49.

The practice allegedly originated in Harar, Ethiopia via Sheikh Abadir, it was introduced by Harari and Somali women to Aden in Yemen. Messing (1958) states that the cult was particularly well-developed in Northern Ethiopia ( Amhara), with its center in the town of Gondar.
One late 19th-century traveler describes the Abyssinian "Sár" cultists sacrificing a hen or goat and mixing the blood with grease and butter, in the hopes of eliminating someone's sickness. The concoction was then hidden in an alley, in the belief that all who passed through the alley would take away the patient's ailment.

Mirzai Asl (2002) suggests that the introduction to Iran likewise took place in the 19th century ( Qajar period) by Africans brought to Iran via the Indian ocean slave trade.
Natvig (1988) reports that the ''zār'' cult "served as a refuge for women and effeminate men" in the Sahel (Sudan) region under Islamic rule.

Varieties

Among extant varieties of Zār cults are "''zār Sawāknī'' (the ''zār'' from the area of Suakin ''Dalūka'', that is, ''zār Sawāknī''" and ''zār Nyamānyam'' (the ''zār'' of the Azande)": "the Nyam-Nyam have ''zār nugāra'', with Babīnga and Nakūrma". "Babīnga and Nakūrma are recognized as Azande ancestral spirits". Nugāra (big drum) = "''nuqara'' ... of the Dega tribe ... was originally from Wau". "Besides the nugāra of the Azande, other zār cults mentioned were those of the Fartīt artīt peoples include "the Karra, Gula, Feroge, and Surro" the Shilluk people, and the Dinka people and the ''dinia'' Nuba cult".

Spirits

In Ethiopia, ''zār'' is used as a term for malevolent spirits or demons. At the same time, many Ethiopians believe in benevolent, protective spirits, or ''adbar''.Turner, John W. Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity: Faith and Practices.
A Country Study: Ethiopia
'. Thomas P. Ofcansky and LaVerle Berry, eds. Washington: Library of Congress Federal Research Division, 1991.

Belief in such spirits is widespread among both Christians and Muslims.Beckwith, Carol, Angela Fisher, and Graham Hancock. ''African Ark''. New York: Henry N. Abrams, Inc., 1990.
As is usual in African animism, and in pre-modern folk belief in general, what would be termed mental illness in modern psychiatry is attributed to spirit possession.Kemp, Charles.

''Refugee Health – Immigrant Health''. Waco, TX: Baylor University.
''Ĥēṭ'' ("thread") is a term of for the possessing spirits. ''Tumbura'' is another term. Named individual ''tumbura'' include: ''Nuba, Banda, Gumuz, Sawākiniyya, Lambūnāt, Bābūrāt, Bāshawāt, Khawājāt''. Depending on which spirit an individual is possessed by, they will don different costumes, such a traditional loincloth for ''Nuba'', a straw loincloth for ''Bada'',
a red fez for ''Bāśawāt'', and a pith-helmet and khaki shorts for ''Ĥawājāt''.

According to legend, there are eighty-eight "Sároch", emissaries of evil all under the service of a spirit named "Warobal Mama", who dwells in lake Alobar in the Menz region.

Zār beliefs are common today even among Ethiopian immigrants to North America, Europe, or Israel. For example, Beta Israel are often raised with both Jewish and Zār beliefs, and individuals who believe they house a spirit are bound to attend to it despite other demands. However, ceremonies can be performed by shamans to persuade a spirit to leave, thus releasing the person from their duties to that spirit.

In southern Iran, ''zār'' is interpreted as a "harmful wind" assumed to cause discomfort or illness. Types of such winds include ''Maturi, Šayḵ Šangar, Dingemāru, Omagāre, Bumaryom, Pepe, Bābur, Bibi, Namrud''.
Maria Sabaye Moghaddam
ZĀR
''Encyclopedia Iranica'' (2009). The film ''The African-Baluchi Trance Dance'' is a 2012 film that depicts a variety of ''zar''-related activities in southeastern Iran.Hegland, Mary Elaine. 2017. Review essay. ''Iranian Studies'' 50.1:169-172.

See also

* Buda (folk religion)
* Fann at-Tanbura
* Mazaher

References

General references

*Lewis, I. (Ioan) M. 1991. Zar in context: The past, the present and future of an African healing cult. In I. M. Lewis, A. Al-Safi, & S. Hurreiz (Eds.), ''Women's medicine: The Zar Bori cult in Africa and Beyond'' (pp. 1–16). Edinburgh, U.K.: Edinburgh University Press.

Further reading

;Ethiopia
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*Aspen, Harald. ''Amhara Traditions of Knowledge: Spirit Mediums and Their Clients.'' Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2001.
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*Kahana, Y. 1985. The zar spirits, a category of magic in the system of mental health care in Ethiopia. The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 31.2:125-143.
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*Messing, Simon. 1958. Group therapy and social status in the Zar cult of Ethiopia. ''American Anthropologist'' 60:1120-1126. (Same title later published in ''Culture and Mental Health'', M. Opler, ed., 319-322. New York: Macmillan, also in 1972, in ''The Target of Health in Ethiopia'', 228-241. New York: MSS Information Corporation.)
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*Tubiana, Joseph. 1991. Zar and Buda in Northern Ethiopia. In I. M. Lewis, A. Al-Safi, & S. Hurreiz (Eds.), ''Women's medicine: The Zar Bori cult in Africa and beyond'' pp. 19–33. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.
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;Sudan
* Boddy, Janice. ''Wombs and Alien Spirits: Women, Men and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan'' University of Wisconsin Press (30 November 1989)
*Kapteijns, Lidwien and Jay Spaulding. 1994. "Women of the Zar and Middle-Class Sensibilities in Colonial Aden, 1923-1932," ''Sudanic Africa'' 5 (), pp. 7–38. Also in 1996, ''Voice and Power'', (''African Languages and Cultures'', supplement 3), ed. by R.J. Hayward and I. M. Lewis, 171-189.
* Makris, G.P. (2000). ''Changing Masters: Spirit Possession and Identity Construction among Slave Descendants and Other Subordinates in the Sudan''. Evanston, IL: Northwestern U.
* Farah Eisa Mohamed. 2004. "ZAR: SPIRIT POSSESSION IN THE SUDAN." ''African Folklore: An Encyclopedia'', Philip M.Peek and Kwesi Yankah, editors, 1061-1063. New York & London