An interesting YouTube-clip, based on an anthropological study, about an Egyptian possession cult known as Zar. Nominally Muslim, Zar came to Egypt from Ethiopia during the early 19th century. Originally, it may be Yemenite. It also exists in Sudan.
Initiates claim to be possessed by spirits or jinn, but these spirits can´t be exorcised. Instead, one most learn how to live with them, something made possible by joining a Zar group and participate in its often extatic rituals.
Most Zar initiates are women, including some of the leaders, and it´s interesting to note that the "possessions" are often associated with puberty, child birth and menopause, which can be tumultous times for females (especially in patriarchal societies). In other words, we´re dealing both with a cope and with an attempt to carve out female ritual and social space within a generally male-dominated culture. Apparently, there is also a connection to homosexuality, but the narrator never elaborates on this.
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