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Embodiment

"The body is never merely an inert object or surface on which the mind inscribes meaning" (Jackson, 1999, p. 32), it is fully involved in the experiences and interpretations people make about their world. It is through embodiment that these experiences are experienced at all. Sensing through taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing incorporated with the tons of abilities our minds are capable of show, in a sense, that everything we know is a result of embodied experience. Paul Stoller shows that it is important to consider embodied experiences in cultures where "textual interpretation" (Stoller, 1994, p. 637) is not important. As in the Zar Cult and Haitian Vodou the use of music, praise, perfumes, and dancing are used in Songhay to entice spirits to descend and embody a human being. (Stoller, 1994) Possession cults like these show how the body is treated as "the existential ground of culture and self" (qtd in Geurts, 2002, p. 232). Being embodied by a spirit does not just reiterate already formed cultural beliefs; the experience of being embodied also contributes to and reshapes culture.

Intersubjectivity

The importance of embodied experience also contributes to the role of intersubjectivity among the Zar cult and Haitian Vodou. Being possessed by many of the zayran and lwa spirits such as Baggara and Azaka allow individuals in society to re-experience their history by the host's embodiment of memories. Over and over again history is voices through physical gestures, oral traditions, and stories that contribute to and shape the collective memory of a society. Boddy says that, "Villagers' knowledge of spirits derives in part from a body of shared understandings" (1989, p. 271).

Indexing the spirits

During a possession ceremony the spirit embodied within its host acts in ways that point to its presence. The reason participants believe a spirit to be present has a great deal to do with the bodily movements, attitudes, tone of voice, and demands of the host (who, if truly possessed, is no longer the host). When Mama Lola held a ceremony for Kouzen Azaka, "The first sign that Azaka was seated firmly on his horse was his high-pitched nasal chirp: 'Whooooo, whooooo...'" (Brown, 1991, p. 61). Regarding a spirit present at a Zar ceremony Boddy says, "It swaggers, struts, is impolite, gives commands, and refuses to answer when addressed, none of which are typical for Hofriyat humans, and women least of all" (Boddy, 1989, p. 149). These characteristics directly index the spirits, attracting people's attention to their embodiment within their host. (Parmentier, 1994)

[Yamaya possessing a male Santeria priest. Used with permission from K. Wirtz.]

Website designed by Abigail Franklin, Anthropology 5450, Spring 2007