Spirit work
Bori possession
Hausa spirit-possession cult, with named spirits, music and a priesthood, that survives beside Islam.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
Bori is a Hausa tradition of spirit possession older than the region's Islam. Spirits called iskoki are said to enter a medium during dance and music, and each has a name, temper and special things it likes. Mediums, often women, and healers, called magaji or magajiya in some areas, lead the sessions.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Drum and calabash musicToolSet the rhythm for the spirits.
- Praise songsWordEach spirit has its own.
- Special clothing and objectsObjectItems that belong to a spirit are placed near the medium.
- Offerings of food or kolaOfferingGiven to please the spirit.
- The mediumGestureHosts the spirit in trance.
- Tool
- Word
- Object
- Offering
- Gesture
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Gather The group meets at the healer's compound. Step 2: Circle Drumming begins and the medium dances. Step 3: Speak When a spirit arrives, it is greeted by its praise name. Step 4: Read The spirit speaks through the medium and gives its view of the client's trouble. Step 5: Offer An offering is named and given. Step 6: Close The spirit is thanked and the medium comes back to ordinary state.
The spirits
Bori spirits are grouped in families, such as the hunters, the smiths and the sellers of the market, and have their own songs and praise names. A possessed person is said to behave as the spirit does and to speak for it.
Under pressure
Islamic reformers have condemned bori for centuries, and in parts of northern Nigeria its public performance has been restricted. Practitioners have adapted by calling upon Muslim figures, meeting in private and using Islamic phrases.
Reading it
Anthropologists link bori with women's power and with ways to talk about stress in a society that offers few others. Practitioners describe it simply as a means of dealing with spirits.
What it is for
- Healing sessions
- Marking membership
- Asking spirits for help
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Hausa people (The community.).
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Spirit possession: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Bori: Tremearne, A. J. N. (Arthur John Newman), 1877-1915, Public domain, source