Spirit work
The zar possession ceremony
A women-led healing ceremony of drum, incense and dance for people said to be troubled by a zar spirit.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
Zar is a tradition of spirit possession and healing found in Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, the Gulf and southern Iran. Spirits called zar are believed to cause a person's illness or distress by taking hold of them. The ceremony, held by a leader known as a sheikha or kodia, is not meant to drive the spirit out but to meet it, learn its name and agree terms.
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
- Drums and rattlesToolPlayed to the rhythm of each spirit.
- IncenseSubstanceBurned for each spirit in turn.
- Robes and coloursObjectEach spirit has its own dress.
- Food and perfumeOfferingPrepared as the spirit asks.
- Songs to the spiritsWordSung by the leader and musicians.
- Ceremony roomSpaceA house or a courtyard.
- Tool
- Substance
- Object
- Offering
- Word
- Space
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 leader and musicians meet the patient and her family. Step 2: Light Incense is burned to open the ceremony. Step 3: Circle The patient dances to the rhythm of her spirit. Step 4: Speak The spirit is addressed by name and asked what it wants. Step 5: Offer Food, a robe and perfumes are given as asked. Step 6: Close The ceremony ends with a shared meal.
The ceremony
In a night or several days, musicians play drums and sing the spirit's songs, incense is burned and the patient, usually a woman, dances until the spirit is believed to come. Each spirit has its own rhythm, colour and food, and may ask for a robe, a perfume or a feast. Some ceremonies include the offering of a sacrificed animal, factually part of the rite in some places, and a tie is formed between the woman and her spirit which she keeps for life.
Standing and change
Many scholars, among them anthropologists, have read zar as a space where women who have little public voice can speak and be heard. Religious authorities in Egypt and Sudan have often condemned it, and it is fading in some places, while in Cairo groups such as Mazaher perform it on stage. Not everything in the stage version is the same as the ceremony, which is meant to heal and not to entertain.
What it is for
- Meet and bargain with a spirit
- Relieve distress said to come from possession
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Mazaher (A Cairo troupe that performs it.).
More on EveryJaadu
No entries here yet. New pages are added every day.
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
- Zār: Emad Nemati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source