Spirit Possession and Personhood among the Kel Ewey Tuareg [Hardcover]

Tuareg women are sometimes possessed by spirits called 'the people of solitude', from which they are released by an evening ritual. Susan Rasmussen analyses symbolism and aesthetic values, provides case studies, and reviews what local people think about the meaning of possession.Tuareg women are sometimes possessed by spirits called 'the people of solitude', from which they are released by an evening ritual. In her analysis of this tolerated but unofficial cult, Susan Rasmussen analyses symbolism and aesthetic values, provides case studies, and reviews what local people think about the meaning of possession.Tuareg women are sometimes possessed by spirits called 'the people of solitude', from which they are released by an evening ritual. In her analysis of this tolerated but unofficial cult, Susan Rasmussen analyses symbolism and aesthetic values, provides case studies, and reviews what local people think about the meaning of possession.Among the Tuareg people in the Air Mountain region of Niger, women are sometimes possessed by spirits called 'the people of solitude'. The evening curing rituals of the possessed, featuring drumming and song, take place before an audience of young men and women, who joke and flirt as the ritual unfolds. In her analysis of this tolerated but unofficial cult, Susan Rasmussen analyses symbolism and aesthetic values, provides case studies of possessed women, and reviews what local people think about the meaning of possession.Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Illnesses of the heart and soul: the case of Asalama; Part I. Images of Possession: 2. Inversion and other tropes in spirit possession rituals; 3. 'Like a tree branch swaying in the wind': the head dance; 4. Illnesses of God: personhood, knowledge, and healing; Part II. Art, Agency, and Power in the Ritual Sessions: 5. Sound, solitude, and music; 6. The tande n goumaten songs; Conclusions; Notes; References, Index. Rasmussen's study is detailed and nuanced, with thick ethnographic desl#&