5.1 p. 194

"The result of the zar’s attack is that the spirit establishes itself in its host’s body permanently ... . As the zar does not respond to exorcism, the only way to deal with these ... is to come to terms with it through initiation into the zar cult. Within the context of the cult group and under the tutelage of its – usually – female leader, herself a host of the spirit, the patient celebrates a number of ceremonies. There, the zar presents its demands which may include ... luxury items. These are ... given to the spirit’s host who is in a state of trance under the potency of special songs which activate the familiar spirit. Being satisfied, the spirit withdraws and ‘sleeps’, the symptoms of illness disappear ... . Nor for long, however. ... the zar wakes up after an unspecified period of time and ... starts again afflicting its host. Becoming ill, the possessed person can do nothing but celebrate again the necessary and costly rituals ... and satisfy the renewed demands of her tormentor. In other words, there is no permanent cure from the zar."

p. 195

"This brief description of the zar ... comes really from the ethnography of a specific kind of zar, bore’. For this reason, it is at variance with the description given by the t.umbura devotees ... . For them ..., the zar ... should not be seen as representations of ‘other cultures’ or ‘the outside world,’ but as integral aspects of the collective Self of the possessed." {this t.umbura description of deity (zar) as self is a metaphysical understanding (interpretation) of a neo-Platonic / Tantrik / Jungian nature – it is demonstrative of typical Su.fi^ integration with Neo-Platonic metaphysics}

6.1 p. 231

"contrary to zar bore`, in t.umbura the khayt.s represent the Self rather than the Other and, actually, they may do so in a way that borders what could be seen as a generalised form of ancestral veneration."

5.1 p. 193

"the term zar is of Amharic origins and ... zar adepts themselves use the plural form zayran and talk about seven or more groups or ‘societies’ of spirits. Inhabiting a parallel world [">arwah. al-<awualim al-sufli ..., i.e. ‘the spirits’ underworlds.’ (p. 222, n. 5:6)"], these groups and societies are described ... as counterparts of ethnic groups or societies other than those of members of the zar cult, ... all that is ‘foreign’ to the cultural context of the cult clientele. {cf. possession of Shakers (of European ancestry) by Amerindian spirits (HS, p. 240). "The Shakers experienced a form of spirit possession by which dead non-Christians, especially Native Americans, would enter into the bodies of living Shakers" (RD).} Thus, in ... Northern Sudan, among the spirits

p. 194

that possess the local zar devotees are those of European prostitutes, Ottoman and European officials, West African characters, and cannibal sorcerers from the South. The external appearance and attributes of these spirits are staged in a theatrical manner during the rituals. There, clad in the style or colour of dress and acting out the typical gestures and stereotypical behaviour that that correspond to their spirits, the possessed devotees dance ecstatically induced by special kinds of incense and music associated with their possessing agents."

5.2.i p. 195

"In the maydan during the celebration of a t.umbura ceremony most devotees are possessed by a host of characters or personalities called khayt.s, i.e. threads, which are summoned or ‘brought down’ by the sanjak by means of special songs. Just like in zar bore`, each khayt. has its own appearance, constume, and personality and reacts to different kinds of incense and songs."

p.

descriptions of the h^ayt.-s

197

"The t.umbura spirit modalities that most present-day groups celebrate are the following ones : Nuba, Banda, Gumuz, Sawakiniyya, Lambunat, Baburat, Bashawat, Khawajat".

#

h^ayt.

description

1^st

Nuba

"The entranced devotees who are possessed by the

198

khayt. wear a ‘traditional’ loincloth and brandish a spear when dancing."

2^nd

Banda

"the black cannibals from the extreme south of the country.

199

... hosts are dressed in black and wear a straw loincloth. Around the head they wear a narrow

200

leather ribbon with ... cowrie shells. The cowries are usually sewn in fours, creating a cross-shape which stands in the middle of the ribbon and covers the forehead. From the right and left temples, three or four series of red, yellow, white and blue beads hang down to the level of the shoulders. A similar arrangement of beads and cowries is worn around the body, cross-covering the chest and the back of the person. ... small bells ... are worn around the ankles ... . Lastly, the Banda attire is completed with a long wooden spear with a metal shaft. An optional trait is the smearing of the face with white ashes".

3^rd

Gumuz

"tribe of the Blue Nile Province.

201

... black dwarfs living in the river Nile who are called nas al-bahr, that is people of the river."

4^th

Sawakniyya

"from the ... Red Sea port of Sawakin".

5^th

Lambunat

"female slaves ... . ... Lambuna was an old woman from the Beja tribe who had her house deep in the desert ... . She stayed there with her daughters, the Lambunat."

202

6^th

Baburat

"This is the plural form of babur and means ‘ships.’ "

7^th

Bas`awat

"their costume includes a red fez". "the plural form of basha (pasha)".

203

8^th

H^awajat

"the ‘white’ Christian foreigner. ... The khayt.’s ceremonial attire is ... pith-helmet, khaki shorts, fly-whisk, ... and sun-glasses".

... the Hauka movement in Niger".

p. 212

"Babinga and Grindi which are characters mentioned in the songs of the Banda khayt.."

p. 213

"Babinga is a grandfather – cum ancestor – of the Sudani from the land of the Azande ...; and Grindi is and always has been a real hippopotamus living near the Nile in the South."

s`ayk^ or h^ayt.

color of the flag of that s`ayk^ or the h^ayt.

s`ayk^

Bilal

red, with his name in black

<abd al-Qadir al-Jilani

white and blue

h^ayt.

H^awajat

white, with a cross

Banda

black

p. 227

"In the terminology of t.umbura the cult songs ... (sing. jawab), a term that can be generally translated as letter, message, or answer. In the context of t.umbura, the term signifies at the same time the message the devotees send to the spirit inviting it to ‘descend,’ as well as the spirit’s

p. 228

"the jawabs come when you are asleep."

p. 232

"the spirit of zar ... is revealed in the form of modalities (khayt.s) which can be approached through special songs (jawabs) that are fused with them, songs which ... were composed, ‘found’, or ‘brought down’ in order for the people to gain access to the spirit."

p. 258

"the songs ... were the very words of their fathers and grandfathers which came to them as a chain (silisila) or line (silik)."

p. 259

"t.umbura ... toots (us.ul), ... chain-like ancestry (silisila). ... We follow one way (t.ariqa)."

p. 272

"The <alaq has been described ... as the corner-stone of t.umbura. It not only reveals whether t.umbura is the hidden cause of the illness; it also discloses the ...

p. 273

modality of the spirit involved, as well as the steps that should be followed to ensure successful therapy. Perhaps the methods has been named after the homonymous Quranic sura ninety-six which was the very first sura revealed to Prophet Muh.ammad." ["<Alaq ... is sometimes translated as embryo" (p. 302, n. 7:7).]

p. 274

"The shaykha sleeps with the <alaq bundle under her pillow for three or seven days. Within this period, one or more spirit modalities will appear in her dream and assume responsibility for the illness saying ... I caught this person. If no modality appears then the illness cannot be attributed to t.umbura ... . Alternatively, if the spirit appears in the shaykha’s dream in the form of the particular modality in which it possesses the patient, it almost invariably asks for the traditional ceremonies to be celebrated and for the patient to become fully initiated into the cult."

p. 275

"sometimes the patient herself will appear in the dream to present her case to the shaykha."

p. 302, n. 7:13

"There are some cases when the patient may have dreams that reveal the modalities that possess her."

p. 276

"the shaykha ... performs the kashif (lit. uncovering, unveiling ...). ... When the shaykha enters the state of kashif she comes into ecstasy. In this state she is able not only to diagnose which modality, if any, has possessed the patient, but she can also give answers to various problems which are put to her and give valuable advice. Which of the weekdays is assigned to kashif depends on which is the dominant modality that possesses the shaykha. Every spirit modality has a particular day dedicated to it, so accordingly, every shaykha has a specific day of kashif."

p. 277

"in kashif it is the spirit itself that talks – through the shaykha – to the patient".

p.

for __

medicines

293

stomach

2^nd ingredients : grunful (cloves), mistika (Pistachia lenticus), siyada (Papyrus cylindrica)

294

legs

2^nd : turab al-mujmar

295

craziness

"<Alali, a kind of root"

296

joints

ingredients : kafur t.ayyara (camphor), h.armal [= h.argial, i.e., Peganum harmala (p. 305, n. 7:59)], kawal, rijla (wisteria)

The snake is ... as long as a man. It will go to the patient and coil itself upon her chest. It will then slither all over her body. After that it will return to its hole; ... the patient ... will recover."

p. 308

"gadah. is a wooden bowl ... used in the Western Sudan for storing food. ... Bayad. is ... whiteness." "Gadah. al-bayad. ... ‘the bowl of whiteness’ ... is ... a ceremonial offering which must be presented to the zar spirit, ... as a token of gratitude for the complete recovery of the afflicted person; if this does not happen, then the disease will return."

p. 309

"in the past the gadah. al-bayad. was celebrated immediately after the seven-day therapy".

p. 310

"In another metaphor employed by many t.umbura devotees ... tas.bira, a term that literally indicates the dish served before the main course (hors-d’oeuvre) ... is the name given to the nus.s. kursi ceremony (half kursi), ... which is done when the novice cannot afford to celebrate the" full caerimony at Sennar. ["in gadah. al-bayad. you must have half the quantity you have in the ceremony of kursi." (p. 366, n. 8:13)]

p. 315

"Just as it opens the wedding festivities, the laylat al-h.inna opens the celebration of all t.umbura ceremonies including the gadah. al-bayad. on Thursday evening. The ritual, which according to the cult devotees transforms the ex-patient – irrespective of gender – into the bride (<arusa) of the spirit {likewise in ISKON (International Society for Kr.s.n.a Consciousness) devotees become – irrespective of gendre – brides of that spirit}, takes place ... near the tray with the gadah. al-bayad. articles. ...

p. 316

While the thick aromatic smoke of the burning incense fills the room, the shaykha mixes with water the red-brown {cf. [Skt.] /ARUS.A/ ‘reddish’ with (via "blushing bride") [<ar.] /<ARUSA/ ‘bride’} h.inna powder that has been brought in a white plate. She then sticks in the mixture the seven candles ... and lights them up in a scene that is strongly reminiscent ... of wedding ceremonies. ... Then, h.inna is put on the <idda – the t.umbura items such as drums, flags, etc. ... – and on the hands and feet of the novice ... . In the end, the shaykha puts the jirtiq bracelet around the novice’s right wrist. {The bracelet is also given to initiates in West African religious societies, including to those of the diaspora in Bahi`a, in Cuba, and in Haiti.} ... Being thus transformed into its bride, the novice can meet the spirit in the afternoon of the next day and normalise her relationship with it".

p. 319

In "the kursi initiation ceremony ... the laylat al-h.inna rite of the gadah. al-bayad. was repeated ... as well, and ... the novice was called for one more time the bride (<arusa) of the spirit." {Thus, the wedding caerimony for marriage of a human to a deity, having been commenced in gadah. al-bayad., is completed in kursi.}

p. 321

"Gadah.s (wooden bowls) with <as.ida [‘porridge’] or luqma were prepared ... . Plates with rob (sour milk), samna (clarified animal fat), suksukaniyya (boiled sorghum), and shariyya (thin pasta with sugar and tomato sauce) were also prepared. ... The guardians of the rababa (h.arasan), two sticks about one metre long decorated with small colourful beads which are supposed to protect the instrument from evil, were also brought out, together with the Y-shaped sha<ba sticks of shaykh <Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ... . ... Holding the sha<ba stick with his right hand, the brigdar started reciting the tat.riq homily ... . Without the sha<ba the brigdar cannot speak. According to tradition, in the past the tat.riq was recited by the mut.t.ariq."

p. 322

"The word tat.riq can be translated as rhythm ... . It comes from the root t.araqa which ... means ... to follow a rhythm, to take or follow a road."

p. 330

... a plate ... contained a silver ring (dibla) {dbelah ‘pressed figs’ (Strong’s 1690), traditionally strung together in a ring} about an inch in diameter that was attached to a string of red {cf. the "scarlet thread" (Yho^s^u<a 2:18, 21) which protected the house of the zonah (loose woman) in yRIH.O^ (from [<ar.] /rah^w/, /RIH^W/ ‘slack (of rope or cord)’). As to Yrih.o^, "they compassed the city seven times" (Yho^s^u<a 6:15), much as folk run around (SO&S, p. 73) a faery RING nine times. The expression "rowan tree and red thread" is an allusion to the belief that a rowan tree (styled by the Norse the "wife of To`rr") is able to set free (F, p. 163) a human trapped in a faery ring.} ... .

p. 331

As soon as the bride put the dibla on, the shaykha ..., holding her by the hands, made her stand with three small jumps. That was done for the illness to fly away. ... In the meantime, shaykha ... was spraying thee bride ... . ... After that the rest of the group ate the <as.ida. When they finished they cleaned their hands on the body of the bride in order for God to give her health."

__-day

event

Thurs

"application of the h.inna"

Fri

"sacrifice of the sheep"

Satur

i. "ritual opening of the sacrificial sheep’s head"

ii. "mayz ritual fir the Banda modality"; "ritual sacrifice of the goat" ["the sacrifice of a black goat for the Banda on Saturday" (p. 370, n. 8:85)]

Sun

i. "ritual opening of the sacrificial goat’s head"

ii. "mayz ritual fir the Khawajat modality" ["The Khawajat mayz ... devotees wear European suits" (p. 370, n. 8:85)]

iii. "sacrifice of the turkey"

Wednes

"ritual bath in the river"

p.

l.

zaffa songs

340

10

Abu Hashim al-Mirghani ["the form h.aqiqa ... is used in the teachings of the S[.]ufi Orders, especially the Mirghaniyya" (7.1.iii.e.i p. 328); " ‘H.aqiqa ... is defined as a direct vision of the Divine’ ... and according to a Mirghaniyya manual this Divine Truth cannot be approached except through the order." (p. 368, n. 8:43)]

341

13

Bilal [l. 14 "the spear ..., bila"]

17

<Abd al-Qadir

18

Jilani

19

Rifa<i

23

al-Tijani

26

Banat al-h.ur

27

Mala>ikat

343

"the banat al-h.ur and the mala>ikat of lines 26 and 27 are [respectively] mermaids and river angels that allegedly live in the Nile and are somehow associated with the Gumuz modality of the spirit, also known as the river people."

p. 351

"the novice covered with a white tob ... sat in front of the sanjak. ... One of the bowls contained the boiled head of the animal and its hip bones, while the other contained its genitals, the upper part of the chest, and the bones of the neck.

p. 352

... the sanjak ... and the brigdar ... put the bowl that contained the head of the animal on top of the bride’s head ... . The bowl was uncovered and the brigdar opened the animal’s mouth. Then he poured some milk into it {"Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk."} and cut a few pieces from the tongue ... . ... Then the gadah. was removed from the bride’s head and was placed momentarily on her knees".

p. 354

"the bride was given pieces of the animal’s tongue to eat, a practice that is not mentioned by any scholar working on zar bore`."

p. 355

"In the past, the visit to the river was done with the sanjak at the head of the procession performing the songs ... . ... Still, ... the festive character of the occasion is retained with the sanjak ... and everyone else singing at the top of his or her voice and playing the kakakish rattles."

p. 356

l. 1544 Dead is the current sweeping in from the navel of the earth : that was a ... wave" (K, p. 109).]

p. 357

"the t.umbura novice appears to occupy a position that is structurally equivalent to the positions of a woman in childbed" :-

t.umbura ritual bath

post-parturition rite (Trimingham, 1983:180-1)

"visiting the river four days after the ... spirits and its host consummated their marriage"

"visiting the river forty days after the birth of the child"

"invoking the river spirits"

"invoking the river spirits"

"disposing of remains of sacrifice" [into river (p. 356)]

"disposing of remains of childbirth"

"washing of bride’s face"

"washing of mother’s and baby’s faces"

"eating of balila"

"eating of balila"

"During an interval of a t.umbura ceremony ... some women started singing the song of Luliyya, an Ethiopian prostitute bore` spirit. ... The highest point came when shaykha ... herself appeared clad in a red dress and started dancing ecstatically licking her fingers and making provocative movements." [Luliyya possessed a 13-year old adolescent girl [so as to express disapproval "of her visit to the hospital" in Omdurman (7.1.iii p. 313)].]