Zars Sprit

Zars Sprit

Zars Sprit

Introduction

The Zar ceremony is most prominent in southern Egypt and is practiced further south into the Sudan, though in fact it may be performed anywhere in Egypt. This is a region that was least exposed to the many invaders from Greece, Rome and the Middle East, and the ceremony can be considered as a holdover from older African religions when older women were frequently priestesses.

History

No one knows exactly where the Zar comes from. Some believe it originated either in Ethiopia, Sudan, Iran or Pharaonic Egypt. Edward Lane did not mention the cult in his definitive work about the Egyptians in 1835, The Customs and Manners of the Modern Egyptians. But then again, as a man he would have been forbidden to attend a female ceremony. At any rate, the earliest written record of the Zar in Egypt is from the 1870s (www.serpentine.org).

In Egypt the major Zar musical groups hold weekly meetings called “hadra” where initiates come to commune with their possessors or just to dance away stress and problems. n fact what these women are doing under the label of “traditional healing” is self medicating themselves for low serotonin levels. The difficult lives of women from the lower classes are full of stress. Money is tight or non-existent and usually only comes to them from men. They are under enormous social pressure to conform - to their family's expectations, their neighbors' ever watchful eyes and their religion's narrow role for women (www.bellydance-for-life.net). Usually it is a definitive jolt, such as a death, divorce or new wife that weakens a woman and opens her up to spirit invasion. Such a shock can thrust an already fragile woman into depression or another stress induced condition. Socially she can no longer be blamed for odd, unacceptable behavior. Once she is diagnosed, she is allowed to have forbidden desires (like drinking or smoking cigarettes or partying). She can dress up in her best cloths, put on all her jewelry, wear perfume and make herself beautiful - all in the name of pleasing her spirits (www.bdancer.com).

Zar Ceremony Purpose

The purpose of the Zar ceremony is to cure mental illness through contact with the possessing spirits which cause maladies. Though there are several methods for dealing with psychological disturbance, the Zar is the last resort which is supposed to have powerful therapeutic effect for several kinds of ailments. It should be noted ...