An Anthropological Lens on Zar Rituals in S. Iran
The Iranian Ethnographic Film Day held in November 2011 at the British Museum, London had a unique aspect in terms of the films selected for screening. All those films covered aspects of life along the southern coastline of Iran. Some of these films that covered elements of Zar rituals observed by the people living in Southern Iran or its islands included:
Hengam, Land of Nobody (Maryam-e Jazirey-e Hengam)
Director: Mehrdad Oskouei, Date: 2005, Running time: 26’
Country: Iran; Keywords: Hengam Island, fishermen’s traditional life, fishing techniques
Iran Southwestern (Iran, Jonub-e Gharbi)
Director: Mohammad Reza Fartousi
Date: 2010, Running time: 52’, Country: Iran
Keywords: Al-Azim Marshland, Iran-Iraq War, fishermen’s traditional life
The Refrain of Locked Launches (Safir-e Lenjhayeh Darband)
Director: Mehdi Omidvari
Date: 2005, Running time: 38’, Country: Iran
Keywords: fishermen’s ritual, Zar ritual, boat fabrication
The Persian Gulf (Daryay-e Pars)
Director: Manouchehr Tayyab
Date: 2006, Running time: 93’, Country: Iran
Keywords: Iranology, historical background, ethno-history of region
As co-organizer of the Film event, Anthropology Professor William Beeman pointed out that the Zar cult that exists in Makran, Baluchistan and in the coastal location in Southern Iran like Salkh, Keshm and Kish island. These are rituals to treat individuals who come under influence of a spirit or Jinn i.e. a trans-positional cult of people at ill-ease upon inhibited by the Jinn who join a rehabilitative group who help them go into a trance to communicate with the Jinn.
Professor Beeman who has analyzed the Zar practice both as a ritual and as a performance for decades explains: “The success or failure of the Zar often rests on the skill of the Baba or Mama practitioner. The event, replete with drumming and chanting is aimed at reaching the Jinn who inhabit the individual and propitiating them. The Baba or Mama can only do this when in trance. Thus the performative aspect of the Zar is as important as the ritual aspect. Indeed, unless the performance succeeds the ritual fails.
The Zar "cult" is one of the most interesting features of culture in the Gulf region. Its origins are unclear, but it has important affinities with other similar trance-possession practices in South Asia and Africa reaching as far as the Hamadsha practice of Morocco, notes Beeman who, owing to his fieldwork of over 30 years in the Gulf, has witnessed a number of Zar ceremonies and had the opportunity to interview participants the Zar in the Gulf region.
According to Professor Beeman, performance in general is a human practice that binds individuals in a community. The Zar has this very profound effect. It is seen by outsiders as a cult because those involved with it return again and again to share the experience of participation.
Among people living along the coastline in southern Iran, some believe that spirits and Jinn float on those winds which at times enter their bodies. These winds are deemed as dangerous and damaging winds as the "windswept" person struggles with bouts of ‘insanity’, writes Ruzbeh Farazmand:
Wild Child Music BMI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KJFlDtT70c
Further information:
http://www.bellydancestuff.com/style-zar.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C4%81r
Literature about Zar
Ghulam Hussein Sa'edi, an Iranian physician with anthropological interests, has presented an extensive study of the maladies that afflict the black communities of the Persian Gulf. The local people attribute these diseases to the "Winds" or baads. Sa'edi has also provided detailed information on the type of rituals performed to control the power of the Winds, http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/gulf/gulf.html
Sa'edi, Ghulam Hussein. Ahl-i Hava, University of Tehran Press, 1967.
Here is a review of Sa'edi’s book in Perisan,
http://ketabamoon.blogsky.com/1389/09/22/post-219/
Also,
G. P. Makris : Changing Masters : Spirit Possession and Identity Construction among Slave Descendants and Other Subordinates, http://amzn.to/rpYqqT
http://bit.ly/uqPW30
http://jhs.pagesperso-orange.fr/A-sha.pdf
http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=163627
http://anthropology.ir/node/9346
http://theater.ir/fa/reviews.php?id=20788
http://jahed.malakut.ws/archives/2010/02/post_197.html
Hengam, Land of Nobody (Maryam-e Jazirey-e Hengam)
Director: Mehrdad Oskouei, Date: 2005, Running time: 26’
Country: Iran; Keywords: Hengam Island, fishermen’s traditional life, fishing techniques
Iran Southwestern (Iran, Jonub-e Gharbi)
Director: Mohammad Reza Fartousi
Date: 2010, Running time: 52’, Country: Iran
Keywords: Al-Azim Marshland, Iran-Iraq War, fishermen’s traditional life
The Refrain of Locked Launches (Safir-e Lenjhayeh Darband)
Director: Mehdi Omidvari
Date: 2005, Running time: 38’, Country: Iran
Keywords: fishermen’s ritual, Zar ritual, boat fabrication
The Persian Gulf (Daryay-e Pars)
Director: Manouchehr Tayyab
Date: 2006, Running time: 93’, Country: Iran
Keywords: Iranology, historical background, ethno-history of region
As co-organizer of the Film event, Anthropology Professor William Beeman pointed out that the Zar cult that exists in Makran, Baluchistan and in the coastal location in Southern Iran like Salkh, Keshm and Kish island. These are rituals to treat individuals who come under influence of a spirit or Jinn i.e. a trans-positional cult of people at ill-ease upon inhibited by the Jinn who join a rehabilitative group who help them go into a trance to communicate with the Jinn.
Professor Beeman who has analyzed the Zar practice both as a ritual and as a performance for decades explains: “The success or failure of the Zar often rests on the skill of the Baba or Mama practitioner. The event, replete with drumming and chanting is aimed at reaching the Jinn who inhabit the individual and propitiating them. The Baba or Mama can only do this when in trance. Thus the performative aspect of the Zar is as important as the ritual aspect. Indeed, unless the performance succeeds the ritual fails.
The Zar "cult" is one of the most interesting features of culture in the Gulf region. Its origins are unclear, but it has important affinities with other similar trance-possession practices in South Asia and Africa reaching as far as the Hamadsha practice of Morocco, notes Beeman who, owing to his fieldwork of over 30 years in the Gulf, has witnessed a number of Zar ceremonies and had the opportunity to interview participants the Zar in the Gulf region.
According to Professor Beeman, performance in general is a human practice that binds individuals in a community. The Zar has this very profound effect. It is seen by outsiders as a cult because those involved with it return again and again to share the experience of participation.
Among people living along the coastline in southern Iran, some believe that spirits and Jinn float on those winds which at times enter their bodies. These winds are deemed as dangerous and damaging winds as the "windswept" person struggles with bouts of ‘insanity’, writes Ruzbeh Farazmand:
As a result of paying several visits to the Salkh people on Qishm Island, producer Mehrdad Oskouei was able to acquire consent for capturing the proceedings of Zar rituals on camera. With the assistance of specific rhythms, the healer helped the affected person reach a state of trance which helped him rid of the ‘red wind’ from his body. During those ritual proceedings a unique repertoire of perfumes, musical instruments and duhul (drums) said to be of African origins are used.Another way of approaching the Zar phenomena is through the medium of music. For centuries women in Africa and the Middle East have used this music to cure pain in times of stress or illness. Followers of the Zar cult believe that sometimes their illnesses are caused by "red spirits" - the Zar - who use human
bodies as hosts. These spirits attract attention to themselves by making their hosts sick. Only after acknowledging a spirit's presence and meeting its demands can a woman hope to attain a symbiotic relationship with her possessor --- and she
discovers the identity of this intruder through a dance-induced trance.
Music from this piece is from Sands of Time:
The Zar (www.sandsoftimemusic.com) and the end
performance piece: Rapture Rumi by Steven Flynn
(www.stevenflynnmusic.com) ©1995 Wild Child Music BMI
Visit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KJFlDtT70c
Further information:
http://www.bellydancestuff.com/style-zar.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C4%81r
Literature about Zar
Ghulam Hussein Sa'edi, an Iranian physician with anthropological interests, has presented an extensive study of the maladies that afflict the black communities of the Persian Gulf. The local people attribute these diseases to the "Winds" or baads. Sa'edi has also provided detailed information on the type of rituals performed to control the power of the Winds, http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/gulf/gulf.html
Sa'edi, Ghulam Hussein. Ahl-i Hava, University of Tehran Press, 1967.
Here is a review of Sa'edi’s book in Perisan,
http://ketabamoon.blogsky.com/1389/09/22/post-219/
Also,
G. P. Makris : Changing Masters : Spirit Possession and Identity Construction among Slave Descendants and Other Subordinates, http://amzn.to/rpYqqT
http://bit.ly/uqPW30
http://jhs.pagesperso-orange.fr/A-sha.pdf
http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=163627
http://anthropology.ir/node/9346
http://theater.ir/fa/reviews.php?id=20788
http://jahed.malakut.ws/archives/2010/02/post_197.html
Comments