posted 26 January 2005 12:43 PM            

[More: ]http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/zar.htm]

I'm guessing it's more of a "Nubian" thing

posted 26 January 2005 12:44 PM            

Most of the major partiscipants are females. Very few males lead these ceremonies,and it tends to be an outlet for women in a male dominated soceity.

posted 26 January 2005 12:54 PM            

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Originally posted by ausar:
Most of the major partiscipants are females. Very few males lead these ceremonies,and it tends to be an outlet for women in a male dominated soceity.

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posted 26 January 2005 01:25 PM            

If you are at all familiar with Voodoo or Voudum, you know what Zar is...

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"Zar, in the sense of possession, is usually, though not exclusively, inherited. It is also contagious and may strike at any time. Diriye Abdullahi, a native of Somalia, says that the zar is basically a dance of spirits, or a religious dance - kind of leftover from the old African deities, a variant of what we describe in the west as "voodoo". The old African deities were headed by two figures; Azuzar (the male, assoc. with Osiris) and Ausitu (the female, known in the west as Isis). Ausitu (or Aysitu in Somalia) is still celebrated and given offerings by pregnant women so that she will provide them with a safe birth. He describes it as a ritual dance which is mostly observed by women, especially older women. This corresponds to the practice of older African religions, in which older women were the priestesses. He maintains that younger women, especially unmarried women, are not generally thought to be "worthy of a visit by the spirit of Zar, who chooses domicile or residence in the person who is his choice."
Traditionally, women are carriers of the Zar tradition. A Zar is a spirit. Some Ethiopians and Yemenis have their own Zar, like a guide of guardian angel. The dance ritual, Zar, like other traditional healing ceremonies, as for instance practiced by the !Kung of Southern Africa, is done to regain a sense of balance and harmony in one's life and in tandem with the community.
The word Zar is thought by some to be a corruption of Jar which in the Cushitic language of the Agaw people is the word for Waaq the sky god. The Rastafarians call god Jah.
And Yah is a very old Ancient Egyptian word for God.
See also:
The Zar: Women's Theatre in the Southern Sudan,"Women's Medicine: Zar Cult in Africa and Beyond, ed. by Ioan Lewis, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991

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from my own experiences...

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As an African American, born in (Voodoo) Louisiana...
One of the first things you learn as a Black youngster is that when you go to church on Sunday, DO NOT SIT NEXT TO A WOMAN, especially a middle-aged one. When this "zar spirit" hits one of these women (it usually affects several women almost simultaneously), they begin to gesticulate and shout out loud. They then, usually, make their way to the church's aisle where they begin to dance themselves into a trance like frenzy, eventually feinting or becoming rigid, where they have to be fanned and literally carried out of the auditorium. And your biggest fear is that this spirit might also hit you!
...we call this the Holy Ghost in (Voodoo) Louisiana.

The only thing missing is some formalized ritual, which obviously isn't necessary.

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and from EW Budge on Ancient Egyptian Voodoo

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It was well known in Egypt and the Sudan at a very early period that if a magician obtained some portion of a person's body, e.g., a hair, a paring of a nail, a fragment of skin, or a portion of some efflux from the body, spells could be used upon them which would have the effect of causing grievous harm to that person. --Legends of the Egyptian Gods, EW Budge, p.xxxiv

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posted 26 January 2005 01:35 PM            

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Originally posted by Wally:
We've had this discussion back in March

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Yes I know, but there have been some really smart people that have joined the board since then. That's why I brought this back up. BTW, I appreciate you re-posting that info.

[This message has been edited by Kem-Au (edited 26 January 2005).]

posted 26 January 2005 01:46 PM            

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Originally posted by ausar:
Honestly, I have found little evidence of the zar ritual in ancent Egypt. However, it could have been a pratice amungst the commoners instead of the priesthood. We have very scant evidence of the daily activities of the non-elite Egyptians. What little evidence we have comes from the texts of the workmen/women of Deir el-Medina which was a village of craftworkers in ancient Egypt.

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posted 26 January 2005 01:49 PM            

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Originally posted by HERU:
It should be noted that this (Zar)ceremony is not widely practiced in Egypt."

(he then referenced touregypt - my god, why????)
I'm guessing it's more of a "Nubian" thing

[This message has been edited by HERU (edited 26 January 2005).][/B]

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If it's not widely practiced in Egypt (it actually is widely practiced), but it's not more widely practiced because, like all other aspects of the traditional African religious practices, it is suppressed by the Arab Muslim ruling minority.

And yes, it is a "Nubian" thing...

posted 26 January 2005 01:52 PM            

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Originally posted by Kem-Au:
Yes I know, but there have been some really smart people that have jpined the board since then. That's why I brought this back up.

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posted 26 January 2005 04:37 PM            

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I read that Voodoo comes from Ewe religion and has a lot to do with the ancient snake cult.

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Vodoo comes from Vodun which is a Fon word for spirit. The main pressence of Vodun comes from Dahomean people imported to Haiti. It could also contain Bakongo,Ewe,Yoruba and other elements.

posted 26 January 2005 07:32 PM            

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Originally posted by HERU:
I read that Voodoo comes from Ewe religion and has a lot to do with the ancient snake cult.

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You must be referring to the etymology of the word 'voodoo';nee "Voudum" - the West African version of an essentially pan-African belief system, but as for its actual practice, as Budge points out in the above, it is at least as old as the ancient Nilotic civilization...

posted 19 October 2005 05:27 PM            

I still believe that the head priestesses to the god Amun aka the Wives of Amun, practiced zar. I hold this hypothesis based on two things:

(1) There are African priestesses who call themselves the 'wives' of certain gods and are said to have unions with the gods through possession.

posted 20 October 2005 08:31 PM            

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Originally posted by Djehuti:
And you wonder why the trolls never respond to something like this...

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because the females in their life have their own ritual to exercise evil spirits.

Its called shopping.

Something about buying clothes a size or two too small for them, the magnetic strip of the credit card and the oppression their husbands/fathers feel when they open the credit card bill.

I mean its the same kind of ritual, with the same results.

Why call evil when you don't want the females of your life to practice the ritual?

Oh my Goodness, I can make myself laugh!

posted 20 October 2005 08:42 PM            

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Originally posted by sonomod:
because the females in their life have their own ritual to exercise evil spirits.

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Zar rituals are not always about evil spirits.

posted 21 October 2005 08:37 AM            

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Originally posted by Djehuti:
Zar rituals are not always about evil spirits.

The possession itself is often seen of as a way to communicate and have communion with good spirits and even gods. This is why some cultures consider it an honor to behold Zar.

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Bud I was talking BS. Really!

And have you heard of the Ralph Loren God, the Gucci God?

posted 21 October 2005 07:16 PM            

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Originally posted by osirion:
Anyone got any links to better descriptions of Zar. Sounds like Voodoo to me.

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Zar is just one of many voodoo rituals. Execration is another, both are 'magical' aspects of African religion and both are also found in the religious practices of the Egyptians as well!