Invasion of Spirits
Nordic Journal of African Studies May 22, 2023 Arvi Hurskainen
Spirit possession spread among the Maasai in northern Tanzania during the 1960s and 1970s, a phenomenon not part of their established culture but common among neighboring Bantu groups. In some areas, about half of adult women reported experiencing possession. The phenomenon diminished in the 1980s and has continued to decline. Traditional healers from the coast both treated and helped spread possession, while Christian Churches played a key role in its near disappearance where they were influential. Affecting almost exclusively women, possession served as a channel for change in a male-dominated society. The study draws on 91 possession cases collected during fieldwork between 1970 and 1996.