768296

African Winds and Muslim Djinns. Trance, Healing, and Devotion in BaluchistanAuthor(s): Jean DuringReviewed work(s):Source: Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 29 (1997), pp. 39-56Published by: International Council for Traditional MusicStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/768296 .Accessed: 29/03/2012 06:12

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AFRICAN WINDS AND MUSLIM DJINNS. TRANCE, HEALING, AND DEVOTION IN BALUCHISTAN

by Jean During

The African Baluchis

During their migration from West to East, the Baluchis absorbed numerous ethnic groups. The most exogenous elements in this assimilation process were the Africans who live today in large numbers notably in Karachi.' These Africans are so well integrated that the Baluchis often deny their foreign origins. They say that Baluchis had settled in Zanzibar and in Tanzania since an unknown time, and that their descendants had come back to their country of origin physically and culturally affected by this sojourn. They brought back with them customs, chants and exotic dances, and spoke only Tanzanian. Such explications speak to the ability of the Baluchis to integrate ethnic groups of all origins (Brahu'is, Sindi, Makrani, Jatt, etc.) regardless of race, while

adopting elements of their culture. They prefer to forget sometimes that there are descendants of slaves among them, but they do remain aware of the African origin of certain traditions, notably evident in the zar and lewd musical rites.

Two (or three?) African rites

Many trance rites of African origin have spread around the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. The Somali zar is practiced in Cairo as well as in Iranian Southern Khuzistan and the coast of Baluchistan. Original instruments such as tall-standing drums of different sizes and the African Lyre tanbura are used

(Hassan 1980). In Baluchistan, zar is only found in Chahbahar and Karachi, two coastal towns that have cultural affinity despite their distance from each other. The officiants are in general of African descent, and certain sung formulas have preserved African words whose meaning is unknown. The names of spirits often betray their origins,2 and furthermore, they are all considered "pagans."

The lewa is another rite brought from Africa which is found in Chahbahar, Karachi, as well as in Oman where many Baluchis live. Lewa is sometimes described as the 'African jungle dance' (afriqajangali dans). It takes place in

open air and in public, from evening until dawn, to the sound of an oboe sorna or a clarinet zamr), accompanied by three percussion instruments: two variants of tabl/dohol, the rahmani and the smaller keysal (Riahi 1977:7), as well as a long bongo called mogholman. According to Baluchi musicians, "there isn't any melody," only a very elementary and repetitive motif over a rapid dance rhythm in 6/8. The officiants are African Baluchis, but the participants are of all origins. Some wear African costumes and make up and sing African words whose meaning has been lost. Nowadays, the lewa is nothing but a dance for amusement, practiced notably on Thursday evening in weddings. But sometimes this dance leads to a frenzy that has a rapport with trance.3

Despite similarities, zar should not be confused with other trance rites: the le'b gudti (or gudti damali) which is widespread in various forms in all the Makran (Southern Baluchistan), in the Sind, and among certain groups in


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40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC 40 / 1997 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC

northern Baluchistan. Even though the differences are emphasized, it is not excluded that zar or other similar rites have influenced the guati-damali. Thus it is sometimes said that the evil spirits guat come from Africa or from the Arab coast of the Persian Gulf, especially from Muscat - a region feared for its magic practices.4 These common points, and the fact that the xalife or the guati-damali officiants are often of African origins, justify the assumption of an African influence on the guati-damali rite which is locally believed to be 'purely Baluchi'.

Some educated people think that the guati rite, as well as the accompanying chants, are borrowings from African culture. But what argues against this

hypothesis - which is refuted also by Baluchis from inside the country - is that this rite is wide-spread in the entire country, not limited - like the lewa - to those who had been in contact with populations from Tanzania. If there are stylistic and rhythmic particularities in the guati repertoire that

belong to neither the Iranian nor to the Indian world, the melodies, on the other hand, are Baluchi. For an outside observer, moreover, the guati phenomenon is more linked to popular dervishism or shamanism than to African possession rites. And finally, for an expert in Tajik culture, the style of a guati-damali rite is typical of the practices of Luli gypsies who live as migrants in the Pamir and perform songs of exorcism for remuneration. Baluchi musicians who officiate in guati-damali belong to a caste5 called - with contempt - Luli, or more politely, Osta (artisan, master), and which is integrated with the Baluchis, as so many others are.

These arguments do not seem to invalidate the hypothesis of African influences, especially after I had the chance to let some Gnawa muqaddims from Morocco, adepts of another of those Muslim-African rites dedicated to the spirits via trance, hear some guati music 'live.' The Gnawas' reaction was immediate: just like the guati, they went on all four with their head close to the sorud, and danced with the same movements. Then they stood up and continued to dance in a lively way. After about ten minutes they stopped, and a muqaddim said: "Your music is similar to the Gnawa's." Cultural relations or structural correspondences linked to the psycho-esthetic of trance?

Maybe both, because one day light shone on this question when my informant, Master Karimbaxsh, was in a mood to talk about it. He was clear:

slavery still existed in his father's time (around 1920), but then, the whole

guati rite, at least the "real" - the way he knew it - was of African origin, anyway. If all of this were not evident to the observer, it is due to the decadence of certain practices, and the confusion that reigns at the present time amongst the rituals and the categories of spirits.

But of what do these rites consist? According to well-informed consultants, one should distinguish the following categories, whether it is a seance, a trance, or an event that permits a trance:

A - Guati It is about rites of animistic origins, guat (Baluchi: "wind"), designating

non-Muslim spirits (kdfer, hindu). One distinguishes: 1) light guati seances (guati or shidi,6 from the name of an often invoked

guat), where trance is of a rather "liberating" kind. 2) normal guati seances, with possession trance: a) curative, b) "recall"

seances (in the sense of a vaccination recall).

























































































































































































































































































































TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41 TRANCE IN BALUCHISTAN / 41

3) very heavy seances (tobbok), lasting for one week, and maybe even closer to a cult of spirits or to an initiation, and closer to their African origins. It rather seems to be a rite of reconciliation with the spirits than a rite of exorcism (to chase them away).

B - Damali This rite is very similar to the preceeding one but with clearer Islamic

tendencies, the spirits - djinn - being "Muslim," and the invoked spirits being the souls of the saints. One can distinguish:

1) healing seances (with patient's trance, xalife, etc.); 2) damali/shamanistic (without patient's trance); 3) blessing seances (devotional trance, without a patient). These two types are private rituals, and are performed to the sound of

a sorud (or perhaps with the double flute doneli), both accompanied by a lute tanburag used as a rhythm instrument. Singing is not an essential element.

To a different category belong: 4) Zikr and damdl: seance close to the damal of dervishes performed with

percussion. Here it is no longer a question of spirits, but only an invocation of saints and divine names. These are like regular brotherhood seances of the Qaderis, or of religious groups like the Zikri. No matter what their attachment to a saint is ('Abdolqader, La'l Qalandar, or others), the officiants of guati-damali, called xalife, are not members of a regular dervish brotherhood, but they could be Zikri.

5) Urs. certain commemorative seances take place in open air on the saints' tombs. They also include singing, percussion, and trance. The officiants at these holy places are sometimes guati-damali xalife who get their power or their legitimacy from their attachment of these places. One of these tombs is that of Datar in Karachi.

C - Lewd Guati-damali and lewa have in common that they make spirits intervene

and that they evoke trance: healing or exorcism trance in one case, excitation trance7 in another. In fact, these seances which take place in public festivities of African origin, in open air, with singing, dance and percussion, often end with non-therapeutic trances. The expression lewd bejan means "to play a

trembling, agitated rhythm" (like the lewa).8 The lewa dance is present in the guati-damali rites, and it is equivalent to dancing upright, according to the Baluchis. It is obligatory at the end of the guati seance, before the meal is offered.

Overall, these rituals draw two lines that lead to the lewa as entertainment, on one hand, and to dervish seances, on the other. This is only an ideal, because these days both lines have the tendency to mix, and rare are the informants who have a clear idea on this subject.

a - guati, jenni (a term that turns up in Iranian Baluchistan): djinn, le'b (a generic term for this kind of ritual), shidi (from the name of a guat spirit)- > the lewa entertainment dance.

b - shiki,9 damali, qalandari0- > damal, dervish. One can suppose, as some Baluchis have suggested, that the lewa was

originally a collective and public trance seance that became a profane cele-









































































































































































































































































































































































DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING DURING


bration; whereas trance practice and dealing with spirits were removed to

private spheres, borrowing the "healing" rite form which is conducted by an officiant, the xalife, or the gudti mat (guati mother). The question whether the damali rite preceded the guati rite is difficult to settle. It is not proven that the first is only an Islamicized and lightened form of the second, as an important informant has suggested. In fact, the damal resemble in many regards the "dervishized" shamanic practices of Central Asia, including the

usage of the sorud that could have been derived from the Turkic kopuz (though there is no evidence of cultural connections to support this hypothesis). On the other hand, the damal rite has been influenced by the guati rite, after

having borrowed its scenario. Even today, the xalife-s still practice both forms of rituals, and the musicians still perform both repertoires to a point where

they are no longer able to precisely differentiate between them anymore. The information that we were able to gather essentially comes from an expert on this subject, Master Karimbaxsh Nuri Soruzi of Karachi."

So far, no one has conducted a detailed and systematic study of the guati and damali rituals or the mixed forms. 12 These are known in rough outline, at best. A description of an "authentic" guati ritual remains a desideratum, and an urgent one, because these days one can hardly find forms other than the hybrid ones that are to be described below.

I. A Light Seance We are in Leari, the Baluchi quarter of Karachi. The alley is cleaner than

others, and the houses are not considered among the poorest. A portion of the alley is annexed in a manner that delimits a private space of approximately 6 by 15 meters. Nothing is yet in place apart from a few cottom kilims spread on the ground. It is close to 10 o'clock in the evening, and seances of this kind that rarely end before 2 a.m., never start earlier.

WE TAKE OUR SHOES OFF BECAUSE THE DELIMITED SPACE IS CONSIDERED SACRED,

JUST AS THAT IN A MOSQUE. ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS WANTS TO LIGHT UP A

CIGARETTE, BUT THE OFFICIANT SIGNALS HIM TO ABSTAIN BECAUSE THE SPACE IS

ALREADY CONSECRATED. Since the circulation in the alley is not blocked, passers-by who know well what is going on cross from time to time this portion of street that became a ceremonial space. They carry their shoes in their hands, and do not look left or right.

I am standing with the musicians who brought me here. The pillar of this evening is Niku (Nik Mohammad), a spirited sorud player aged around 35 who looks like a pirate with long hair and an earring. He belongs to the

showqi category who are passionate amateurs studying with masters descended from great hereditary lineages (gharana), and who sometimes attain the level of masters themselves. Moli (Molabaxsh), who accompanies him on the tanburag lute, is in his forties, of tall stature, and of a dark

complexion that is not typically Baluchi nor African. 3 These traditional musicians are recruited in Karachi only for the trance rites (damal), and

rarely for weddings and amusement evening parties. This is maybe why they are specialized in the damali repertoire that is extremely rich and interesting for the freedom of its interpretation. Niku starts to play damali tunes, but at this stage it is rather to signify the intention of this rite than to create the proper atmosphere for the trance.


































































































































































































































































































































































































Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi. Figure 1 Guati seance in a village near Karachi.

Slowly, women of all ages start coming from the street and out of the house.

They are all Africans, but light skinned, just like the men (barely ten men and 35 women). The xalife, who is of Baluchi type, is almost 40 years of age, strong and pot bellied. A little to the side, he lights up a fire next to which he drives A METAL PIKE INTO THE GROUND WHICH ENDS IN TWO BRANCHES IN FORM OF THE LETTER U. IT IS THE EXPLICIT SYMBOL FOR THE PRESENCE OF THE

PIR, THE PROTECTOR SAINT. HE IS PRESENT IN ALL THE RITES THAT ARE HELD IN

KARACHI. "EVERY XALIFE," EXPLAINS KARIMBAXSH, "PLANTS THIS CANE (ASA)

DURING THE DAMAL. IT SYMBOLIZES HAZRATE GHOWS ('ABDOLQADER JILANI =

MAZAN-E PIR), OR PERHAPS FOR SOME, LAL SHAHBAZ QALANDAR.14 THE ATTITUDE

OF THE PARTICIPANTS TOWARD THIS CANE IS COMPARABLE TO THAT OF THE DEVOUT

IN FRONT OF AN IDOL OR AN ICON. THE XALIFE PLACES A GARLAND OF RED FLOWERS

AROUND BOTH BRANCHES OF THE PIKE, AND A BIG ROSARY. PEOPLE GREET AND

EMBRACE IT. MOST PARTICIPANTS, UPON ENTERING INTO TRANCE, GO TOWARD THIS

PIKE AS IF TO PAY HOMAGE.

We are served tea and offered small pieces of cotton saturated with oil of a fragrance similar to jasmine. We put this in the ear's fold, just as the xalife has done, so that the perfume be not too apparent. The xalife (or his female assistant) holds a metal censer with a long handle, lifts the arm and offers the fumes of the incense to the right, then to the left. Later, he comes

among the men and the children, and holds the censer to each participant's face for a few seconds. The participants, with a hand movement, draw some of the smoke closer to their nostrils. After having bathed their faces in fumes

they pass both hands over the face after the Muslim custom. It is probably an act of purification to avert the evil eye. (IT SEEMS, HOWEVER, PARADOXICAL

TO KEEP AWAY THE EVIL SPIRITS WHILE ATTRACTING DJINNS OR GUATS). BUT THERE











































































































































































































































































































































































IS MORE. EVERY TIME THAT SOMEONE MANIFESTS A SLIGHT SIGN OF ENTERING INTO

TRANCE, THEY PLACE THE BRAZIER UNDER HIS/HER NOSE AFTER HAVING VEILED THE

FACE, AND THEN UNVEIL IT TO ALLOW INHALING THE SMOKE. APPARENTLY, THERE

IS NO TOXIC SUBSTANCE OTHER THAN THE FUMES THEMSELVES. HOWEVER, SOME

SEEM TO WANT TO FILL UP THEIR LUNGS.

Around 11 p.m., Niku starts to play a damali introduction piece (Pir-epattal in 5/8), but no one listens. Then he plays Morshed mera Sacha (dedicated to Saint Sachal) that, according to its tempo, could be a guati as well as a damali piece. 15 Children are chattering and talking. A woman wearing a yellow sari listens with her eyes closed, but she does not react later on in any particular way. The xalife is being assisted by a female student (shagerd, shavush) of about 45 years of age, dressed in red (we shall call her Red).

11:10 p.m. Red goes off to the damali tune Alldh man pakiram, along with another woman dressed all in green (Green). Both go on all four, body and face partially veiled.16 The assistant moves toward the pike as Green inhales a lot of smoke.

A beautiful young woman with Baluchi features brings a baby to Red who takes it into her arms and starts dancing with it while drawing nearer to the pike. Green drinks hot milk that is kept in a pot by the fire. A third woman, White, also goes off.

The xalife, who is watching without intervening much, puts White back in her place. In the excitement, she waves a tissue. A young girl of African

origins with gracious features comes to look at Red who kisses her hand. Meanwhile, the xalife is "doing the presentations," or acts as an intermediary. The young girl shows signs of "disconnection": they put the censer under her nose, then Red and xalife vigorously and amply shake her for 30 seconds. The trance has unlatched, and the young girl starts beating the ground with her palms. That is where the xalife stops her: the trance does not permit to do just anything and everything.

11:25 p.m. The musicians tune their instruments for a moment, and the women in trance17 stop moving. Then the music resumes and the three adult women (Red, White, and Green) hold each other by the shoulders and dance on their knees.

The xalife then gives Red pan - betel nuts and various spices wrapped in a fresh leaf, consumed by a many Pakistanis. The four women dance, and the xalife sings a bit and shakes the young woman. There are now 5 women in trance. The young woman drinks some hot milk, and then the xalife shakes her again.

ACCORDING TO KARIMBAXSH, IN THE DAMAL THE XALIFE MAKES THE PATIENT

DRINK HOT MILK OVER WHICH HE HAS SAID A PRAYER (DAM), WHEREAS IN THE GUATI, THE PATIENT IS GIVEN LIGHT COFFEE, JUST LIKE ARABS DO. Meanwhile, a song invokes the guat Shidi. It says: Shidi basha ambasha. Chi wara? Shir wara, shiro, Mama cah qaido? Shiro. "Shidi . . . what is he drinking? he is drinking milk. Mother, what are you eating ? halva." Obviously, one drinks milk in this kind of rites.

11:35 p.m. For the second time a baby is brought to Red. The sixth person to enter into trance is a young girl of maybe only 12 years of age. She goes very fast toward the pike, which shows that she knows well what she has to do. During this time, the young woman cries while her mother consoles her,










































































































































































































































































































































































Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers. Figure 2 The xalife with pike, rosary and flowers.

then she lies down from exhaustion. Her trance was not long. In technical terms, one says that she is saturated (sir).

11:38 p.m. Quick tuning. Only the three older women (Red, White, and Green) stay in the arena. White, sometimes sitting, sometimes standing, is still agitated, whereas Red is assisting the xalife by serving the censer to the others.

A 15 year old boy of the same ethnic group as the others starts to "disen-

gage" himself. He is immediately spotted by Red who is now entirely devoting herself to her duties, doing the service, and bringing water to the young girl who is recuperating. A stout woman goes into trance energetically, beating the ground with her hands. At this point, she is the eighth to be in trance.

11:50 p.m. The boy begins to move in a crouching position, hopping, then

goes by the pike, drinks a glass of hot milk, then goes back toward the musicians; he dances vigorously with Red whose trance, apparently fading while she was looking after the others, intensifies until she suddenly collapses on the ground. A sorud string brakes. Niku pulls 10 or 20 cm he has in reserve

wrapped around his ankle, makes a loop and fixes the string. Meanwhile, the musicians are again served tea with milk.











































































































































































Until this point, the xalife has not gone into trance, and has apparently done nothing. He has simply observed what was happening, leaving his assistant to intervene when her trance permitted.

12:05 a.m. Red gets up and comes to when she hears the instrumental piece Shidi saz (for the guat Shidi), while the boy, who continues in his trance, goes to the fire making purification gestures as if he were washing his face with the fire's fumes and flames. Red and White embrace each other, then Red embraces the xalife. IN GENERAL, TABOOS SUBSIDE A BIT DURING TRANCES

BECAUSE THE PARTICIPANTS, AT LEAST THE ONES WITH AN AFFIRMED STATUS, DO NOT

GET BOTHERED BY HOLDING EACH OTHER IN THE ARMS OR DANCING WITH EACH

OTHER. A 13 year old young girl (that will be called Pink), screams and opens her arms while she stays seated. The xalife brings her milk, then gives some to the young boy. Green brings Pink closer to the pike. There are now five people who are in trace at the same time.

The woman in yellow shows signs of trance, and Red goes and shakes her to help her "take off" without any success. In the meantime, a 25 year old woman, we shall call her Plaits, goes into trance. Red goes to put something in her mouth, then brings her also some milk.

12:15 a.m. The musicians tune up again. The young boy is now lying down, saturated (sir), but there are still four other people in trance of whom Red is taking care. The young boy goes back to the fire to recover his spirits, makes his ablutions with the flames, then sits down quietly. His deportment appears to be markedly more devout than that of the other participants. During his trance he chants Allah! Allah! for awhile, which, together with the final benediction, is almost the only religious motif of this ritual.

12:20 a.m. After a little pause, Niku asks the xalife if he wants them to

play for him. Pink's trance has ended, and Plaits and another woman are the only ones remaining. Niku begins a superb instrumental piece in 5/8 from the family called Sasuli Xordsani, while the xalife begins to perform oil

massages according to a specific technique. ONE OF THE FIRE'S USES IS TO HEAT

UP RED-HOT A METAL PLATE TO WHICH THE XALIFE APPLIES, WITH A THEATRICAL AND

RAPID GESTURE, HIS PALM THAT IS ALREADY SOAKED IN OIL. THE EFFECT IS

ACCENTUATED BY THE FACT THAT THE OIL PRODUCES BIG FLAMES AND BLACK SMOKE.

THIS OIL, REHEATED AND PERHAPS SANCTIFIED THROUGH THIS PROCEDURE, IS THEN

APPLIED IN A BRIEF MASSAGE TO THE PARTS OF THE BODY THAT NEED ATTENTION OR

TOUCHING. This evening, it is above all head rubbing; and when the limbs or belly of a woman are to be rubbed, the xalife delegates his assistant. She does not touch the metal plate herself (operation reserved for men?) but taps her palm against that of the xalife to oil it before giving a massage. A woman in the first row of the audience is the object of special attention.

The little girl who had made a quick appearance at the beginning goes back into trance.

The xalife has finished his oil applications. Now it is his turn to go into trance. He does it like a professional, in an ostensive manner, with vigorous movements of head and torso and giving tongue. A shawl is brought to him, and instead of putting it on his head, like all ordinary participants, he ties it around his waist while he goes toward the pike where Red is taking care of the fire. He has now a big piece of lokum which he tears in four pieces. He throws them far in all four directions.18 Then he puts the rest of the lokum


















































































































































































































































































































































































































































Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance. Figure 3 Niku (playing sorud, right) and Moli during a guati seance.

directly in the musicians' mouths, and in mine. To prove his sympathy, he

gives each one of the musicians a hard shoulder massage while they are

playing. A xalife is also a healer who takes care of people's bodies. For the second time, the xalife sends a cordial salam aleykum to no one

in particular. VERY OFTEN THE SUBJECTS WHO GO INTO TRANCE STOP SHAKING FOR

A MOMENT, SEEM TO FIND THEMSELVES (EXCEPT THAT AT THE MOMENT THEY ARE

"ANOTHER"). THEY SALUTE THE PARTICIPANTS ONE BY ONE, SHAKE THEIR HANDS AS

IF THEY WERE DISCOVERING A PARALLEL WORLD WHERE PARTICIPANTS ARE OTHERS.

MAYBE THIS IS SIGNIFYING THAT THEY ARE NO LONGER THEMSELVES, THAT IT IS NOW

THE "OTHER," THE SPIRIT WHO SPEAKS THROUGH THEIR MOUTHS AND SEES

THROUGH THEIR EYES. SUCH BEHAVIOR IS RATHER NOTED IN THE TRANCE OF THE

XALIFES AND THE EXPERIENCED PEOPLE, AND NOT IN THE TRANCE OF BEGINNERS

WHO DO NOT HAVE ANY STATUS. IN THIS STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS, THEY HAVE

SURPASSED THE CRISIS THAT CORRESPONDS TO THE ONSET OF TRANCE, AND CAN

COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS IN A NORMAL MANNER.

12:45 a.m. Another woman, Blue, has entered trance and dances superbly sitting, with her arms open like a bird. Now there are three, plus the xalife, dancing upright. Five minutes later, another woman goes into an intense trance, but Niku seems to care little: he stops playing. She goes to one of her friends, asks her to tell Niku to play Allah man pakiram, on her behalf. While she is in trance, they tuck her big braids in the back under her dress, probably less concerned with her decency than with her hurting others in the face while she turns.

The xalife, now in a different state, starts another oil session on the fire for the person whose legs Red was rubbing. Then he dances with Red, his assistant. Plaits goes to get Pink to go back into trance. The xalife asks Niku



































































































































































































































































































































































































to play in the high register (borza boro!), and not in the low register. THEN HE IS GIVEN A BUNDLE OF THREADS WHICH HE BLESSES, AND STARTS MAKING KNOTS19

ON WHICH HE BLOWS SOME AIR. RED DOES THE SAME THING, ON THE PARTICIPANTS'

REQUEST. THESE THREADS, BAND, WILL BE SAVED AND USED FOR PROTECTION, TIED

AROUND THE WRIST OR AROUND A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

1:15 a.m. A stout woman starts to 'take off,' while the xalife is sitting quietly now. This will not last for long since it is late, and this was to be a short seance of only two and a half hours. There will be no ritual meal, only a

simple benediction of dates by the xalife in a very classical but not particularly formal manner. The dates are distributed among the participants who take some home with them. The musicians pack their instruments and I leave with them. At 2 a.m., even the main streets are deserted.

A focus on the 'real guati rite' Master Karimbaxsh, with whom I had a discussion the next day, said that

this was not a real guati seance, that it was only a showqi seance, meaning "for pleasure." For him none of that was very serious, no one was sick (except maybe for the old woman who was massaged the most), and no one was

possessed including the xalife himself. It was simply an amusement inspired by the guati rituals, pertaining to the shidi style, a bit like the lewa. An

anthropologist would call this a "liberating trance," not a possession trance. According to him, the guati ritual is a science, whereas the other forms,

like this one or the damal, are nothing very serious. The guati xalife, ostad

guati, is an expert who uses plants, and knows all that is necessary for the success of a ritual. The damali xalife-s do not have this knowledge, which is lost anyway. He did witness the great guati masters and the old Molana Shek, to whom he had introduced me, and who was at the same time an authentic guati and damali expert. However, he did not have the knowledge that the others had.

WHEN A PATIENT (MOST OFTEN A WOMAN) COMES TO CONSULT THE XALIFE, HE

GIVES HIM OR HER A MIXTURE OF PLANTS WITH WHICH TO RUB THE BODY EVERY

NIGHT. THE USUAL FORMULA CONSISTS OF KOST REYHAN (MARJORAM), NAZBU,

GOLAB, MESK, SAFRAN, TEIL (A PERFUMED OIL THAT ONE PUTS IN THE HAIR), PLUS

ONE OR TWO OTHER PRODUCTS. IF AFTER THE FOURTH NIGHT THERE IS AN

IMPRIVEMENT, IT MEANS THAT THE PERSON IS GUATI, AND THAT A SEANCE WITH THE

APPROPRIATE MUSIC SHOULD BE HELD SO THAT THE PERSON GO INTO TRANCD AND

THAT THE GUAT STOP BOTHERING HER. MUSIC SHOULD BE PLAYED FOR TWO NIGHTS

AND TWO DAYS FOR FEW HOURS EACH TIME. The first day, while the music is

played, a tablecloth is presented on which all sorts of food are put: meat, bread, pilaf, eggs, a variety of fresh and dried fruits, etc. If the patient finds out that something is missing, the whole ritual must be repeated. A goat is sacrificed at the end of the last seance, and after a ritualized dance the

patient kneads the poll-e halva (popcorn and curds), which is then distributed to the participants.

The grand master of guati was Adam, after him came his son Pirbaxsh. Karimbaxsh, who started accompanying his father in 1943, has played for these two xalife-s and witnessed the hearings they accomplished. "They were

gholam-s (African "slaves") and that was obvious. It was Adam who composed the texts for the guati chants, and Daru20 who composed the music. Daru


























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































was also of gholam origins, of the Zikri religion. The xalife-s are mostly found

among the gholam-s. Formerly, the xalife-s were not Baluchis, and if they became so in our days it is for the money."

"In the guati chants there are some "hindi" and Arabic words like: waddo waddo dowe, shidi shenala howe ("his name is shidi . . ."). The djinns have no names (if I knew a djinn's name, I would order him to go to the Central Bank to get me a million rupees), but the guat-s have names: Damseydo, Baghnaya, Jambure Shidi, Yavara, Kongo, etc."

II. A Hybrid and Atypical Seance At the turn of an alley in Karachi's Baluchi neighborhood, three large

cauldrons announce that a celebration is being prepared. The space is similar to the one already described earlier. The xalife is a full-blooded African Baluchi of 40 years of age. He is the young brother of the famous xalife Omar who is expected this evening and who, as they say, is a descendent of a long xalife lineage.21 The role of the younger xalife during the evening will be that of an assistant (shavush): he had organized the ceremony and must keep watch that everything goes well, especially the trance of the "master of the house" who financed the ceremony. The xalife, smiling and relaxed, is being aided by a young man of African features that are less pronounced. In the audience there are also two or three men with their little boys whose

physiognomies attest to the same origins. Just like in the other seance, women are a large majority. It is said that the guat spirits possess mostly women, whereas the djinns possess both sexes. This makes one think that this seance

might well be of the guati or shidi style. As usual, the shavush has prepared a fire and has driven a pike with flowers

into the ground. Finally, the host comes out and sits among the musicians. He is 30 to 35 years old, has a wide face and an authoritarian expression tempered for the moment by charming manners. His immaculately white Baluchi costume and his fresh tint suggest that he has done his ritual's

preliminary ablutions.22 He later told me that his grandfather was a Tajik from Dushanbe who immigrated to Pakistan where he married a Baluchi woman. "You see," he said - my ancestors had a light skin like you, but I look now like a real Baluch." He as been living in Dubay for many years, and seems to have been successful in business. On vacation with his family in Karachi, he seizes the opportunity to hold damali seances because he declares himself a disciple of 'Abdelqader Jilani, the supreme mediator

(Ghows-e 'azam). I find that this affiliation (more ideal than concrete) fits him well, just like his name: Zulfiqar, the saber of Imam 'Ali.

This ritual was presented to me as a sort of devotional act dedicated to the protector saint of Zulfiqar, but the reality was a bit more complex as we shall see.

Adapted ritornellos Z. sits near the musicians with the xalife who puts in front of him a brazier

full of burning suchak23 incense. THE RULE IS THAT ONE SHOULD COMMENCE

WITH PLAYING PIR-E PATTAL OR MAZAN-E PIR, pieces dedicated to 'Abdelqader who is considered the greatest pir, and that it should end with a homage to the Prophet; but contrary to this rule, the xalife asks the musicians to



















































































































































































































































































































































play Shidi saz. Two shidi songs have passed from the lewa repertoire to that of the guati-damali. One is Udrus, named after a shidi from Aden24 (he will be invoked this evening and will possess Zulfiqar's spirit). The other is Shidi Bambasa who comes from Africa. Both melodies are very similar and are often played back to back. According to the masters, they must be played in the middle of the seance, and the fact that the audience and the xalife are Africans does not justify their use as an introduction. On the other hand, the relationship between the Qaderi affiliation that Z. is claiming, and the possession by the shidi Udrus is not clear. In fact, the Qaderi shamans go into trance to songs dedicated to 'Abdolqader (Pir-e dastegir, Ghows-e morida, etc.). The majority of the songs corresponds to one or two very simple distichs evoking the Prophet or a saint by name or by attributes ('Abdolqader Jilani, Shahbaz La'l Qalandar, Data Ganjbaxsh, Muhiuddin, Shah Bhata'i, or less known ones like Pir 'Omar, Shey Davfd). Usually one does not sing during the entire seance, but those who are familiar with the practices know to which saint a melody corresponds.

The xalife offers the censer to Z. who inhales a lot of suchak smoke. He shakes a bit, but the trance does not come. After a moment, the musicians tune again, and he opens his eyes. Then the music resumes, and the spirit seems to "fill him up" progressively.

A laborious start The xalife encourages the musicians and asks them to repeat one of the

melody's motifs that is always the same at the beginning. It is rare to play the same melody for that long. In general, the trance manifests itself faster, and even if the subject is receptive to one melody only, once he is "filled

up" (por), other pieces could be played. This is actually what will happen this evening. For the moment, Niku is skillfully manipulating this melody, maybe to extract all of its substance, but maybe the music serves above all in a symbolic fashion: it is a matter of playing the shidi melody, signifying the spirit by its melody, regardless of the way it is played.

Spirit, are you here? Yes, hello Now Z. has come into contact with his spirit; he salutes it with a salam

'alaykum. Z. seems to have come back to a normal state, and speaks in normal manner with the xalife. But one must not trust people's attitude when they are in trance. VERY OFTEN THEY SEEM TO HAVE COME BACK TO A PERFECTLY

ORDINARY STATE: THEY GIVE INSTRUCTIONS, DEMAND PRECISE THINGS, WATCH

CALMLY WHAT IS HAPPENING EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE IN A DIFFERENT DIMENSION.

Z. stands up now and starts dancing. He spreads his legs, keeps his knees bent and body leaning forward, with a low center of gravity. His dance consists of marking the beat by an alternate hopping from one leg to another in triple meter (u- u-): right right, left left, while joining his hands together. When the meter switches to five (2+3) in a series of purely instrumental pieces, he keeps on doing the same dance.

The trance in all its states An old woman who was in the audience goes into trance. SIGNIFICANTLY,

NO ONE GOES INTO TRANCE BEFORE THE XALIFE (OR THE PATIENT IF THERE IS ONE), OUT OF RESPECT ... Z. has attained the state he was seeking. He has passed


































































































































































































































































































by the fire, then entered his place, and has come out later furiously scolding certain persons in Arabic. With him there is a woman in her forties whose

glasses suggest that she comes, like Z., from the middle class. Then the three of them, including the xalife, pass by the fire.

Another middle aged woman goes into trance while Z. is still furious. The woman holds on to a cane while dancing, then goes to the group of women and starts talking to some of them while making a lot of gestures as if she were telling a story. Visibly her trance makes her strangely talkative. Z. starts

again his rhythmic dance. The music stops one more time. We are served light but savory and perfumed coffee. I imagine that his Arab djinn likes coffee, but this is the tradition in guati rites.

The voice of the spirits My neighbor explains to me that when Z. is "filled" with his spirit, he

speaks only in Arabic. Since no one understands Arabic, this woman, who is originally from Saudi Arabia and knows how to speak Urdu, was brought to translate in both directions Z.'s and the participants' remarks.

When I later tell this to Master Karimbaxsh, he exlaims: "It's all an act. It is evident that Z. knows Arabic since he lived in Dubay, but he is trying to draw attention to himself while making belief that this is his djinn that is talking!" At the end of the seance, Z. told me that although he had basic command of Arabic, his spirit spoke it much better. There is no doubt that

expressing himself in Arabic lends his behavior more theatrically: whether it is not he who speaks, or whether he is showing off his bilinguality which is another way of imposing his authority. There is also a logic to this behavior: since Udrus, the spirit which possesses him, comes from Aden, it is normal that it expresses itself in Arabic. His connection to 'Abdolqader is maybe not all that foreign to this Arabic business since this saint lived in Iraq, and his mausoleum is in Baghdad.

The music starts again with the song Mohieddin (a saint of the Cheshti lineage), while Z. still talks with the lady who translates for the xalife who has joined them.

Convivial meal or ritual? A goat is brought, and Z., apparently satisfied, takes it by the neck and

pulls it toward the "kitchen." AN ANIMAL IS NEVER DEDICATED TO THE SPIRITS, AND SOME SAY THAT ONLY THE SPILLED BLOOD ON THE GROUND WILL GO TO THEM.

UNLIKE VOODOO RITES WHERE VITAL ENERGY IS SEIZED FROM THE SACRIFICED

ANIMAL, HERE IT IS SIMPLY FOR MAKING A PIOUS ACT IN OFFERING A GOOD MEAL

FOR THE COMMUNITY. It is midnight, and my neighbor says that dinner will be ready in four hours.

Z. dances to a rhythm in 5/8; seemingly very happy, he takes the Arab woman by the hand to dance with her, an inconceivable situation outside of trance. She is very embarrassed and quickly manages to escape.

From possession to shamanism We now come to a usual phase in the healing seance which one could call

"free consultations." Z.'s behavior unexpectedly shifts from of that of a xalife to that of a shaman.



























































































































































































































































































































































































































An old woman brings to Z. a child who seems to have some health problems. Also, a young lad is brought and stands respectfully in front of him. Z. familiarly taps his chest while talking to him. Many women, including his mother, come and talk to him.

The xalife is given threads which he folds three or more times to make small cords. He holds them so that Z. can tie knots into them and distribute them to those who ask for the solutions to their problems.

Z. picks up a two year old girl, settles her on his hip, and starts happily dancing with her. I learned that Z.'s mother is also subject to possession. THIS DISPOSITION IS PARTIALLY HEREDITARY. CLOSE FAMILY MEMBERS OF THE

INDIVIDUALS WHO ENTER INTO TRANCE ARE CONSIDERED EQUALLY RECEPTIVE TO

TRANCE. It is for this reason that children are present in these rituals, and babies are presented to the xalife: the predisposition to trance could probably be traced back to ancestors who lived in Africa.

The xalife puts flowers around Z.'s neck who offers them immediately to the Arab woman. He apparently has a very affectionate attitude toward this woman, unless he is only expressing the natural sentiments of his Arab djinn who is able to communicate because of her. The xalife's gesture is a manner of acknowledging Z.'s authority. His refusal to keep the flowers could be interpreted as modesty. All of this suggests the existence of a process that leads from the status of the patient to that of the officiant. A SUBJECT PREVIOUSLY HEALED BY TRANCE NEEDS FROM TIME TO TIME A NEW SEANCE, SOMETHING LIKE A "VACCINATION RECALL." THIS TYPE OF SEANCE IS SOMETIMES

AMBIGUOUS, BECAUSE IN ADDITION TO THE THERAPEUTIC EXIGENCIES, THIS MIGHT

LEAD TO A DEEPENING OF THE PRACTICE OF TRANCE PRACTICES WITH THE AIM OF

ACQUIRING THE SHAMAN'S QUALIFICATION. IN FACT, ALL SHAMANS WERE ORIGINALLY

PATIENTS WHO PURSUED THE TRANCE PRACTICE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF A XALIFE

WHO BECAME THEIR INSTRUCTOR. And that is probably the case with Zulfiqar. I was told that he should give seances every two or three years or he would feel uneasy and oppressed by his spirit. He had already given a dhikr or damal seance the night before, with a group of dervishes playing only frame drums sama. Tonight he lets himself become possessed by the shidi Udrus, and tomorrow he will do another seance with shidi Bambasa. The situation is even more confused: HE CLAIMS A QADERI AFFILIATION, AND HE INVITES DERVISHES TO A DHIKR-DAMAL ALTHOUGH HE IS NOT AFFILIATED AS A DERVISH WITH

THIS "REGULAR" TITLED BROTHERHOOD. HIS AFFILIATION SIMPLY SIGNIFIES THAT

HE HAD AN INSTRUCTOR WHO WAS LINKED TO THIS SAINT. THE GUATI DAMALI

TRANSMISSION IS DONE INDIVIDUALLY WITHOUT PASSING THROUGH THE AFFILIATION

OF A GROUP. Curiously, this connection with Qaderi does not protect him from the hold of the djinns, something that all regular dervishes gain with the status of follower and disciple. What was the nature of his trance the

night when the dervishes came upon his invitation? Maybe it was only what one calls a jush, a seething or ecstasy without possession? Unless, in the broadness of their minds, the dervishes admit the coexistence of possession and mystical seething in their assemblies.

On the other hand, his behavior in the course of the second night was not simply of the "vaccination recall" type, limited to going into trance with the help of the xalife(s) present. He crossed the decisive phase of the trance alone while the xalife was absent. Then he behaved exactly like a xalife, giving


























































































































































































































































































































































































































consultations and preparing the amulets of tied threads band. The seance was not organized for his healing, even though he answered to therapeutic necessities (to liberate himself from his spirit's weight). He was not really aided by the xalife the way a patient would have been; but on the other hand, he did not make this seance for a particular patient where he would have been the xalife, even though he later gave consultations. Another curious

point is that he offered to pay for this seance (as one does for a patient), but he acted like a xalife who is paid for his services. The presence of the famous xalife 'Omar was probably only a way to back his status: 'Omar did not intervene directly, held himself far from the circle, did not go into trance, and at the end of the seance, delegated his brother and the apprentice who

accompanied him.

The great xalife 'Omar, the older brother of the xalife who had been acting from the

beginning, comes around 1:00 a.m. He is about 55 years old, with hollow cheeks, very dark skin, and frizzly hair. He is accompanied by a light skinned

young man, My neighbor, who considers him a great xalife, tells me that he is linked to Mango Pir, a famous local saint some 20 or 30 km from Karachi. But I was disappointed to learn later from Karimbaxsh that he

practices the modest craft of a bike repairman at the bazaar of Leari. Z. happily dances some more until the music stops. He then offers long

medical consultations, still in Arabic, with his eyes closed. He makes a patient drink a glass of water containing suchak cinder. He then asks for more suchak.

Return to normal

Curiously, Z. leaves for a moment the consultation circle and goes to sit with the xalife 'Omar who cordially salutes him, talks with him a little, and

right afterwards, without any fuss, comes to talk to me. THIS RAPID TRANSI-

TION FROM CONSULTATION IN THE STATE OF TRANCE (?) TO A PERFECTLY NATURAL

DISPOSITION AND BEHAVIOR RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF THIS STATE.

THE FACT THAT HE CAME BACK TO HIMSELF SO FAST WITHOUT AN INTERMEDIATE

PHASE MAKES ONE THINK THAT HIS STATE DURING THE CONSULTATION LIES ON A

DIFFERENT LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS THAN THE POSSESSION TRANCE.

Two short trances The seance did not achieve much during the turn for 'Omar's assistant

to go into trance, which he did fast and with a wonderful energy, just like the 'professionals.' He kept himself far from the musicians and was stimulated only by the fumes of incense. His eyes closed as if he were blind, he rejected the garlands of flowers offered him as a mark of respect. He too gave a few consultations and spoke in Arabic, but his trance was short.

A latecomer was also offered to go into trance, but apparently he had come only to eat. The musicians continued to play only for the ambience, and finally 'Omar's brother, who had discreetly directed the whole seance, went also into trance, returned to the cane as if to draw energy from it. They also put flowers around his neck, and he accepted them.

Around 4:30 a.m. everything stopped, and they brought rice cooked with goat's meat, and also sweetened rice.



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Recall of the orthodoxy After having thanked and left, we walked about a kilometer to Niku's place.

As soon as we arrived, a fantastic cacophony of muezzins started. Niku's home stood free and exposed, and all the decibels unleashed by the tens of thousands of mosques in Karachi converged on this modest place. Around 6:00 a.m., day finally broke, and the muezzins went back to sleep. I then realized that all trance seances, possession, exorcism, or worshipping of saints, no matter what they are called, do not take place when people are supposed to be sleeping and the spirits of darkness are activated, as much as during that phase of expiration when the official Islam has completely withdrawn from the collective or personal sphere. It is this need to hide that makes seances of this type impossible during the month of Ramadan. It is in this

way that between the calls to prayer of evening and dawn, the mirror of the

night reflects, inversed, the holiness of the day.

NOTES 1. District of Leari, Bagdadi and Sharuk-i nel boroughs. 2. For example Hongo, Sudan, Damfe, etc. According to Riahi's short

monograph (1977), they are 16, and each one provokes specific troubles. Some of them are said to be of Somali origin or Congolese (Hobban), some are Arabs (Yusef, Rayiu), and others are at the same time Arabs and Africans (Miyasa, Katmiri, Motari, Nuban). The author does not mention where this information comes from; the Baluchi coast is so vast, and the customs are varied. It is important to note that among the Black

population of Iraq, the zar, on the contrary, are considered good spirits of Islamic faith. It is believed in Islam that the Djinns could follow religions, or not, just like humans. See also Sa'edi 1977, 1994.

3. cf. note 6. 4. The Baluchis say that magicians transform strangers into livestock which

is then sold in the market. 5. They belong to the Rend, Zangeshahi, Shakalzehi, and Dawudi tribes. 6. Shidi may be derived from Arabic shayda, 'fool', 'senseless' (cf. Kurdish

shite). 7. On the relation between excitation and possession trance see During

1988:42-43. 8. Bahram, a xalife and musician from Saravan (north-east Baluchistan),

has integrated this style of chant in his repertoire after hearing a lewa in Karachi while invoking a guat from Muscat: 'Lewd lawan mashkati guti.' Riahi enumerates twelve bad-s (guat?) of which one is called Leva, that

provokes no illness. It manifests itself during exorcism seances consecrated to other bad-s, while possessing the young participants that start to dance barefoot. This category more or less corresponds to what the Central Baluchi call false guati-s, or excitation trance.

9. From sheyx, Saint, Master. The question of the possibility of a possession by the spirit of a saint is essential, because it constitutes the interface between animism (the possession of spirits or ancestors), and monotheism

(invoking the saint until it manifests itself, hence the Sufi term hadra, presence). In certain rites in South Iran, the spirit possessing a patient could be a zar, but also a sheyx. On the possibility of the historic shift










































































































































































































































































































































































of meaning between the Sufi seances and the seances of possession or

worship, see During 1988:144s. 10. In Karachi, qalandari designates a whole ensemble of pieces dedicated

to Shahbaz Qalandar, and by extension (in Iran) the musical genre of trance.

11. Born around 1933, he started accompanying his father in these seances at the age of 10 before he later took on the musical direction. His precise and unique information tallies the fragmented testimonies that one can reassemble from other reliable and old informants. During my early research lead in Iranian Baluchistan (During 1989), I was able to predict the existence of these different levels through the current practices in this region. Thanks to Karimbaxsh that things started to clear up little

by little, and I understood up to what point these rites have been transformed and mixed in practice as much as in the discourses that

justified them. 12. In his musicological study of Baluchi music, Mas'udie has devoted only

three pages to this subject, where he deals exclusively with the tradition of Saravan.

13. Pakistanis distinguish the light skinned Baluchis from the dark skinned Makrani of the south. All weakly marked ethnic groups of this region are indiscriminately considered Baluchis.

14. 'Abdolqader (llth Century) is considered superior to La'l Qalandar (13th C.). He is the founder of the most popular brotherhood of the Islamic world. The cane is a part of the indispensable accessories of innumerable Sufi rites, whether Qalandari or Islamic-shamanic of Central Asia, where it is sometimes replaced with a rope stretched from the ceiling to the floor.

15. According to Karimbaxsh, all pieces of this kind must be played in slow

tempo for the guati, and in fast tempo for the damal. When I asked him how it is that a piece dedicated to a local saint is played in the middle of a guati rite, he answered with his usual irony: "Who cares if Sachal is not a guat, people don't understand anything anyway."

16. This position, typical of certain trance rituals, like the Gnawas', is perhaps of African origin.

17. Translated from mast (lit., "drunk") for "(to be in) trance," a term which seemed most appropriate.

18. To whom are the lokum pieces addressed? Maybe to the spirits, a little like the salutations addressed to the spirits to the left and the right of the ritual direction that conclude the Muslim prayer.

19. Eight to ten, approximately. 20. He was a remarkable sorud player, but with only three strings (rast saz)

and not four, so with a style closer to that of the North, but with a typical Karachi repertoire. Ramazan, a great old master born around 1937, with his disciple. According to him, Daru was very strong, he considered his students incompetent.

21. Karimbaxsh contests that the xalife-s constitute lineages but it is probably only because this privilege is usually reserved for musicians.

22. In certain Baluchi traditions, the xalife must do a series of ritual pros- trations (rak'at) before officiating, which require preliminary ablutions.



















































































































































































































































































































































































































































23. A mixture of sweet-smelling substances of which the content varies according to the rite to be performed, and the spirits that are to be addressed.

24. In the Persian Gulf where rituals somewhat related to guati-damali are held, Udrus or Edrus appear in the category of sheykhs. These are Muslim spirits which come from Arab countries, not Africans such as the zar or some guat. They are thought to be a kind of djinns, souls of local saints who were transformed into "winds" after their death and have become subjects of cults as is the case with Udrus whose tomb is in Aden (cf. Sa'edi 1994:94, who lists eleven instances).

REFERENCES CITED

During, Jean 1989a Emotion and Trance. Musical Exorcism In Baluchistan. In M. Caton

and N. Siegel, ed., Cultural Parameters of Iranian Musical Expression. Los Angeles (36-46).

1988b Musique et Extase, LAudition Mystique dans La Tradition Soufie. Paris: Albin Michel.

1989 Musique et Mystique dans les Traditions de l'Iran. Paris: IFRI-Peeters. 1992 Balouchistan. Musique d'Extase et de Guerison. Paris: OCORA.

C580017-18 (CD and booklet). 1999? Music, Trance & Therapy in Baluchistan. Garland Encyclopaedia

(forthcoming). Hassan, Scheherazade Q. 1980 Les Instruments de Musique en Iraq et leur Role dans la Societe traditionnelle.

Paris. Mas'udie, M.T. 1985 Musiqi-e Baluchestan. Tehran: Sorush. Naseri, 'A. 1979 Farhang-e Mardom-e Baluch. Tehran. Riahi, A. 1977 Zar o Bad o Baluch. Tehran. Sa'edi, Gh. M. 1975 Ahl-e Hava. Tehran. 1994 Ahl-e Hava, la gente del vento. Introduction and translation by F.

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