Zar or Zaar is a religious custom apparently originating in central Ethiopia during the 18th century and later spreading throughout East and North Africa. Zar custom involves the possession of an individual (usually female) by a spirit. It is also observed in Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, southern Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East. In Sudan and certain other East African cultures the Zār cult conducts ethnomedical healing ceremonies involving possession, typically of Muslim women by a Zār spirit. The Zār cult served as a refuge for women and effeminate men in conservative, Muslim-dominated Sudan https://youtube/watch?v=2KJFlDtT70c
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 13:35:10 +0000