Spiriti e riti ebraici a Meknes. Seduti alla “tavola di David”
Archivio Antropologico Mediterraneo January 30, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.4000/aam.3146 via DOAJ
Summary
Possession of Muslim Arabs by Jewish spirits in Meknes, Morocco, is a rarely studied phenomenon because Jewish spirits represent an absolute otherness and their rites are private. Unlike public possession rituals, these domestic, private evocations offer insight into how possession reshapes personal identity, human relationships, and gender roles. The analysis of one evocation rite shows possession's role in refashioning these aspects of daily life.
Study at a glance
| Design | case study |
|---|---|
| Population | Muslim Arabs in Meknes, Morocco |
| Key finding | Possession by Jewish spirits in private domestic rites serves to refashion personal identity, human relationships, and gender roles. |
Abstract
The paper focuses on spirit possession of Muslim Arabs by Jewish spirits in Meknes, Morocco. It is a topic that has not been extensively studied in ethnographic literature yet, both because Jewish spirits represent an absolute otherness compared to the Moroccan pantheon, and rites dedicated to them are reserved. Furthermore, studies on spirit possession in Morocco have mainly focused on the rituals in which spirits are publicly and collectively evoked. The possession by Jewish spirits, evoked only in the domestic sphere and strictly private, is an important arena to explore the relationship between ritual and the daily life of the possessed. The case study examined here is an evocation rite, and the analysis seeks to highlight the role of possession in the refashioning of personal identity, human relationships and gender roles.