Stambali: Dissociative Possession and Trance in a Tunisian Healing Dance
Transcultural Psychiatry December 1, 2000 Eli Somer, Meir Saadon 50 citations
Stambali, a Tunisian trance-dance ritual brought to Israel by Jewish-Tunisian immigrants, serves as a healing and demon exorcism practice. Based on observations and ethnographic interviews, the ritual is used for prophylaxis against the 'evil eye,' promoting well-being, and crisis intervention. Participants often interpret crises as punishment by demons, which the ritual aims to appease. Trance is induced through accelerating rhythmic music and faster head and limb movements, leading to dissociated eroticism, aggression, and convulsive loss of consciousness. The practice is discussed as a means for oppressed women with limited protest options to externalize and disown intrapsychic conflicts.