In Meknes over the last decade, a couple—a man possessed by a female spirit and a woman possessed by a male spirit—has become established in spirit possession contexts. Their life stories and marital relationship are deeply intertwined with experiences of the invisible world. Their alliance with spirits reveals a personal drama unfolding around daily life and ritual activities, and serves as proof of their expertise as rites officiants to the wider possession cult community. Hamid, possessed by female spirit Lalla Malika, is a specially qualified officiant of female possession rites. Iman, possessed by Jewish spirit David, embodies double otherness of gender and religious affiliation.
Spirit possession of Muslim Arabs by Jewish spirits in Meknes, Morocco, is a largely unstudied phenomenon because Jewish spirits represent an absolute otherness in the Moroccan pantheon and their rites are private, domestic, and reserved, unlike the public collective rituals typically examined. This case study of an evocation rite analyzes how such possession refashions personal identity, human relationships, and gender roles, highlighting the link between ritual and daily life.