Spirit possession in the central Himalayas

Spirit possession rituals called jāgar in the Kumaon region of the Himalaya are complex institutions that address more than healing. Although often triggered by a person's illness, a jāgar provides a stage for active discourse on past, present, and future community affairs. The ritual resembles a journey where an actual problem is just the starting point; oracular communication with deities reveals misdeeds unrelated to the sufferer's symptoms. Divine justice, voiced through local deities, shapes concepts of responsibility and guilt. Ambivalences about justice and truth make jāgars a medium where divine messages enter worldly argumentation. The power of individuals is strongly gendered, but identity, power, and responsibility are ultimately tied to territory and landed property.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In this paper I explore different arenas and aspects of spirit possession, as observed during fieldwork in Kumaon/Himalaya. The ritual is called jāgar. One aim of this paper is to demonstrate that spirit possession is a very complex institution, which is simultaneously concerned with a whole range of issues. I put forward the argument, that jāgars, although they appear due to actual problems, for example, illness of a person, are not just held for the purpose of healing, but provide a stage for active discourses on past, present and future affairs of the local society. A jāgar resembles a journey, for which an actual problem or symptom is just the starting point. The oracular communication with the divine (evil spirits and deities) leads to misdeeds that have no connection with the symptoms and deeds of the person suffering. I try to investigate the impact of divine justice, embodied in the voices of local deities, on society and persons, and its relation to the concept of responsibility and guilt.Ambivalences with regard to just and unjust, and the question if the right path has been taken to unfold the truth, make jāgars a medium where the divine messages are incorporated into worldly discourses and a process of argumentation. It will be shown that the power of the person has a strong gender bias, but that identity, power and responsibility are finally bound to territory and landed property.