Exorcizing the Spirit of Protestantism: Ambiguity and Spirit Possession in an Ethiopian Orthodox Ritual

In Addis Ababa, a controversial ritual exorcises Protestant spirits from Ethiopian Orthodox hosts, aiming to draw sharp boundaries between Protestantism and Orthodoxy during a period of religious liberalization. The expulsion reaffirms local Orthodoxy as central to Ethiopian identity, portraying Protestantism as a foreign religion conflicting with the country's ancient Orthodox history. Yet the ritual is marked by profound ambiguities: its means, aesthetics, and themes suspiciously resemble those of Protestantism. Rather than ordering clear distinctions, the exorcism publicly exposes and magnifies the irreparable permeability of the inter-religious boundaries it seeks to demarcate, becoming a hazardous event that balances on the edge of becoming the other.

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Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses the exorcism of Protestant spirits from Ethiopian Orthodox hosts in Addis Ababa. This controversial ritual is animated by injunctions to draw essential distinctions and boundaries between Protestantism and Orthodoxy, at a time of religious liberalisation. The expulsion of Protestant spirits provides an occasion to reaffirm the centrality of local Orthodoxy to Ethiopian identity, construing Protestantism as a foreign religion at odds with the country’s ancient Orthodox history. However, this ritual project is marked by profound ambiguities, as exorcism’s means, aesthetics and themes are suspiciously similar to those characteristic of Protestantism. By foregrounding ritual ambiguity, I argue that exorcism publically exposes and vividly magnifies the irreparable permeability of the very inter-religious boundaries that it seeks to demarcate. In contrast to classic understandings of ritual as an ordering process, exorcism rituals become hazardous events that balance uncertainly on the edge of the ever-present risk of becoming the other.