La Danse de Posession

the posession dance

so this past weekend was full of cultural events.. saturday was the marriage and sunday was the posession ceremony. i didn't realize the emphasis on "dance" until we got there, though. actually, let me preface the whole story with a little information on the timing of the event: it started at 10, our professor didn't pick us up until 11:30, we got lost and didn't get there until 12:00, the calabash players (whose music is responsible for calling out the spirits) didn't show up until 4 or so, and the actual dancing, trancing, and possession probably didn't start until 5. during all the time we were there where nothing was really happening, we were fed a huge nigerien plate of rice and sauce, we were occupied with a tiny 2 day old goat, and we even took a nap.. the nap was disturbed by men digging holes in the sand for the calabash players as well as what we thought was the sacrificial chicken going bananas over our bodies as we were lying down. but then things picked up, and there was tons of dance before the mediums actually showed any signs of being posessed. even the anasaras put on a little show! they forced us up in the dance circle, and the sand was extraordinarily hot underneath our feet, but we did what we could to provide a good show. our goofy boys especially caused a stir. then we sat down, and the posession began! probably impossible to imagine from whatever i write, so here is my best attempt at a synopsis:

the reason why the ceremony was called:
a woman in a polygamist (?) marriage -the third wife- was seeking revenge upon the first two wives. the first 2 wives were upset when their husband decided to take another, so they had a posession ceremony so that the 3rd wife would not be able to produce children. the 3rd wife then had a posession ceremony so that she could have children, and was having another one now (after her baby was born) in hopes that the 2 first wives would be cursed, i suppose, and the husband would divorce them both.

the spirits that were called and what they did:
red spirits - with the music and other mediums screaming in their faces to try to call out the spirits, these particular mediums were posessed by sad spirits. once past the trance phase they did a crazy dance of flailing arms, then they fell to the earth and cried and screamed and dug their hands into the sand. (there were 2 men and 1 woman posessed by the red spirits this time)
hauka - i was completely unaware of where these people came from. unlike the red spirits, who seemed to have a formal musical calling as well as people yelling and requesting their presence, the hauka came out of nowhere. the hauka spirits are angry spirits, who represent white soldiers and the colonizers. they are violent and angry. yesterday, there was a man and a woman posessed by this type of spirit, and they were foaming at the mouth, sweating profusely, trembling. the guy startled everyone because 'the spirit entered him quickly'.. he jumped up into the air and threw himself on the ground HARD.. 3 times in a row landing flat on his back on the hard sand! he then proceeded to rush at the crowd of people flailing his arms, making everyone run away!

i hate to be vague, but i will never be able to recap all the details of the day! once the spirits were all out, we went into this mudbrick house where the actual counsel was given to the woman who called the ceremony. the red spirits gathered around the woman, and the hauka went around talking to all those who gathered. (it was probably 120 degrees in that hut, by the way) people asked for advice, fortunes were given freely, and every once in a while something bizarre happened and there would be a cry from someone in the crowd. i don't actually know the exact advice they gave the 3rd wife who called the ceremony, but the male hauka did come up to the 9 of us white people. he said he liked us cause we were one with him (he came from ohio), he would be with those of us who were going to the beach after we left niger (most of my peers here are going to the coast of benin rather than straight home after the program is over), and he said we'd all get our diplomas (that one was vague, i know).. but for how violent his motions were, he was very nice to the anasaras.

anyway, to wrap it up, 9 hours of exhausting and crazy events later.. at the end of the day was i convinced? i would say that i'm 87% sure that something extraordinary was happening. i will say that nothing that happened couldn't have been acted. HOWEVER.. there are many unexplicables.. like: it would have to be really really really good acting to physically torture yourself, or foam out of your nose and mouth. also, the mediums who get posessed don't get paid. the musicians do for calling out the spirits, but the mediums don't. one woman was in trance, and they were trying to get the full posession, but the spirit "fell out of her" and she flopped to the ground before the spirit spoke. and the one hauka woman was a fully veiled, hardcore muslim until the spirit entered her.. and our teacher told us she hates being posessed and has to beg god for forgiveness after she attends these events. it is part of her duty, however, to be posessed, and no matter the pain or the sin of it all, she has to do it. also inexplicable, putting your baby's life in danger. one woman was overcome when the spirit was talking to her - she cried out and her body flailed, and we were lucky the baby (who was tied around her back the way all women here carry their young) didn't crack his skull on the wall behind her! after that episode the anasaras took over the infant and the woman went to rest on the floor.. but no mother here would act like that with her child around her waist!
at the end of the day you could definitely say it has a lot to do with beliefs, culture, and perhaps some sort of fabrication.. it is after all a very theatrical event.. but it's still really a mystery to me. i'm convinced there are spirits, i'm not positive they posess people. i'm sure mediums minds aren't fully there as their bodies are apparently being posessed, but i have no idea where they go! it's amazing to hear some of the stories, and to really think about it. being western the whole thing all sounds like such bull, but it is such a strong part of the culture here. me saying that spirit posessions don't exist is like a nigerienne saying that baseball isn't a sport. and that's a terrible analogy.

yesterday was exhausting, but an amazing experience. literally exhausting though - dehydration last night and all day today for sure. must nap now. was able to get one or two pictures on my friends camera yesterday, and will put them up with others the next chance i get.