Title: Atonement Ritual and Guardian-Spirit Possession among Kalanga
Abstract: Opening Paragraph For Kalanga of Southern Rhodesia hereditary guardian spirits known as mazenge are a sanction on correct relations among kinsmen and affines. Only women are possessed by these captious guardian spirits; and I shall refer to such spirit-possessed women as mazenge hosts. Kalanga perform a ritual of atonement seasonally and whenever the illness of the host or of any of her kinsfolk, particularly children, is attributed to the affliction of a guardian spirit. Ritual obligations then draw together a congregation typically not of agnates and other cognates alone, but also of affines.
Publication Year: 1964
Publication Date: 1964-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 6
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