witnesses are called usually in the form of recently deceased kinsmen or spirits => obtaining evidence itself is thought

of as being therapeutic part of a longer process: begins with sense of injury usually attributed to a family injustice (inheritance, death of a child) => patient becomes increasingly withdrawn => enters into visible depression => suffering more severe than is being made explicit

bori in present form on extreme end of spectrum; largely conned to women; therapy and entertainment... possession involves no paraphernalia and happens in broad daylight in peoples homes (even music is not necessary) was least objectionable, acceptable minimum; reshaped for use within Muslim jurisdiction

Diagnosis is made by the patient; goes to see a bori specialist who ask the possessed questions in order to ellicit answers which make the source of the original injury clear; dead kinsfolk only possess their living kin - advocates; experts elect not to be possessed because it would be less therapeutic and they would be possessed by familiar spirits who are objective; spirit is beyond contradiction so the possessed can say what she might not say otherwise and it must be heard and (at least) publicly accepted by her relatives; traumatic for the audience in their concern for the patient harsh living conditions; drinking disgusting concoctions (rotten and alive with grubs), sleeping out in the open on the bare ground alone, deprived of privacy normal food and possibly sleep => dissuade spirit from wanting to stay long ending ritual involves cleansing and a sacrice to a local sacred spot

Minor = the rst 2 are gentle intro; the musicians worrisome = the elephant and the hyena; Elephant = trademark is leprosy, spirit lacks ngers and speaks as if its nose has been destroyed; Hyena = squeaking and scratching its head, a parody of the deranged creatures of the forest: a paralyzed old woman and her son creatures of the underground: two serpent spirits associated with anthills and rainbows, spotted white on black - so far away that they can barely hear a call - these spirits to take control of you enacts a sense of loss (the rst four are humorous, the last 4 are not)

cult |klt| noun a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular gure or object: the cult of St. Olaf. a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister: a network of Satan-worshiping cults. [ usu. as modier ] a person or thing that is popular or fashionable, esp. among a particular section of society: a cult lm.