Senegalese ritual to cleanse women of bad spirits


  • Photographer
    Diana Mrazikova
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Women in features
  • Date of Photograph
    April 2010

N Deup ceremony, Senegal - Senegalese ceremony that treats women that are believed to be crazy and possessed by bad spirits. During couple day long ceremony that happens once in two years, different rituals are performed on women to get the bad spirits out of their bodies.

Story

Senegalese ceremony that treats women that are believed to be crazy and possessed by bad spirits. During couple day long ceremony that happens once in two years, different rituals are performed on women to get the bad spirits out of their bodies such as spitting special milk blend on them and washing them with it, the cow's sacrifice (the bad spirit moves to the cow's body), traditional Senegalese dance, that gets many women to the state of trance and the others. This ceremony cost family of the sick woman sometimes more than a marriage. Many Senegalese people are afraid to attend the ceremony, because they believe that while the bad bad spirits are in the air they could jump on them and posses them. Actually, there are certain times of the day when women don' t leave the house, because they believe, that it's a "bad spirit hour". This ceremony is performed by tribe Lebu in Senegal.

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