Description:
Transmission processes in the Burmese cult known as the cult of the Thirty-
Seven Lords are examined here through the analysis of three succession cases
among the ritual specialists of this cult. I seek to understand how transmission
works in a cult whose main ritual manifestation is spirit possession that
involves the logic of inspiration and vocation, rather than the logic of reproduction
and succession. A careful examination of contrasted cases reveals that
succession among spirit mediums, rather than obeying fixed rules, actually
involves the differentiated transmission of assets made of ritual property,
functions, positions, and knowledge. Various combinations -- of spirit possession
and affiliation or fictive kinship, of inspiration and tradition -- appear to
operate at different levels of the cult, with inversions of values sustaining both
its dynamics and its reproduction.
keywords: spirit possession--ritual specialists--transmission--succession--tradition
Source/publisher:
"Asian Ethnology" Volume 68, Number 2, 2009 via The Free Library
Date of Publication:
2009-09-22
Date of entry:
2010-12-22
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English