Darkness, Drums, and Deprivation: Trance Mediumship and the Senses

Maryam Rasoulian Sweet Briar College

Preface: I belong to an Afro-Caribbean religion in which possession, while restricted to certain members within the framework of the religion, is desirable. That being said, uncontrolled and unwanted possession does occur. I myself had experienced problems with unwanted possessions in public places, and was discussing with my initiated godbrother how to avoid such a scenario. The school choir was to be performing a song accompanied by several African drums, and the last thing I wanted was to fall over in front of sixty people that I only vaguely knew that would have no idea what was going on. After deciding on a host of precautions, I told my godbrother that it was the concentrated sound in the small rehearsal room that was too much the performances were no problem. Well honey, theres a reason people drum in someones tiny basement with everyone packed in there!, was his reply. And that brings me to the focus of this paper. In ecstatic religions the world over, external stimuli is used to produce either trance states or possession in adherents. Are these

stimuli necessary for the production of the sacred states, or can mediums effectively attain these states without it? We will examine this question while narrowing its field to three religious traditions that have their roots in Kardecian Spiritism: Afro-Brazilian Umbanda, Espiritismo, and the African-American Spiritual Churches of New Orleans. We will observe the history of these religious movements and the necessity of trance/possession. First, a brief history: The Fox sisters of New York began a new religious movement in the 19th century with their ability to communicate with spirits. After their table-rapping sessions caught the public eye, mediumship and sances began to rise in popularity. The lengths that mediums went to in order to produce not only messages from the other side, but sometimes physical objects of otherworldly origin, led many to accuse early mediums of outright fraud. However, it seems agreed upon that certain conditions are necessary for mediums to receive a spirit while in trance. Low light was preferred; indeed, sometimes a medium would be covered in cloth or even shut into a cabinet. Though these measures were also taken to alleviate paying customers of accusations of fraud, it was often stated

that the spirits would not appear or speak through the medium should the room be too bright. The Spiritist departure from Spiritualism began with Hippolyte Lon Denizard Rivail, a Frenchman known by his pen name of Allan Kardec. Not a medium himself, he began to devise an offshoot of Spiritualism known as Spiritism to Kardec, anyone who believed in what did not only belong to the physical was by default a Spiritualist, and so he made a distinction between a person who merely just believed in the immaterial to one who subscribed to his philosophical belief system. Additionally, Kardec considered Spiritualism to be trickery and wanted to distinguish his practices from those that could be deemed fraudulent(Olmos and Aravinisi, 174). Kardecs books were best-sellers; at some points outselling even the Bible(Romberg, 71). As such, it was only a matter of time before they came into use by all classes of people. Spiritism was quickly and easily picked up by those who had an ancestral or cultural link to belief in life after death and communication with spirits. Hence, Spiritism was quickly assimilated into Afro-Latin communities, especially those with Catholic leanings, as Kardec was a former Catholic and his writings, though opposed by the French Catholic Church, were meant to be

applicable to all religions and were easily applied to the folk Catholicism that many Creole communities already practiced(Olmos and Aravinisi, 177). Kardecs first book was published in 1857, and Spiritism quickly spread to the United States, the Caribbean, and Brazil. In Brazil, we can see it reflected in the rites of Umbanda; in the Caribbean, with Espiritismo, and in the United States in the Spiritual Church movement, particularly in New Orleans. Umbanda. What contrasts are there between Spiritists in Brazil and those who employ Spiritist doctrines within Umbanda? Firstly, there are race divisions within religious practices in Brazil there are even stratifications between Umbanda practitioners. Spiritists in Brazil, sometimes called Kardecists, tend to be white and middle-class, and their spirit guides range from famous Brazilians to European intellectuals to Asian sages(Hess, 15). Although Umbanda practitioners are more mixed in terms of race and class, there are divisions in the ways they incorporate and care for their spirits, as well as the types of spirits that they incorporate. Some Umbanda centers are only one step above Brazilian Candombl: They serve and incorporate the African orix, as well as the caboclos and pretos velhos, practice animal

sacrifice, and drum; the main difference is that their songs are in Portuguese and not Yoruba. It should be noted that although studies have been made of multiple Umbanda centers, Espiritismo meetings/misas, and AfricanAmerican Spiritual Churches, and that there are similarities and common threads running throughout these practices, they vary from center to center, group to group, and church to church; what is practiced in one church may not be allowed in another. There are some Umbanda centers that bring on possession trance with drumming, others that have nothing to do with drumming generally due to a division, as earlier described, in race and class. Espiritismo. Although we can translate Espiritismo literally to Spiritism from Spanish, the practice of Espiritismo primarily in the Caribbean(Puerto Rico and Cuba), but also practiced in Latin America and the United States has its own unique practices. The main service in Espiritismo is the misa espiritual, or spiritual mass. It is similar to a Spiritualist sance in that spirits are called upon and incorporated by mediums, and in that spirits come to give messages as well as become elevated by those present. However, there are many variations in misas depending upon the culture, place, and events that are in correlation to

the service. Some misas may be entirely based on Kardecs literature The Gospel According to Spiritism leaves one with an outline for a service that may be used with the specific accouterments of Latin Spiritism some may be performed as a way to propitiate an initiate into Santerias ancestors before their full initiation, and I have been present at a misa that went more in line with an Umbanda service than anything else, with prayers and songs in Portuguese. Misas could begin with those who are receiving messages from their spirit guides these mediums may not even be in what is considered a trance state, but rather they are receiving messages from their spirit guides that must be directed at someone present in the misa, or at least presented to someone who can deliver the message to the person in question. Misas are not only for the giving and receiving of messages, but participating in them is also its own form of mediumship development. The mediums heading the misa prepare the space this preparation depends on the type of Espiritismo being practiced. In the varied misas I have seen, the room has been fumigated with incense, either with or without an accompanying song, and everyone present must wash themselves before the service begins, usually with some kind of herbal or perfumed water. These precautions, as well as a prayer asking that only good spirits enter into the space,

create sacred space for those participating, allowing even someones living room to become a temple for the spirits. It also allows the mediums to relax and be receptive to incoming messages. Misas, like Umbanda ceremonies and some church ceremonies, are candlelit hearkening back to the original Spiritualist teaching of a dimly lit room being conducive to spiritual communication. Spiritual Churches. Although the beliefs and practices of AfricanAmericans involved in Spiritual Churches clearly have come from both Spiritualism and Kardecian Spiritism, many modern-day adherents downplay or deny these influences. As the United States itself is considered a melting pot, so is the Spiritual Church a melting pot of Spiritualism, Kardecian Spiritism, Pentecostalism, Catholicism, Vodou, Palo Monte, and the African-American practice of hoodoo(which also has some origin in the Congo religion of Palo Monte). Even though the Spiritual Churches of New Orleans do not ascribe their origins to Spiritualism or Spiritism, present within its practices are the trance roots that tie them to the aforementioned religions. Spiritual Churches, though more Protestant in its leanings than Umbanda or Espiritismo, still has a pantheon of spirits that it appeals to for messages. However, the emphasis is on being possessed or entranced by

the Holy Spirit. Methods that are used in Espiritismo and Umbanda have their matches here, even in the United States enclosed spaces, music with repetitive lyrics, even dancing and drumming, though the drumming may be provided by the snare drum of a church band rather than by the trained Brazilian drummer in an Umbanda ceremony. Here also there is a departure: As in other denominations of Christianity, particularly Pentecostalism, speaking in tongues is also a sign of trance or spirit possession; if a person receives the Holy Spirit and speaks in tongues, they may be considered no less gifted. (That being said, perhaps speaking in tongues could be considered the sign of contact with a spirit who has not yet been elevated to the point of being able to communicate correctly through that medium!) Another difference we see in Spiritual Churches is the ability for members to go into trance based on excitability although this may happen in Umbanda or Espiritismo services, they are structured differently than a church service is, particularly a church service that derives its Christian influences from the Protestant denominations of Pentecostals and Baptists - not the structured rituals of Catholicism. Certainly a gifted medium could be said to go into trance quickly; these women in

Alexander Allands Possession in a Revivalistic Negro Church seem to snap into trance on cue:
"After several minutes B. asked the congregation if there were any there who were seeking. Four women eventually went to the 'mountain.' B. told the congregation that they 'were going to see something.' He then asked the women to hold up their right hands and to look at the floor. They did so. B. told them that the Devil was down there and that no good came from that direction. Then he told them to look up at the ceiling. After they did this he told them that Jesus was up there and that He would come to them. He lowered his hand in a swift movement and three of the four women fell to the"floor in trance. This was the signal for several of the other women to go into trance and with this the band began to play. The trances were more violent than usual and several women fell to the floor."

Alland describes trance states in these churches as not lasting for very long an hour is the longest that he records someone being in trance or possessed, compared to someone who may be possessed for hours in Umbanda. A person holding a possession for more than is necessary in Espiritismo may have their spirit dismissed by another person clapping their hands forcefully over the persons head; when the misa is over, it is over, and spirits who overstay their welcome must be sent on their way and not allowed to interfere with the mediums life.

What, then, can we infer from these methods of perpetuating trance or possession in these religious movements? Firstly and most obviously, the methods used to bring about these states are meant not only to bring the mediums into trance, but to serve the spirits that are being asked to bring their wisdom to the everyday lives of the practitioners. Often we hear of senses being heightened when one is repressed. For example, ones hearing increasing in a dark room, or being able to taste food better when blindfolded. These restrictions, then, could be seen as productive to a mediums ability to function within her religious paradigm. As her worldly senses are removed, so then do the metaphysical senses increase. Although there are mediums who can go into trance or become possessed without the benefit of ritual time and space, it could be argued that physical senses are inversely proportional to the otherworldly senses that these adherents seek to cultivate.