From Possession to Co-habitation

Dissociation--or rather, controlled dissociation, culturally modeled dissociation--is one distinguishing feature for a diverse set of cultural practices anthropologists have labelled spirit possession. The cultural modelling of temporary, episodic displacement by alternate beings, is another distinguishing feature.  Anthropologists have referred to such diverse beings collectively as spirits. I have offered a shift in focus from the episodes of dissociation, episodes we have called possession, toward a more inclusive conception of lives lived in the company of spirits, that is, of life lived in the acknowledgment of the presence of spirits, with and alongside them, that is, as hosts or mediums but also as consociates, friends, neighbours, kin or perhaps as political subjects. In sum, I redescribe and reconceptualize my subject matter as cohabitation rather than as possession. This perspective has emerged gradually over the 50 (!) years I have studied the presence of spirits in both Mayotte and northwest Madagascar. The two places are closely interconnected, but cohabitation has a different inflection in each place.

ArgO-EMR Seminar Series Michaelmas Term 2026

Theme: Rethinking Spirit Possession in Anthropological and Historical Contexts

Wednesdays, 5.15pm, Pauling Centre, 58a Banbury Road, Weeks 1, 3, 5 and 7. Also On Teams.

Convened by David Mozina and Elisabeth Hsu.