Zar

[Ɔkyeame Kwame]

Zar is a religious custom, probably originating among the pre-Abrahamic religion of Ethiopia and Eritrea and having spread to Sudan, Egypt, Djibouti, and Somalia. The custom involves the possession of an individual (usually female) by a spirit.

Mazaher, Zar music and songs
Mazaher is an ensemble in which women play a leading role. The musicians of Mazaher, Umm Sameh, Umm Hassan, Nour el Sabah are among the last remaining Zar practitioners in Egypt. The music is inspired by the three different musical styles of the Zar tradition practiced in Egypt. One of the African dimensions of Egypt, Zar music unfolds through rich poly-rhythmic drumming: it's songs are distinctly different from other Egyptian music traditions. The music of Mazaher is inspired by the three different styles of Zar music practiced in Egypt-the Egyptian or Upper Egyptian Zar, Abu Gheit Zar and the Sudanese, or African Zar.

Zar is a community healing ritual of drumming and dancing whose tradition is carried mainly by women (men have the secondary roles) and whose main participants are women. The Zar is said to have originated in East Africa and, although its practice is disappearing in Egypt, the ritual flourishes in other parts of East Africa and in the Arabian Peninsula. The ritual has been misperceived as a form of exorcism. However, the aim of Zar is to harmonise the inner lives of the participants. As well as drawing women who are seriously ill, the Zar is a space in which women can work out the tensions and frustrations of social constraints which limit their movements, their dress, their voices and even their dreams. Communication with unseen spirits is driven by the insistent and varied drum rhythms and by the energetic movements of the participants in an intense rhythmic interaction which can lead to an altered state of consciousness and, even, trance. The experience can be cathartic, a physical and spiritual purification that leaves one calm and ready to face the world again.

A featured instrument in the Zar ritual in Egypt is the tamboura, the six-string lyre, which, like the Zar practice itself, exists in various forms in an area stretching across East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. Although this sacred instrument is pictured on the walls of tombs and temples of Pharaonic Egypt, the practice of Zar in ancient Egypt is still a matter of conjecture. Other instruments are the mangour, a leather belt sewn with many goat hooves, and various percussion instruments.

The marginal status of Zar in Egypt can be attributed to a complex dynamic of magic, mystery, suspiciously un-Islamic spirits and, perhaps, simply because it provides an alternative to mainstream social, healing and religious practices. Because Zar is part of the underground culture, the music and songs have survived with little interference from outside influences. At the same time, the ritual has become limited in its form and many of the songs have been lost. At this time only 25 persons within the whole of Egypt still carry the musical legacy of the Zar.

The ECCA is not researching or documenting the ritualistic aspects of the Zar, rather it focuses documenting and promoting this unique musical legacy. ECCA has gathered together some Zar performers and motivated them to go through lengthy sessions of rehearsing, remembering and recording. Mazaher is the result of these efforts.