| dc.description.abstract | This research was conducted on the Brekete Gatsi cult in Ghana to investigate the use of the body in action during the dance in the ritual context. Brekete is a possession cult found among the Ewe’s of the Volta Region. Devotees in this cult worship the deities Kunde and Ablewa on every Friday, Sunday and during ceremonial days. They also propitiate other pantheons who are children of Kunde and Ablewa. During ritual moments, they call on these deities who manifest themselves by embodying trained mediums and to enter into an act of communion with the religious community. This state of embodiment is manipulated by rhythms paralleled with ritual sacrifices and dance which the community beliefs attains efficacy in the possession.
Therefore, during my intensive research in the cult, I used a participatory observation and ethnographic technique to observe the various dimensions in the processes to which the possession ritual is enacted. Thus, my focus was on the body in action and how they were used to gain access into the celestial world. Hence, I identified dance as an instrument and a medium by which the physical evidence of the possession came about.
To that effect and through the phenomenon that religious possession dance is laden with complexities and meaning, this study hereby, would develop how the ritual processes and dance teaches us about ritual efficacy of possession dance among the Gatsi family. It would further offer insight into the idea of performance and performativity in the practices and finally, look at the oppositions between the ordinary and extraordinary within the ritual context. | nb_NO |
