Author(s) :

Assefa Balcha.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

This study historically contextualizes the adoption of the Atete spirit possession and the rituals associated with it following the settlement in Wallo of the Oromo from the end of the sixteenth century or the beginning of the seventeenth century. Though the ritual has persisted in the rural areas until the present time, the majority of women in most urban centers were compelled to stop offering feasts to the Atete spirit in the years following the coming to power of the military government in 1974. Despite the dearth of written sources in the area under investigation, the study makes use of oral tradition, and knowledgeable informants endeavored to reconstruct the locally held beliefs in respect of Atete possession and the ritual practices deemed indispensable to cajole and create peace with this naturally nonviolent spirit, and its adaptation to the new cultural and religious environment. The research, which is extensively based on oral sources, does not claim to be exhaustive. However, it will hopefully cast useful insight into this poorly documented and investigated subject.

No. of Downloads :

2