7/14/10 – Cairo, Egypt -
Almost every wednesday a group of singers and performers gather for a Zar at a small club called in Cairo. The group was formed as an attempt to save the dying ritual.
ZÄr or Zaar (زار) is a pagan religious custom, apparently originating in central Ethiopia during the eighteenth century, later spreading throughout East and North Africa.
ZÄr custom involves the possession of an individual (usually female) by a spirit. It is practiced in Egypt, Sudan, and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The ZÄr cult served as a refuge for women and effeminate men in conservative, Muslim-dominated Sudan.
(Credit Image: David Degner / www.IncendiaryImage.com)
