Dinka spirit healer

82 x 82 mm | Lantern slide glass

MountDimension:

82 x 82 mm

Date of Print:

Unknown

Same Image As:

1967.26.154

Previous Other Number:

V.e.37 (427)

Accession Number:

1967.26.185

Description:

Luwal, the tiet or spirit-healer of Gwala village, conducting a second rite of healing for Acole the wife of Bul, who was said by Luwal to be possessed by the spirit Deng. Seated on an ox-skin near the shrine of Lerpio, the spirit possessing Luwal himself, he rubs and shakes a gourd as the spirit possession takes hold of him. At the end of the ceremony he told Bul that an ox would have to be sacrificed to heal the possession of his wife.

Photographer:

Charles Gabriel Seligman

Date of Photo:

1910 March

Region:

[Southern Sudan] Jonglei Gwala

Group:

Dinka Bor

NamedPerson:

Luwal, Acole, Bul

Publication History:

Contemporary Publication - Reproduced as Plate XVII Fig.2 (facing page 188) in C.G. & B. Seligman's Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan (London, Routledge 1932), with the caption "Divination ceremony at Gwala" [CM 2/9/2005]

PRM Source:

London School of Economics and Political Science

Acquired:

Donated 1967

Other Owners:

C. G. Seligman slide collection

Class:

Ritual , Religion , Medicine

Keyword:

Vessel Gourd

Activity:

Divining

Event:

Ceremony Sickness

Documentation:

Manual Catalogue in Related Documents File

Primary Documentation:

Accession Book Entry - [1967.26] THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, HOUGHTON STREET, ALDWYCH, LONDON, W.C.E. PER MR ANTHONY FORGE - SUDAN. Box containing 309 lantern slides (3 1/4” x 3 1/4”) made from photographs taken by the late Professor C. G. SELIGMAN in various parts of the SUDAN. All slides numbered and labelled. Catalogue in file (“Seligman Slide Collection”). Additional Accession Book Entry - [in pencil] 18 Parks Rd.

Manual catalogue entry (thermofax catalogue copy in folder '27-06 Seligman Slide Collection') - "V.e.37 Dinka. Tiet diagnosing sickness"

Note on lantern slide ms ink - "V.e.37 Dinka. Tiet diagnosing sickness. 427. CGS."

Other Information:

Archive note - This is from the same photograph as [1967.26.154] although cropped slightly differently. [Chris Morton 15/10/2004] Ethnographic context - In C.G. & B. Seligman's Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan (London, Routledge 1932), page 188, they note that 'We had the opportunity in 1910 of observing Luwal treating a patient, Acole, the wife of Bul. When Acole first became ill the tiet was consulted, and he, being possessed by Lerpio, said that the illness was sent by Deng and that a Bullock must be sacrificed...Luwal, sitting on an ox-skin spread on the ground outside the shrine of Lerpio, undid the skin wrapping round a large gourd rattle and placed the skins near him on the ox-hide. Holding the gourd he rubbed it in his hands, shook it, and soon shut his eyes and trembled, being now possessed by Lerpio."

Recorder:

Christopher Morton [15/10/2004] [Southern Sudan Project]