Exorcising angry deities and spirits of the dead: Spiritual and earthly battles of married women in Uttarakhand (India)

Abstract

Ethnographic analysis of the two main exorcistic practices in which married women are involved in Garhwal (India) shows that the theme of domestic conflict is central to both rituals. Addressing classical debates in anthropology about possession, this text raises two main questions: are these practices forms of feminine resistance to patriarchal social rules? And what is the notion of the person and her or his action in the world underlying these practices? Although these rituals may sometimes bring benefits to the women participating in them, women do not seem to perceive themselves nor to act as individuals who are resisting social structures, but more as part of collective networks of human and spiritual persons. As for the effects of these rituals, they are geared towards the preservation of family unity. This is achieved by the fact that, while evoking human conflict, these ritual devices subordinate it to the problem of divine conflict. Yet these practices do not only have an integrative function vis-à-vis conflicts that potentially endanger the family unit, but they also firmly establish the position of married women and their irreplaceability in the fabric of social life. Being close to the deities of their natal villages and easily affected by spirits of the dead, married women have an essential role in mediating with them and therefore in building and preserving the network of human and non-human beings on which the well-being of the family depends.