4 from ritual to theater and back: the efficacy ... - AAAARG.ORG

magnitudes of performance 297
could have added Korea and Bali, as well as certain African, Afro-
American, and Euro-American religious sects) – the entranced person
will
be able to provide a correct portrayal of the god that has entered him
[because of all the contextual knowledge and memories available; that]
the person possessed will be in just the right social relation to those
who are watching; that possession occurs at just the right moment in
the ceremonial undertaking, the possessed one carrying out his ritual
obligations to the point of participating in a kind of skit with persons
possessed at the time with other spirits.
(Goffman 1959: 74)
Goffman emphasized that his observations are usually not shared by
the possessed people. “Participants in the cult believe that possession is
a real thing and that persons are possessed at random by gods who they
cannot select” (1959: 74).
This break between the experience of the observer and that of the
participant is one of the most interesting things about trance possession
from the point of view of performance theory. This break is on a
continuum with the less radical but still distinctly observable breaks
between the experiences of performers and audiences in all kinds of
performances. In terms of trance a very few examples must suffice as
indicators of a general tendency.
Insiders: Shakers of St Vincent: “Power is a breeze descended that
comes as a rushing wind into the heart. When It leaves, you feel
something leaving you.”
(Henney 1974: 59)
Outsiders: Shakers of St Vincent: Three “levels” of trance are perceived.
“The first external sign of dissociation may be a convulsive jerk of one
or both arms, of one or both shoulders, or of the head. It may be a
shudder, shiver, or trembling; a sudden shout, sob, hiss, or series of
unintelligible sounds. . . . As more and more individuals throughout
the church become involved in the random symptoms of the first level
. . ., a subtle change of behavior characteristic of the second level
takes place. . . . Idiosyncratic movements and sounds, and breathing