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SADAMA 651
minor spirit beings in other cultures. Muslim healers, for example, have been
effective among the Sadama in counteracting the negative effects of spirit possession.
Typical is the situation of small children being possessed by Dorissa,
tht spirit of insanity. In one known case, a small girl showed symptoms of
possession by tearing off her clothing, grinding her teeth and running amok. A
Muslim healer came and slaughtered a black goat, passed the lung of the animal
in a circular motion over the head of the child and beat her with a whip while
ordering Dorissa to leave. Another case involved a small boy who had been
guarding millet from marauding flocks of birds along the Gidabo River, the
reputed home of Dorissa. The boy was taken with violent seizures of sobbing
and inability to recognize people. The healer was called and by using the same
techniques succeeded in driving Dorissa back to the river. These techniques show
a syncretic relationship with those of the Sidamo curers, who require the possessed
to drink an infusion from the bark and roots of a special tree before
whipping the person and ordering Dorissa to leave.
Trimingham has suggested three stages in the Islamic change process: adoption
of superficial elements, acquisition of new techniques for supernatural control
and genuine belief. The Sadama appear to be in the first and second stages of
assimilating Islamic beliefs and practices, as indicated by the adoption of clothing
styles, dietary practices, certain ceremonial and dreaming techniques, as well
as resort to Islamic healers. There is also evidence for the beginnings of the
third stage in the building of the first crude mosques, sporadic performance of
ritual prayers, the keeping of the Ramadan fast and, in at least one instance,
participation in the pilgrimage to Mecca. Nevertheless, from observation and
accounts of behavior and belief by Muslim converts, there is no indication of
significant change in traditional kinship practices, belief in spirit beings like
shatan or honoring the spirits of dead elders.
Converts, while participating in all aspects of the generational class promotion
rituals (lua) and animal sacrifices, avoid the custom of putting blood on their
foreheads. Despite the development of a syncretic relationship between these
elements of certain aspects of Islam, there is no evidence of an awareness of
the Shariah and other aspects of Islamic law.
There will continue to be Sidamo converts to Islam, but it is unlikely that the
faith will come to dominate Sidamo culture. A pervasive commitment to Islam
seems unlikely given the contradictions and competition with Christianity and
traditional beliefs. Adherents of the latter are still predominant in numbers despite
several decades of proselytization by the universalistic religions. Instead, there
is a greater possibility for increased syncretization of all three belief systems,
especially in times of crisis. Recently, for example, the Wando Magano movement
has combined Christian and Islamic concepts and symbols with traditional
ones, at a time when many Sadama have felt threatened from the pressures of
an increasingly cash-oriented economy and dramatic political changes affecting
all of Ethiopian society.