Malombo tradtitional dance

When the bones are thrown in the event of a woman or a girl (or occassionally a man) becoming ill, the diagnosis might be thar the illness is of a spiritual rather than physical nature. This usually means that the spirit of an ancestor wants to take possession of the patient. Such a visitation is regarded as an honour and the subsequnt proceedings are intended to allow the spirit access to the patient and not to exorcise it. The helpo f a witchdoctor, who is acquanited with the spirits, is sought. He/she summons a group of trained followers (malombe) to accompany him/her.

The preliminary dance session, the tshele, takes place indoors. The singing is accompanied only by the rhythmic shaking of hand rattles. When the patients begin to respond to the music by swaying their head and body, the music and dancing intensify until the patient falls forward and collapses in a trance. The spirit is then identified, and speaks through the patient in a strange tongue.