On obsession and trance in the traditional culture of Sardinia in past and present (the case of Barbagia)

Abstract

The present report is devoted to obsession and trance studied through first-hand ethnographical data. Geographically, the focus of the current study was one of European regions, namely Sardinia with its mountainous area of Barbagia. Due to the lack research into these phenomena in the region the author makes use of her own field data as well as terms introduced by Erika Bourguignon and Iosif Jordania and tries to approach the issue from the perspective of cultural anthropology rather than psychology and psychiatry, looking at these phenomena with no reference to Christianity, but as something based on local beliefs, mindset, rites and rituals. The current study analyses three traditional phenomena: the circle dance, the marching of carnival revelers in one of the local villages and the entry into the trance of shepherds, which are the predominant socio-cultural strata of the population of the region and the main “keepers” of tradition and local culture. The research revealed, in particular, that up to the present day one must retain ancient religious foundations in order to be able to get into the state of trance and obsession.