This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 69-11,648 HENNEY, Jeannette Hillman, 1918- SPIRIT POSSESSION BELIEF AND TRANCE BEHAVIOR IN A RELIGIOUS GROUP IN ST. VINCENT, BRITISH WEST INDIES. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1968 Anthropology University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan SPIRIT POSSESSION BELIEF AND TRANCE BEHAVIOR IN A RELIGIOUS GROUP IN ST. VINCENT, BRITISH WEST INDIES DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jeannette Hillman Henney, B.A., B.Sc. in Edu., M.A. ****** The Ohio State University 1968 Approved by A d v i s e d \ Department of Anthropology 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My research was conducted under the auspices of a research project, A Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, and has been supported in whole by PHS Research Grant MH 07^63. I owe a great debt to Dr. Leo Estel for urging me to enter the field of anthropology, for always being ready and willing to discuss my work, and for his help in planning my trip to St. Vincent and in carry-, ing out my study there. I especially want to thank Dr. Erika Bourguignon, my adviser, for her gracious generosity with one of her rarest possessions—time, for 'i her invaluable and thoughtful criticism and suggestions, for her extreme patience, her constant good humor and encouragement. Her letters while I was in the field were of tremendous help and were greatly appreciated. It has been a great privilege to have been associated with the research project that she directed. I am .very grateful to Dr. Thomas Williams, Dr. R'. K. Dentan, and Dr. Estel for reading my thesis and for their very helpful criticisms and comments. To all the Vincentians with whom I came in contact, I want to express my heartfelt thanks for making my visit to their lovely island such a pleasure. Their courtesy and friendliness were indeed refresh­ ing. I want to thank Miss Nesta Paynter for her interest in my study ii and for her part in accomplishing it. And I want to acknowledge the cooperation and kindness of Pointer Blucher of the Spiritual Baptist Church and Brother Henk Huisman of the Streams of Power Church. I offer a special thanks to the members of their congregations who made me feel so welcome. I want to thank Mrs. Madge Sanders for coping and re-coping with the task of typing my thesis and for her optimism in its outcome. Last, since they are secure in their knowledge of my feelings for them all, I want to thank my wonderful family, in suite ef whom I have finally finished, and to whom I lovingly dedicate this effort. VITA April 15, 1918 Born - Ambridge, Pennsylvania 1939 ................... B.A. (cum laude), The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1939 ................... B.Sc. in Edu., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1956-1961 . Teacher, Columbus Public Schools 1961 ................... M.A., Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. American Indian Beadwork in Middle North America and the Influence of European M aterials and Patterns. 1961 ................... Teaching Assistant, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1963-1967 • • Research Assistant, Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1967-1968 . Graduate Research Associate, Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, Department of Anthropol­ ogy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS "Acceptance and Rejection of Bori," Cross-Cultural Study of Dissocia­ tional States, Working Paper #1, 1964. "Instructions for Coding Ethnographic Texts According to Outlines," Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, 1964 "The Luo and Mr. Gluckman," Paper presented to Section I, at the 75th Annual Meeting of the Ohio Academy of Science, Columbus, Ohio, April 22, 1966. "Trance Behavior Among the Shakers of St. Vincent," Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, Working Paper #8, 1967* Abridged in: Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review, in p re s s . "Cultural Context of Possession and Trance States in North America," CrossrCultural Study of Dissociational States, Working Paper #13, 1968. "Cultural Context of Possession and Trance States in South America," Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, Working Paper #14, 1968. "’Mourning,' A Religious Ritual Among the Spiritual Baptists of St. Vincent: An Experience in Sensory Deprivation," Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, Working Paper #21, 1968. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Anthropology Comparative Study of Religion. Professor Bourguignon Culture Change. Professors Bourguignon and Pettay Caribbean Societies. Professors Estel and Bourguignon v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................................................... i i VITA ........................................................................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................v i i LIST OF MAPS.................................................................................................................... v i i i LIST OF PLATES ...................................................................................................................ix INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 1 C hapter I . THEORY AND METHODOLOGY............................................................................ 3 Aims o f :;he Study Terminology The Caribbean Methodology Significance of Study I I . THE SETTING ................................................................................................21 III. THE SHAKERS .......................................................................................................39 What the Shakers Are Who the Shakers Are The Shaker Churches Internal Organization Shaker Meetings Blessing a House Rituals After a Death IV. IMPORTANT SHAKER RITUALS: BAPTISM AND MOURNING . 71 Baptism—Becoming a Shaker Mourning--Becoming a More Important Shaker vi V. THE POSSESSION-TRANCE PHENOMENON AMONG THE SHAKERS . 88 V I. THE TRANCE PHENOMENON AMONG THE SHAKERS: MOURNING AS AN EXPERIENCE IN SENSORY DEPRIVATION.............................. 105 Sensory Deprivation Experiments Comparison of Shaker Ritual, Sensory Deprivation and Experimental Sensory Deprivation V II. FUNCTIONS OF SHAKERISM............................................................................122 V III. COMPARISON OF SHAKERISM AND SIMILAR RELIGIOUS GROUPS IN THE CARIBBEAN.............................................................................137 IX. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS............................................................................l 6 k Appendix A. STREAMS OF POW ER......................................................................................... 172 B. M A P S ....................................................................................................................189 C. PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SHAKERS IN ST. VINCENT....................................192 D. A CHALK DESIGN MADE FOR A SHAKER ’'MOURNING11 RITUAL . .2 0 0 REFERENCES............................................................................................................................205 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. First Level Trances ............................................................................... 100 2. Progress of a Trance Reaching Second Level and Returning to N orm al ...........................................................................102 3. Possible Sequence Of Trance Levels for an Individual During a Total Trance Period .... 103 U. Trance Maps for Several Individuals Superimposed to Show Fields of Reinforcem ent ................................................103 viii LIST OF MAPS Map Page 1. The Caribbean........................................................................................... 190 2. St. Vincent, Showing the Locations of Pointer B.’s Churches ..................................................................................191 ix LIST OF PLATES Plate Page I . THE SHAKER CHURCH AT LOWMANS...................................................................193 1. The exterior of the unfinished church. 2. The interior of the church. I I . AN OUTDOOR SHAKER MEETING..........................................................................l$h 1. A meeting held at the intersection of two roads. 2. A closer view. Woman in trance in foreground. I I I . SHAKER A LTA R S...................................................................................................195 1. The sim ple a l t a r in th e church a t Lowmans. 2. A more elaborate altar in the Mount Moriah Church. IV. SHAKER CANDIDATES FOR BAPTISM................................................................... 196 1. Shaker "bowers" in the posture they are required to assume. 2. The woman on the right above in a trance and being supported by a cult mother. V. DISSOCIATION DURING SHAKER MEETINGS ........................... 197 1. Woman in left foreground in trance. 2. A group of trancers. Y I. PREPARING "PILGRIMS" FOR "MOURNING" ............................................... 198 1. Washing the "pilgrims'" feet. 2. Tying the bands over the "pilgrims"' eyes. V II. SHAKER "MOURNERS"...........................................................................................