Stambali or stambeli is both a music genre and a music based therapeutic possession rite practiced in parts of Tunisia, primarily by Black people of slave descent.
It combines music, dances and songs. During the music, some participants enter into a trance and embody supernatural entities, as a form of adorcism. The term more generally refers to the series of practices, of which the stambali constitutes the last stage, with a curative purpose or to ward off the evil eye. It brings together elements of West African and Maghrebi origin. Its beliefs and practices were not traditionally written down.
Possession by spirits isn't just about becoming the other. It also navigates relationships with others. The usage and maintenance of spirit traditions by displaced Black Africans shaped the cultural encounter between them and non-Black Tunisians in terms other than slavery or servitude. The ritual and music of stambeli is a product of two different cultures in the Sahelo-Saharan region coming into close contact, ans a commentary on how these cultures were brought in contact and proceeded to remain in contact. Stambeli does not seek to set Black and Non-Black regions of Africa apart. It brings connections between the two within the neglected Sahelo-Saharan context.
Sadok Rezgui describes this rite as a "kind of celebration in which Black Tunisians participate, where dance and instrumental sounds mingle at a frenetic pace".. Some hypotheses link it to Haitian voodoo or Brazilian candomblé. However, it seems to be more directly related to Hausa practices, which are distinct from the influences of traditional Yoruba Religion and Voodun that originated Voodoo and Candomblé. Like most adorcist practices, stambeli believes that 1) the body is permeable to outside forces, 2) spirits and humans live alongside each other in the natural world and the actions of one can affect the other, and 3) music and dance are the methods through which positive human-spirit relations are formed and maintained.
A similar phenomenon is known in Morocco (gnawa), Algeria (diwan, derdeba, and "the Seven Springs"), Libya (makeli and sambani), Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East (zār), and in West Africa (bori). Stambali is most similar to othet Maghrebi practices that thoroughly fuse the veneration of Muslim saints with that of African spirits, though to a lesser extent zar also incorporates saint veneration.
Modern musicians also take inspiration from stambeli and perform these derivations of the tradition for entertainment, without the context of spirit rituals.
Origins Although the meaning and origin of the word stambali are unclear, it is established that this rite originated among Black populations originating from further south in Africa, many of whom were trafficked to Tunisia as slaves. Some stambeli pracitioners hold that stambeli comes from "sambeli", a word they say refers to spirit possession practices in the Bilad as-Sudan. We do indeed find the word "sambeli" referring to illness caused by sorcery among the Songhay, and "sambale" among the Hausa as a "dance of youths and maidens". However, Tunisians outside of stambeli networks assume it comes from the word "istanbuli", because some Ottoman officials and rulers under the banner of Ottoman authority patronized stambeli groups. Stambeli can refer to the overall practice, the music, or just the trance ritual.
Possibly based on the Hausa Bori rite, as well as other Bilad as-Sudan spirit practices, it retains the practice of ritual possession, mediumship, and divination also found in those practices.Nadia Chahed, “ The stambali: a ritual, a tradition ”, La Presse de Tunisie, August 15, 2009 (ISSN 0330-9991 ). In a syncretic approach to integration into Tunisian society, it assimilated Muslim beliefs and practices such as the popular cult of saints practiced throughout the Maghreb, which led to the creation of a pantheon composed of African spirits and Muslim saints. The first written evidence of spirit possession rituals practiced by Black Tunisians is from the 1700s. There may have also been Amazigh practices from before that point.
There are at least two typed of stambeli. One is associated with the communal houses, such as Dar Barnu, and the other is more strongly associated with zawiyas (saint shrines) like Sidi 'Ali el-Asmar. The two specific groups named as representatives here are the two biggest and most active stambeli groups in Tunis. The two kind of stambeli define themselves as opposites. A major difference between the two is that in zawiya-stambeli, only the 'arifa is possessed by spirits on behalf of the clients. The clients themselves are passive observers.
The followers of the Stambali, sometimes called "bilalians", also consider Sidi Bilal, a Black slave freed by Abu Bakr and the first muezzin of Islam, as the founder of their brotherhood, a myth intended to legitimize their presence within a society dominated by Islam. A similar belief is found in some varieties of zār, such as zār tumbura (which is mainly practiced by Black non-Arabs from Sudan).
Others recount that Bū Sa'idiyya was the first stambeli musician. Bū Sa'idiyya was a hunter from a region further south in Africa (probably again, meant to evoke Bilad as-Sudan). One day, he came back from hunting to find his only daughter, Sa'idiyya, gone. He found out she had been kidnapped by a slave caravan and traveled along their route to find her. He reached Tunisia, but it had taken a long time and his clothes were ragged, and he played metal clappers on the street while singing and begging for help in finding her. Unfortunately, he never succeeded. However, his appearance and music that marked him as an outsider in Tunisia made him recognizable to Black Tunisians, and he is said to have helped them find communal houses where people from their own cultures and regions lived.
Terminology Stambeli can refer to the overall tradition, music, or a specific ceremony. The songs are also called "nuba" (meaning "one's turn").
The spirits are called salhin, khul (Black), or in-nas il-ukhrin (the other people). Salhin (singular: salih) is typically translated as "holy spirits", and the term puts the African spirits on equal level to the heterogeneous Muslim saints. Thus the spirits are identified as Black, holy, and other.
There are multiple words for possession and possessed people in Tunisia. Meskun refers to a person one who has a spirit living peacefully within them. A memluk is a person who is possessed by a spirit. A medrub is a person who has been hit by a spirit. Mejnun is used to refer to people suffering from aggression caused by spirits, and may simply be used to mean "crazy".
Spirits and Saints African spirits across the continent are commonly grouped into families or societies corresponding to neighboring ethnolinguistic groups, immigrant groups, local ancestors, colonial officers, religious leaders, and so on. For stambeli, while it is seen as other, it has an inclusive ethos. It is equally comfortable interacting with Muslim and sudani spirits.
Both the "White" and "Black" spirits hurt and heal humans, have their own nubas, induce trance, and require sacrifices.
People are more vulnerable to possession by spirits at certain times. For example, if there is a death in the family, a person is more likely to become possessed. They also possess people who are careless with water. Additionally, specific types of behaviors are associated with different families of spirits. They react negatively to anger, and may possess people who have had a sudden fright. If a child is frightened or yelled at in a bathroom, they are especially likely to become possessed. They also dislike mockery, and will possess those who disrespect them.
Symptoms of spirit possession include paralysis, convulsions, syncope, tremors, blindness, deafness, muteness, and uncharacteristic behavior. Spirits may be associated with different ailments. In Dar Barnu these are evidence that the patient is "shattered" or "broken". This person may be said to be "inhabited" or "struck" by spirits. They may also say the spirits are "dressed" (yilbusu-ha) in the patient, wearing them like clothing. These terms are used interchangeably, but have different connotations. Struck implies a single encounter, dressed is a more embodied relationship but temporary, and inhabited is permanent and continuous.
Each spirit has its own nuba, which will usually be referred to just with the spirit's name. Spirits also have particular dance movements, animal sacrifices, incenses, colors, and costumes.
Different stambeli groups have different spirit pantheons and place different importance on saints and spirits. These different stambeli groups often map onto the communal house system, which is primarily based on geographic and cultural origin. Some stambeli groups divide the spirits into three groups: the saints, the "people of the sea" or blue spirits, and then the Black spirits. The "people of the sea" include the spirits Yarima and Sarkin N'Gari.
Spirits The spirits are human-like and have families, personalities, genders, preferences, and wills. They may do things that surprise their hosts. They are not ancestors, anthropomorphizations, clan totems, or jinn (stambeli practitioners view the jinn negatively and think working with them would be both working with the devil and polytheism). They may be sorted into different groups based on different emphasis on their membership, even by members of the same stambeli tradition. These categorical differences may also be connected to differences in how stambeli traditions recognize a spirit's behavior as a legitimate or illegitimate possession.
Though the spirits are not demons, they are commonly mistaken for being demons by outsiders, including modern researchers trying to understand stambeli.
The spirits are "Black", never were human, have no legends or zawiyas, and enter and possess hosts. Many of them come from bori, but have changed. Some spirits also were not carried iver from bori, and some spirits are completely new. All of these spirits have distinctive dance movements, specific attire, and props like walking sticks, spears, knives, and rods that they may use to hit their hosts.
There are 5 total categories of spirits in the Dar Barnu tradition, but they are often collapsed into just three groups. These are the Banu Kuri, the Brawna, the Bahriyya, the Beyat, and the Sghar.
The Banu Kuri (children or tribe of Kuri) are Christians whose Blackness is emphasized. They are summoned first of all the spirit groups. Because the Dar Barnu and Banu Kuri are both from Bornu, the Dar Barnu must invoke them at all their ceremonies. The Banu Kuri must be invoked after sunset (ideally after midnight). Something black or dark colored needs to be eaten (often molokhiya). The Dar Barnu consider these spirits the most powerful and traditionally dedicate a room to their ritual paraphernalia. These spirits can sometimes be violent and beat their own hosts. The Brawna (spirits from Bornu) are usually subsumed into this group.
The first spirit to have their nuba played is Mashi. After him is Sarkin Kufa. Sarkin Kufa is known to be intolerant and rarely possesses people, though at most ceremonies his nuba still must be played.
After Sarkin Kufa are the blacksmiths Dandurusu (hammer) and Haddad (blacksmith). Then Garuji, a bori fighting spirit comes.
The next few spirits are the most popular among Dar Barnu's Banu Kuri. They are sometimes thebonly Banu Kuri spirits summoned. Dakaki (the crawler) is first of these; he dances by squirming in a prone position towards the gumbri. After he reaches it, it is Kuri's turn.