Ghost illness in a North Indian village

Abstract

The substantial number of ghost possessions that came to our attention during fieldwork in a North Indian village in 1977–1978 let to a thorough study of ghost beliefs as part of a holistic study of village life. Ghosts are not phantoms floating on the periphery of village life, the concern only of children and the credulous. Rather, the study shows that ghosts are linked with basic Hindu beliefs, village lore, ancient curing practices and theories, the diagnosis of illness and treatment of disease, individual stress and anxiety, and family, lineage, and village histories. Ghost possession, a subsidiary and dramatic form of ghost illness, is behavior in which the ghost speaks from its victim who undergoes a range of alternate states. Unpredictable events and heightened personal stress generally precede episodes of ghost possession. Cases of ghost illness and ghost possession include children and adults of both sexes and a range of ages. Our data contradict the village stereotype that only women suffer from ghost possession. Villagers have resource to both traditional remedies and Western biomedicine to treat ghost illness.