Welcome back, bienvenue! Staying in the northern part of the island of Sainte-Marie, in the village of Ilanivato, we participated in a tromba ritual. The mysterious and chaotic practice is at the heart of indigenous beliefs; this interesting experience allowed us to get closer to the local imagination. 

Tromba literally means spirit, as well as the medium into whom the spirit ascends. The ritual was performed by the medium Nefa, a mature woman, together with two assistants. To begin, they placed a platter filled with water and white tanifotsy clay on a small altar, which contained two old coins and a shell; in addition to this, incense, money, rum and cigarettes were also placed on the altar. The altar was against the eastern wall of the house oriented meridionally (according to Malagasy tradition). We could only record the event from behind the medium’s back, so as not to show her face. As part of the elaborate preparation for summoning the spirit, Nefa washed her face and rinsed her mouth with clean water.

We were to be visited by Kotovola (koto – man, vola – money), the spirit of a man who once lived on the island. According to the medium, he was a spirit from the sea (andrano), fond of women and alcohol. The moment of his ascension in the medium was easily noticeable – the woman began to shake. Kotovola asked who we were and for what purpose we had summoned him. He recognised us as white people, referred to here as garamaso (‘bright eyes’) or mena sofina (‘red ears’). Four of the participants listed their health problems, which he was supposed to remedy. The medium sent two people for a professional massage*, while the rest of the participants continued to meet with the spirit. 

Kotovola directed a healing ritual action to each of us. This consisted of (at a minimum) drawing water from a vessel with the mouth six times and then pouring this water over the top of the head; in line with the idea that the head is the most important point of the body, where the source of all human health problems lies. One person had a silver coin placed on her head by the medium before sprinkling the water. During the ritual, the spirit, which appreciates strong drinks, was keen to use alcohol. Nefa ended the meeting with the spirit – analogous to the beginning – with a ritual face-washing and mouth-washing. 

We left the hut three hours later, after sunset, with reflections on the meaning and validity of traditional beliefs in relation to Christian practices. The majority of the island’s inhabitants declare an affiliation to Abrahamian religions; however, for some it is not a problem to incorporate them into Malagasy philosophy and Malagasy worldviews. 

*masaż wykonała mieszkanka wioski, a pacjentki były bardzo zadowolone z rezultatu