Top tracks
- Abou Gandarah - Spirit From the Mountain Spirit Tribe
- Saleela - Spirit Named Bath Flower
- Arab Al-arban Ya Zein - Spirit From the Arab Spirit Tribe
- Fi-shamayil - Up North
Other Middle East albums
Other World Traditions albums
Put your hands on the remote! browse music »Zar - Trance Music for Women by Awlad Abou al-Gheit
view larger image
fave it Middle East | World Traditions
11 tracks | 58 minutes
Released Apr 2006
on Sands of Time Music
Click
for a 30-second preview. All tracks are 192kbps high fidelity sound quality. Protected WMA $0.77 or unprotected MP3 $0.88.
listen album 30sec. shuffle buy CD review album promote album
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 01:50 Abou Gandarah - Spirit From the Mountain Spirit Tribe lyrics BUY MP3 01:50 Abou Gandarah - Spirit From the Mountain Spirit Tribe lyrics "GIFT MP3" 01:50 Abou Gandarah - Spirit From the Mountain Spirit Tribe
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 08:39 Saly Ala Mohammad - God Bless Prophet Mohammad lyrics BUY MP3 08:39 Saly Ala Mohammad - God Bless Prophet Mohammad lyrics "GIFT MP3" 08:39 Saly Ala Mohammad - God Bless Prophet Mohammad
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:59 Arab Al-hinadwa - Spirit From the Hindy Spirit Tribe lyrics BUY MP3 05:59 Arab Al-hinadwa - Spirit From the Hindy Spirit Tribe lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:59 Arab Al-hinadwa - Spirit From the Hindy Spirit Tribe
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:58 Abou Al-gheit - Sheikh From the Qalyubia Spirit Tribe lyrics BUY MP3 04:58 Abou Al-gheit - Sheikh From the Qalyubia Spirit Tribe lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:58 Abou Al-gheit - Sheikh From the Qalyubia Spirit Tribe
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 06:42 Al-pashawat - the Pashas lyrics BUY MP3 06:42 Al-pashawat - the Pashas lyrics "GIFT MP3" 06:42 Al-pashawat - the Pashas
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:22 Arab Al-arban Ya Zein - Spirit From the Arab Spirit Tribe lyrics BUY MP3 04:22 Arab Al-arban Ya Zein - Spirit From the Arab Spirit Tribe lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:22 Arab Al-arban Ya Zein - Spirit From the Arab Spirit Tribe
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:35 Ya Benat Al-handasa - Female Engineers lyrics BUY MP3 04:35 Ya Benat Al-handasa - Female Engineers lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:35 Ya Benat Al-handasa - Female Engineers
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 11:28 Fi-shamayil - Up North lyrics BUY MP3 11:28 Fi-shamayil - Up North lyrics "GIFT MP3" 11:28 Fi-shamayil - Up North
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:20 Saleela - Spirit Named Bath Flower lyrics BUY MP3 04:20 Saleela - Spirit Named Bath Flower lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:20 Saleela - Spirit Named Bath Flower
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:57 Yousef Madala lyrics BUY MP3 02:57 Yousef Madala lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:57 Yousef Madala
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:31 Ruma Nagdy - a Spirit Soldier lyrics BUY MP3 02:31 Ruma Nagdy - a Spirit Soldier lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:31 Ruma Nagdy - a Spirit Soldier
For centuries women in Africa and the Middle East have used this music to cure pain in times of stress or illness, sicknesses they believe are caused by "red spirits" - the Zar - who are using their bodies as hosts.
Bio / Background
The Zar
No one knows exactly where the zar comes from. Some believe it originated either in Ethiopia, Sudan, Iran or Pharaonic Egypt. We do know that today thousands of women in Africa and the Middle East use this music to cure all kinds of illnesses. They literally dance until they drop. In some African countries the ceremonies can go on for a week. That would be seven days of intense drumming and dancing throughout the nights, until the light of dawn and exhaustion overcome them.
The belief is that if modern medicine can not find a reason for an illness, pain or state of mind then supernatural forces must be at work. The patient, who is normally a woman, will consult a spiritual healer (also a woman) to find out if she is indeed possessed - “clothed” or “covered” in Egyptian vernacular.
↓ more ↓If she is diagnosed as being with spirit, or as is often the case with several spirits, then she is expected to try to communicate with her possessors to find out what they want. Only when the zar spirits are placated and their demands met will the woman’s illness or pain dissipate.
A Zar ceremony is organized to see which of the multitude of rhythms entices her up to dance. Each spirit has a beat and a song. Once it is established which spirit is calling her, the possessed woman will dance herself into a trance so that she can speak to the being inhabiting her body.
Are the spirits real, are the women possessed? The women believe they are. These patients turn to the Zar after modern medicine has failed them. Depression and other psychological diseases, while acknowledged in Egypt and Africa, are hardly accepted in the mainstream. Faith becomes their healer - along with a little exercise and a healthy dose of seratonin.
This is an exerpt from the 32 page color booklet that accompanies the CD. Included in it are translations of all the songs and a detailed explanation of the Zar ceremony and spirits.
Awlad Aboul al-Gheit
This group is one of the few Zar groups remaining in Egypt, and the most famous. They perpetuate the ancient music and rhythms passed down to them from their ancestors. Unfortunately, because of Islamic fundamentalism, zar ceremonies are highly discouraged now in the Middle East, and there is a fear that the tradition will soon die out.
Trance dancing, as it is known in the West, requires just the right blend of driving rhythms and monotonous repetition, to help the brain reach an ecstatic state. Without the right music, altered consciousness is difficult to achieve. This music has been tested through the ages to help dancers reach that other plane of existence.
↑ less ↑




