dancethe person who utters it. The Christian apostle Paul associates curses with
Jesus’ crucifixion in Galatians (3.13). As in ancient Greco-Roman cul-
ture, a curse is a weapon of the powerless, the wronged, the oppressed,
and of the righteous.
In Islamic Morocco, a curse is an intentional form of injury among
ordinary people. It is common to curse the mother or father of the object
of one’s anger. In Moroccan society, social rank gives potency to a curse,
which means, for instance, that a husband’s curse upon his wife is as
potent as that of his father, and the efficacy of a curse is influenced by the
guilt or innocence of the person on whom it is pronounced. There are
generally two types of Moroccan curses: categorical and conditional. The
former type means that a person calls down upon himself some evil in the
event of what he says is not true. In the conditional case, the curse is
directed against another person, which is called ar (shame). This implies
that if a person does not do what is asked of one some misfortune will
befall that person. Moroccans might also say, “I am in your ar,” which
implies that one is cursed if one does not assist the person pronouncing
the curse.
Further reading: Beard (2004); Combs-Schilling (1989); Eickelman (1976)DANCE
A complex concept that often assumes the form of art, social interactions,
entertainment, worship, and play. In many cultures, dance expresses a
vital energy or life force with an ability to celebrate joy and sorrow and to
bring people together to observe some event. In some forms of Christian
service and Hindu worship, dance is an integral part of the service. In a
South Indian temple in the city of Puri, for instance, temple dancers (deva-
dasis) entertain the deity like courtesans performing before an earthly
king. The female temple dancers are believed to secrete a holy fluid onto
the temple floor over which devotees roll their bodies. Dance also pos-
sesses the ability to produce power or empower the dancer. Classical
Indian dancers and actors in the Japanese Nō theater not only tell stories
by their dancing, but they represent high culture in their countries. In some
cultural contexts, dance is conceived as a form of play. Among the
Samburu people of northern Kenya, who live as pastoral nomads, the term
play is used as a metaphor for dancing and singing, and communal danc-
ing is also a form of play among the Venda of southern Africa.