Introduction

In the last chapter I was concerned with one particular case of demonic possession at Kadugama, showing how individual experience was interpreted in terms of an overarching set of oppositions which made individual experience homologous with the experience of the Catholic community in Sri Lanka. Yet this one case does not exhaust the possible paths involved in demonic possession. Rather, there are a whole series of ways through which people become – or are seen as becoming – possessed. I shall argue that central to many of the cases of possession at Kudagama are problems of power and authority both within and between households. Demonic possession in this context is largely concerned with the reimposition of authority within the domestic unit. That these attempts to reinforce authority are largely successful only reinforces the less realistic hope that Catholics in Sri Lanka will recover their lost position in the country.

At the same time however, there is another and complementary theme running through this chapter. Suffering and affliction are not necessarily bad things, states of being which have to be avoided. They can be viewed as penance, not just for the sins of the afflicted but also for the sins of others. Once more, authority is crucial for most of those who glorify suffering are those who in one way or another are free of customary forms of subordination. From this angle suffering becomes akin to martyrdom, and the present travails of the Catholic community can be viewed as a penance for past sins or a form of martyrdom which promises future salvation.