- Theyyam in Trance
Malabar, the west coast of India.
Theyyam was in his trance; going about the temple yard, brandishing his sword, hopping, twirling, smashing coconuts. Just about everything you could think to do when you are in a trance. I’m not ridiculing him or the practice. It all depends on what you are used to.
I remember entering a church in Tuscany where the head of a woman saint was enshrined in glass box over the altar. For me, this was normal. It was a holy relic, not the head of a woman who had been brutally beheaded centuries ago. But my companions were horrified and one immediately left the church. Me? I stayed and said some Hail Marys.