A brief introduction to Gnawa

The Gnawa are ritual specialists. They are descended from slaves brought across the desert in the trans-Saharan slave trade who use their particular brand of music for ritual healing most often related to possession by Jinns. Over the last 2 decades Gnawa music has become a bit of a phenomenon and has been fused with various global music forms from throughout the globe. It has grown to such an extant that new initiates into Gnawan music will learn to play the music without also learning the art of ritual healing connected to the music. Here is a small sample from youtube:

https://youtu.be/aqOy6O-CKNc

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