Powerful Yet Powerless, Powerless Yet Powerful: The Burmese Exorcist

One of the most typical forms of weikza cult consists in congregations (gaing) specialized in the practice of exorcism. Relying on the monographic study of such a congregation — the Shweyingyaw Congregation? the article explores the Burmese exorcist's identity. It describes the parameters of this identity in accordance with the way the exorcists themselves conceive their role and their efficacy. The article eventually compares the Burmese exorcist with three archetypal figures in the scholarly study of religion (the possession specialist, the shaman and the Church priest) in order to offer a generic characterization of his exorcistic faculty.