Mokhì

In the cultures of Vircazihm and surrounding areas, mokhì is the term for possession. A spirit or demon is believed to possess individuals causing personality changes, illness, or endowing super natural powers. There are a variety of entities that can cause the possession. Mokhì can have beneficial or detrimental impacts or both.

Traditionally, Kìfùist priests would intentionally invite mokhì by the spirit of a lineage or clan ancestor. In these semi-public rituals, the priest typically speaks in the voice of the ancestor to members of the lineage in attendance. In some instances the priest may behave strangely or in socially unacceptable ways. Likewise, Shungyist priests also practice intentional mokhì but rather than inviting ancestor spirits, they invite mokhì by demons from Miṛi Tĩmu, which is envisioned by Shungyists as an astral type of liminal word where entities from dreams come into existence. Shungyist priests use mokhì for a variety of reasons but usually it is for one of two reasons, either to heal mãngå̃ (soul loss), or to gain knowledge or powers from the demons of Miri Tĩmu.

Historically, lay people did not intentionally invite mokhì but could be the unwitting recipients or victims of it. This involuntary mokhì was almost always associated with illness or misfortune, however, with Ordrish influence in the Twentieth Century, gained popularity among the middle and upper classes. In time the interest in spiritism merged with the folk concept of mokhì for some people. Mokhì in the mid-Twentieth Century became a way for some to intentionally communicate with loved ones who had past on. While the interest in spiritism waned, lay mokhì grew in popularity in the Nineties and has continued to grow in the current century spawning new varieties as well as new fears among many who view this practice as dangerous.

History
Scholarship in the early Twentieth Century attributed the origin of mokhì to the Heorutu, the Neolithic and Bronze Age people of the Plain of Yawhũ (the ancient term for Lower Vircazihm). While the etymology of mokhì is not known, some scholars believe its phonology is likely Heorutitic in origin. Additional evidence comes from several Heorutite pictograms that appear to show human figures in the throws of an ecstatic trance. Dissenting scholars have pointed out the phonology of the word is insufficient evidence and the pictograms can be alternately interpreted as people performing a dance. Furthermore, the concept of mokhì as a way to manifest the will of the ancestors is inexorably tied to the ancestor worship of the ancient Jovites and to the Kìfù religion that derives from it.

The first direct evidence of it comes from Iron Age Arom in the form of an inscription stating that King Djahm consulted a priest in 114 BCE who performed mokhì to seek the will of his ancestor, Queen Knotaba. The inscription reads in the Jovitic language as follows:

From this King Djahm understood that he must lay siege to the enemy's home city known for its rich Temple of the Black Swan and was victorious in the Battle of Djiik

In the Eighth Century CE, the Shungyist religion arose in Upper Vircazihm and gradually spread through the county bringing with it a Shungyist variation of mokhì. Monastic mokhì was esoteric and complex but was always considered part of the path toward the attainment of the True and Infinite Body in the Infinite Realm. However, Shungyist clergy also performed healing and blessing ceremonies that included mokhì for lay practitioners and the community at large. In many of these healing rituals the priest or monk would attempt to possess the malevolent spirit that had caused illness through possession of the victim. It was in this form that common Vircazihmese would normally encounter mokhì. As Shungyism grew and became the dominant religion, so too did this understanding of mokhì as illness causing and requiring exorcism.

Under Gekezikist rule, 1951 -1992, public mokhì was repressed as superstition but people continued to believe in the mokhì illness and clergy continued to practice associated rituals behind closed doors. Also, during this period, interest in spiritism increased in urban populations, possibly response to the Gekezikist suppression of religion. This set the stage for what is now known as popular mokhì (in contrast to folk mokhì and religious mokhì).