The Ramanenjana.

— The Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, of September 1864, in its issue number 216, contain a detailed account of the events that took place in Tananarive (Madagascar), during the year 1863, among others that of the death of King Radama II. n There we find the following account:

The gravest of the facts that occurred in Tananarive in 1863 is, incontestably, the death of Radama II. Before, however, narrating the tragic end of this unfortunate prince, it is necessary to recall another fact that had no less repercussion than the first, witnessed by more than two hundred thousand men, and which may be regarded as the prelude or the forerunner of the attempt committed against the royal person of the ill-fated Radama. I wish to speak of the Ramanenjana.

What is the Ramanenjana?

This word, which means tension, expresses a strange illness which, at first, manifested itself in the south of Emirne. It became known in Tananarive about a month earlier. At first it was only a vague rumor circulating among the people. It was asserted that numerous groups of men and women, stricken by a mysterious affliction, were coming up from the south to the capital, to speak to the king, on behalf of his mother (the deceased queen). It was said that such groups were proceeding in short stages, camping each night in the villages and swelling, along the way, with all the recruits they made on their passage. But no one would have imagined that the Ramanenjana was so near the royal city, when, suddenly, it made its first appearance a few days before Palm Sunday.

Here is what is written to us about it:

“At the moment when we believed it still far off, the Ramanenjana, or Ramenabé, as others also call it, came to burst like a bomb. There is no talk in the city but of convulsions and convulsionaries: they are everywhere; their number is estimated at more than two thousand. At this moment they are camped at Machamasina, the Field of Mars situated near the capital. The uproar they make is such that it prevents us from sleeping. Judge how strong it must be, that from a league away it can reach here and disturb our sleep! “On Holy Tuesday there was a great review at Soanerana. When the drums beat the call to assemble, behold, more than a thousand soldiers abruptly left the ranks and began to dance the Ramanenjana. However much the chiefs shouted, raged, and threatened, they had to give up holding the review.”

Character of the Ramanenjana.

This illness acts especially upon the nerves, exerting upon them such a pressure that it soon provokes convulsions and hallucinations, of which one can give an account only from the point of view of science.

Those who are stricken feel, at first, violent pains in the head, in the nape of the neck, and then in the stomach. After some time the convulsive incidents begin; it is then that the living enter into communication with the dead: they see Queen Ranavalona, Radama I, Andrian Ampoinemerina and others, who speak to them and give them commissions. The greater part of these messages is addressed to Radama II. The Ramanenjana seem especially sent by the old Ranavalona, to give Radama to understand that he must return to the former regime, put an end to prayer, expel the whites, forbid pigs in the holy city, etc., etc.; otherwise, great misfortunes threaten him, and she will disown him as her son.

Another effect of these hallucinations is that the greater part of those who are their victims imagine themselves carrying heavy burdens which they bear in the retinue of the dead; they imagine they have on their head a box of soap, a coffer, a mattress, rifles, keys, silver cutlery, etc., etc.

These phantoms must go at full speed, for the unfortunate ones who are at their orders make a desperate effort to follow them, despite always going at a running pace. It is also necessary, as soon as they receive their mission from beyond the tomb, that they begin to stamp their feet, to shout, to beg for mercy, shaking the head and the arms, shaking the ends of the lamba or the piece of cloth that covers their face. Then, behold them throwing themselves about, always shouting, dancing, leaping, and convulsing in agitation. Their most common cry is: Ekala! and this other one: Izahay maikia! “we are in a hurry!” Generally a crowd accompanies them singing, clapping their hands, and beating the drum; they say it is to over-excite them still more and hasten the end of the crisis, as one sees the skillful horseman slacken the reins of his fiery steed and, far from seeking to restrain it, urge it on, with the voice of command and the spur, until it, trembling under the hand that guides it, panting, covered in sweat, ends up stopping of its own accord, exhausted with fatigue and without strength. Although this illness strikes especially the slaves, it is correct to say that it spares no one. It is thus that a son of Radama and of Maria, his concubine, suddenly found himself tormented by hallucinations of the Ramanenjana; and behold him shouting, agitating himself, dancing, and running like the others. In the first moment of terror, the king himself set out to pursue him; but, in this precipitate race, he slightly wounded himself in the leg, which led him to give the order to always have a horse saddled, in case of a new incident. The races of these madmen have nothing well determined about them; once impelled by I know not what irresistible force, they scatter across the field, some to one side, others to another. Before Holy Week they went to the tombs, where they danced and offered a coin.

But on Palm Sunday itself – a singular coincidence – a new fashion was created among them: to go to the lower part of the city, to cut a sugar cane; they carry it triumphantly upon their shoulders and come to deposit it upon the sacred stone of Mahamasin, in honor of Ranavalona. There they dance, agitate themselves with all the usual contortions and convulsions; then they lay down the cane and a coin, and return running, dancing, leaping, just as they arrived. Some carry a bottle of water on their head, to drink and to sprinkle themselves; and, an astonishing thing! despite so much agitation and convulsive evolutions, the bottle keeps its balance; one would say it was nailed and glued to the skull.

They write to us further that a new fancy has just taken hold of them: they demand that everyone take off his hat wherever they pass.

Unhappy is he who refuses to obey this injunction, however absurd it may be! From this there has already resulted more than one struggle, which poor Radama believed he could prevent by imposing a fine of 150 fr. on the recalcitrant. In order not to infringe the royal prescription, the majority of the whites took the course of going out only without a hat. One of our priests found himself exposed to a much graver case: it was nothing less than making him take off his cassock, for the Ramanenjana claimed that the black color dazzled it. Fortunately the priest was able to escape and enter his house, without being obliged to divest himself of his priestly vestments. The fits of the convulsionaries are not continuous. After making their grimaces before the sacred stone, the stone upon which they make the heir to the throne ascend in order to present him to the people, many of them go to throw themselves into the water, then climb out quietly to rest until the next crisis.

Sometimes others fall from exhaustion, on the way or on the public road, fall asleep, and rise up cured. There are those who remain ill two or three days before completely freeing themselves. In many the affliction is more tenacious and sometimes lasts about fifteen days.

During the fit, the individual stricken by the Ramanenjana recognizes no one. He hardly answers the questions addressed to him. After the fit, if he remembers anything, it is vaguely and as in a dream.

A rather notable peculiarity is that, in the midst of the most panting evolutions, the hands and feet remain cold as ice, while the rest of the body is bathed in sweat and the head in a boil.

Now, what can be the cause of this singular illness? Here everyone agrees entirely among themselves; several attribute it purely and simply to the demon, who, as before, had revealed himself in the turning, thinking tables, etc. That is why, little concerned with saluting this diabolical majesty, many resigned themselves to going about without a hat.

Study on the phenomenon of the Ramanenjana.

It would be cause for astonishment if the name of Spiritism had not been mixed up in this case. It is fortunate that its adherents were not accused of provoking the phenomena. What would they not have said if these poor Malagasy had read The Spirits' Book! They would not have failed to affirm that it had turned their heads. Who, then, without Spiritism, taught them to believe in Spirits, in the communication of the living with the souls of the dead? It is because what is in Nature is produced just as well in the savage as in the civilized man, in the ignorant as in the learned, in the village as in the city. As there are Spirits everywhere, manifestations occur in all places, but with this difference: in men close to Nature, the pride of knowledge has not yet dulled the intuitive ideas, which are there lively and in all their ingenuousness. That is why in them one does not find incredulity erected into a system. They may judge things badly, by virtue of the poverty of their intelligence; but belief in the world is innate to them and sustained by the facts they witness. Everything proves, then, that there, as in Morzine, these phenomena are the result of an obsession, or collective possession, a veritable epidemic of evil Spirits, such as was produced at the time of Christ and in many other epochs. Each population must furnish the surrounding invisible world with similar Spirits who, from space, react upon those same populations, of which, owing to their inferiority, they have retained the habits, the inclinations, and the prejudices. Savage and barbarous peoples are, then, surrounded by a mass of Spirits still savage and barbarous, until progress has led them to incarnate in a more advanced milieu. This is what results from the communication below. After the above account had been read at an intimate gathering, one of the family's spiritual guides spontaneously dictated the following:

(Paris, January 12, 1865. – Medium: Mrs. Delanne.)

This evening I heard you read the facts of obsession that occurred in Madagascar. If you permit it, I shall give my opinion on the matter.

Observation – The Spirit had not been evoked. It was there, then, in the midst of the society, listening unseen to what was being said there. It is thus that, without our realizing it, we incessantly have invisible witnesses of our actions.

These hallucinations, as the newspaper's correspondent calls them, are nothing but an obsession, though of a character different from those you know. Here it is a collective obsession, produced by a host of backward Spirits who, having retained their old political opinions, come to try to disturb their compatriots, by means of these manifestations, so that the latter, seized with terror, will not dare to support the ideas of civilization that are beginning to take root in these countries where progress is beginning to dawn. The obsessing Spirits who impel these poor people to so many ridiculous manifestations are those of the old Malagasy, furious, I repeat, at seeing the inhabitants of these regions admitting the ideas of civilization, which certain advanced incarnated Spirits have the mission of implanting among them. Thus, you often hear them repeat: “No prayers, down with the whites, etc.” It is to make you understand that they are averse to everything that may come from the Europeans, that is, from the intellectual center. These manifestations, given in the sight of an entire people, are they not a great confirmation of your principles? They are produced more for the sanction of your labors than for that semi-savage populace.

The possessions of Morzine [see Studies on the possessed of Morzine.] have a more particular character, or, better said, a more restricted one. The phases of each Spirit can be studied on the spot. Observing the details, each individuality offers a special study, whereas the manifestations of Madagascar have spontaneity and a national character. It is an entire population of old backward Spirits, who see with spite their homeland suffer the influence of progress. Not having progressed themselves, they seek to hinder the march of Providence. Comparatively, the Spirits of Morzine are more advanced. Although coarse, they judge more sensibly than the Malagasy; they discern good from evil, for they know how to recognize that the form of prayer is nothing, but that the thought is everything. Moreover, you will see later, by the studies you make, that they are not so backward as they appear at first sight. Here it is to show that Science is powerless to cure these cases by material means; there it is to draw attention and confirm the principle. [See also: Demonic epidemic in Savoy.] A Protecting Spirit.

[1]

[Radama II (September 23, 1829 — May 12, 1863) was king of the Merina Kingdom which controlled almost the entire island of Madagascar.

He reigned from 1861 until his assassination in 1863.]