The Seance on Takuu

Takuu is a Polynesian outlier lying in Papua New Guinea political territory. A seance is structured into each tukumai, a ritual ending formal mourning after a local death, with the hope that the medium will go into trance ...

Takuu is a Polynesian outlier lying in Papua New Guinea political territory. A seance is structured into each tukumai, a ritual ending formal mourning after a local death, with the hope that the medium will go into trance and speak words of comfort from the deceased's spirit. For their part, family members verbally seek confirmation that the spirit has safely arrived at the clan afterworld and is being treated well there. Shot in 2005 by Richard Moyle at the request of the clan leader, this video relates the experience of a young woman acting as a medium for the first time.