ABSTRACT
Bissu shamans are able to harness the powers of female and male, and mortal and deity in order to bestow blessings for such things as restoring good health, consecrating a building site, or ensuring a good harvest. When I started field work in 1998 few people outside Bugis South Sulawesi knew of bissu. Even within Sulawesi many individuals assumed my research centred on people who were bisu (mute). Ten years on, though, bissu have become a global commodity with the production of a number of stage plays and documentaries, and the publication of numerous works all featuring bissu.8
