The procession

In center frame is an Ethiopian Orthodox deacon, festively dressed and leading choruses of popular devotional songs that are performed continuously all day. It is St. Michael's day and the public choir includes church singers from age five to thirty, clergy specialized in liturgical chant, acclaimed local soloists and anyone present in the general vicinity. Ways in which religious communities are incorporated as defined social structures, either formally or informally, staged or improvised, is the central investigation of this anthropological research. as it is initiated through such processions, dynamic because they meld markers of religious and secular worlds in such moments of collective charisma and promotes an inclusivity among Ethiopians of all walks of life.