of similar jinn (genie spirits). The participants enter a trance state () in which they may perform spectacular dances. By means of these dances, participants negotiate their relationships with the either placating them if they have been offended or strengthening an existing relationship. The are evoked by seven musical patterns, seven melodic and rhythmic cells, who set up the seven suites that form the repertoire of dance and music of the Gnawa ritual. During these seven suites, seven different types of incense are burned and the dancers are covered by veils of seven different colours. Each of the seven families of is populated by many characters identifiable by the music and by the footsteps of the dance. Each is accompanied by its specific colour, incense, rhythm and dance. These entities, treated like "presences" (called , Arabic: حضرة) that the consciousness meets in ecstatic space and time, are related to mental complexes, human characters, and behaviors. The aim of the ritual is to reintegrate and to balance the main powers of the human body, made by the same energy that supports the perceptible phenomena and divine creative activity. Later, the opens the ("path," Arabic: طريق), the strictly encoded sequence of the ritual repertoire of music, dances, colors and incenses, that guides in the ecstatic trip across the realms of the seven , until the renaissance in the common world, at the first lights of dawn. Almost all Moroccan brotherhoods, such as the Issawa or the Hamadsha, relate their spiritual authority to a saint. The ceremonies begin by reciting that saint's written works or spiritual prescriptions (, Arabic: حزب) in Arabic. In this way, they assert their role as spiritual descendants of the founder, giving themselves the authority to perform the ritual. Gnawa, whose ancestors were neither literate nor native speakers of Arabic, begin the by recalling through song and dance their origins, the experiences of their slave ancestors, and ultimately redemption. Gnawa music today During the last few decades, Gnawa music has been modernizing and thus become more profane. However, there are still many privately organized that conserve the music's sacred, spiritual status. Within the framework of the Gnaoua World Music Festival of Essaouira ("Gnaoua and Musics of the World"), the Gnawa play in a profane context with slight religious or therapeutic dimensions. Instead, in this musical expression of their cultural art, they share stages with other musicians from around the