Among the Balanta in Guinea-Bissau many women show bizarre behavior accompanying an unkwown culture-bound syndrome, which is calles Jangue Jangue. The two phases of this syndrome are described. The women receive commandments of the Balanta god during the second phase bij means of voices from deceased ancestors which are heard inside the head. When she does not adhere to these imperative pseudohallucinations, telling e.g. that all ancestors' shrines or witchcraft must be abolished, she is chastised by god. A renewal process of the Balanta culture is set in motion by the commandments. This process is analysed on anthropological grounds. Two contradictions serve as the starting point for this analysis: the first concerns the power relations between young and old, the second is the relationship between the village community and the state.