Ritual and belief : $b Studies in the history of religionHartland, Edwin Sidney
Religion
Ritual and belief : $b Studies in the history of religion
Hartland, Edwin Sidney
Ethnopsychology; Magic; Religion; Rites and ceremonies
coöperation of the divine power is requisite. That power is called
upon. There is no attempt to coerce Bali Flaki, who, if not himself a
god, is at least a messenger and intermediary of the great god Bali
Penyalong. Yet there is confidence that he can perform the request,
and that he shows by his flight that he will do so.
{146}
So on the mainland of India, in the Nilgiri Hills, the Toda sorcerer,
having procured some human hair--not that of the person to be injured,
for it would be impossible to get it--ties together by its means five
small stones, and with a piece of cloth makes a bundle of them. Over
them thus tied up he utters his incantation. It begins by calling on
his gods; and whether the opening clauses be precisely rendered or not
in the following free translation, it is clear that the gods are
invoked. Indeed, Dr Rivers, after careful enquiry, expresses the
opinion that “in the formulæ used in Toda sorcery appeal to the gods
is even more definite than in the prayers of the dairy ritual,” the
most important of the religious ceremonies. “In them,” he says, “the
names of four most important gods are mentioned, and it seems quite
clear that the sorcerer believes he is effecting his purpose through
the power of the gods.” The spell runs something like this: “For the
sake of Pithioteu, Ön, Teikirzi and Tirshti; by the power of the
gods, if there be power; by the gods’ country, if there be a country;
may his calves perish; as birds fly away, may his buffaloes go when
the calves come to suck; as I drink water, may he have nothing but
water to drink; as I am thirsty, may he also be thirsty; as I am
hungry, may he also be hungry; as my children cry, so may his children
cry; as my wife wears only a ragged cloth, so may his wife wear only a
ragged cloth.” The bundle thus enchanted he hides in the thatch of the
victim’s hut.[146.1]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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