V S VY1 If'to X- 3-/f< sjT* <3 ■AW.W.V.V.VV v-v- as? IB l if ► §<■ ► <>► v» <.► <■ ► i*> «;.► 1fl> til i: : ,t :t ft v:t <•.► «,*► <•> $ <:.► < ■> ► <;-f <•> <.*► yA tf; <;.► and Medicine-Men- prevent their entrance, he commanded two of his bravest soldiers to keep guard at the palace gate. The spirits, frightened by their warlike appearance, were afraid to enter, and since the death of these famous generals, it is said that their pictures have been found to be equally efficacious. DOOR GODS. As further precautions against the ad- mission of devils, there is always a screen in front of a door. As demons are sup- posed to travel in straight lines, the roads are also made narrow and winding to in- tercept them. To prevent the entering of spirits by windows, there are only high walls outside. All these things prevent the circulation of fresh air, and tend to render the houses unhealthy. Lastly, charms are stuck all over the houses. They consist of black scratches which are sold by the priests as infallible CHINESE CHARM. preservatives against demons. There is a regular trade in them, and it is one means by which priests gain a livelihood. Tibet. Tibet, the highest country in the world, lies north of India on the other side of the Himalayas. It is under the Chinese, who have jealously sought to exclude all foreigners. Ignorant of the knowledge possessed by enlightened countries, the Tibetans are steeped in foolish superstitions. One of their firm- est belief is that they are continually exposed to the attacks of malignant demons, and a great part of their time and money are devoted to measures sup- posed to ward them off. The monks or priests in Tibet are called Lamas, which has the same meaning aB guru. The Lamas believe that the hermits Tibet. 23 in the mountains and the monks in their cells can banish drought, control the sun, and stay the storm. Every monastery in Tibet keeps a sorcerer, consults him, and follows his advice upon most matters. The chief wizards are called ‘ Defenders of the Faith.’ The highest of them is the Govern- ment oracle, who is consulted on all import- ant state occasions. Their fantastic equip- ment and their frantic bearing their cries and howling seem clearly to identify them with the devil dancers. The belief both in ghosts and witchcraft and the practice of exorcism are deeply rooted in the country. The chief sorcerers are called ‘ the re- vered protectors of religion,’ and are be- lieved to be incarnations of malignant spirits, called ‘ Kings,’ who seem to be spirits of demonified heroes, and still the object of very active popular worship. These kiug-demons are alleged to have been orig- inally 5 brothers who came from Northern Mongolia. The chief sorcerer to Government was originally a god of the Turki tribes, and was named the ‘ White overcast Sky.’ He was brought to Tibet, where he became incarnate, and the man possessed by his spirit was styled ‘The Religious Noble.’ He married and became a recognised oracle, with hereditary descent. The commonest rites are ‘ the closing of the doors to the demons of the Earth and Sky;’ the exorcism of the disease demon, the death ceremonies as a whole, expelling the death demon, and the exorcism of ghosts. Barring the Boor against the Earth De- mons. — The most malignant of the earth spirits infest certain trees and rocks, which are always studiously shunned and re- spected. The earth-demons are innumera- ble, but they are all under the authority of ‘ Old Mother Khon-ma.’ She rides upon a ram, is dressed in golden yellow robes, and in her hand she holds a golden noose. To exclude the earth demons, a ram’s skull is provided, into which some gold leaf, silver, precious stones, as well as por- tions of food, are put. In addition, there are on separate slips of wood the following images, etc.: 1. a man’s picture; 2. a woman’s picture with a spindle in her hand ; 3. a house picture ; 4. a tree picture ; 5 various signs. The whole erection is now fixed to the outside of the house upon the door. The object of these figures of a man, wife and house is to deceive the demons should they come, and to mislead them into the belief that the foregoing pictures are the inmates of the house ; so that they may wreak their wrath on these bits of wood, and so save the human occupants. Demons of the Sky. — These are under the control of the Grandfather of the 3 worlds, who is represented as an old man with snow-white hair, dressed in white robes, and riding on the white dog of the sky ; and in his hand he carries a crystal rod. “ The closing of the doors of the Sky,” is addressed to him. The images, &c., are exactly similar to those used for the earth doors, the only difference being that in this case a dog’s skull is used. The demons who produce disease short of actual death, are called She, and are exorcised by an elaborate ceremony in which a variety of images and offerings are made. The officiating Lama invokes his protecting demon, and thereby assuming spiritually the dread guise of this evil king, he orders out the disease demon under the threat of getting himself eaten up by the awful demon who now possesses the Lama. The demons are stabbed by the mystic dagger; charmed seeds and pebbles, conse- crated by muttering spells, are then thrown at the demons. The charmed seeds are kept in a small born, carved with scorpions, and other objects. The ritual itself as a curious mixture of 24 Devil-Dancers, Witch-Finders, Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men. sacred shells. It is sounded by means of buttons attached to two hanging strips of leather. The sound made is out of all proportion to the size of the drum. It may be heard at a great distance and is thought to be highly efficacious in frightening away evil spirits.! Siberia. A LAMA FRIGHTENING DEMONS. Indian magic, Chiuese astrology, and necro- mancy.* The demons are said to dislike loud noises. To drive them away, a Lama has a trumpet made of a man’s thigh bone which he blows. He has also a sacred drum, shaped like two hemispheres, joined on their convex sides, and encircled by Siberia is a very large country, occupying the whole of northern Asia. There are some Russian set- tlers from Europe, but it is chiefly occupied by wandering tribes in a low state of civilization. Among the latter, demon worship is the chief superstition. The demon priests, called Shamans, are very much like the devil-dancers of South India and Ceylon. When a man falls sick, he is sup- posed to be attacked by a demon, and the Shaman is called to drive him out. There is a distinct spirit for every disease who must be propitiated in a particular manner. The Shaman puts on a large bearskin cloak, which jingles with bells, pieces of iron, brass, or anything which will help, when shaken, to make a noise ; the whole sometimes weighing as much as 50 seers. He begins by singing in a monotonous murmur, and drinking brandy. Both patient and doctor are usually decorated with strips of wood or shavings, hanging round the waist and head. By the side of the patient are placed idols and brandy. The Shaman sits on one side, and the audience on the other. He approaches, drinks more brandy, begins to sing and jingle his bells, and gives brandy to the spectators. On * Foretelling events through the dead. t Abridged from Waddell's Tibet. East African Superstitions- 25 A SHAMAN. the table are placed idols, fish, a squirrel’s skin, millet and brandy, and a dog is tied under the table. The eatables are offered to the idols, and then distributed to be consumed by all present. Meanwhile the Shaman twists his body, and dances like one possessed, and howls to such an extent that Chinese merchants, who have come out of curiosity, have been known to flee in terror. He also beats a small drum with jingling bells, and sometimes falls prostrate as if in communion with the spirits. This kind of thing sometimes goes on for 3 or 4 nights, as long, probably, as provisions and 4 brandy hold out, after which the patient is left to believe that he will get well. The Rhaman receives his fee, which may be a reindeer, a dog, fish, brandy, or whatever the patient can afford. The Shamans possess great power over the deluded people. A Shaman who has performed wonder- ful cures receives after death a magni- ficent tomb to his memory. There are also women called Shama- nins. In some cases, the Shamans make the people believe that the sickness is caused by demons entering the body as stones or thorns. The Shamans pretend to take them out, and so cure the disease. They hide them in their dress beforehand, and after certain ceremonies pretend to suck them out, showing them as proofs of what they say. As they are paid so much for each, they sometimes claim to have brought half a dozen out of a man’s stomach. East African Superstitions. “ The East African,” says Captain Burton, “has two main articles of belief. The first is demonology; the second is witchcraft. “ A prey to base passions and melancholy godless fears, the East African peoples with malevolent beings the invisible world. The rites of his dark and deadly supersti- tion are all intended to avert evils from himself by transferring them to others : hence the witchcraft and magic which flow naturally from the system of demonology. Men rarely die without the wife or children, the kindred or slaves, being accused of having compassed their destruction ; while the trial and the conviction are of the most arbitrary nature. Yet witchcraft is prac- tised by thousands with the firmest belief 26 Devil- Dancer Si Witch- Finder s> Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men. AFRICAN DEVIL-DANCER. in their own powers ; and though frightful tortures await the wizard and the witch who have been condemned for the destruc- tion of chief or elder, the vindictiveness of the negro drives him readily to the male- volent practices of sorcery. Even in the presence of torture and the instant advance of death, the sorcerer and sorceress will not only confess, but boast of and believe in their own criminality. ‘ Verily I slew such a one ! — I brought about the disease of such another ! ’ — these are their demented vaunts, the offspring of mental weakness.” Magicians swarm throughout the country. The calling is hereditary, the eldest or cleverest son succeeds to his father’s function. The power of the magician, called the mganga, is great. He is treated as a sultan, whose word is law, and as a giver of life and death. He is addressed by a kingly title, and he is permitted to wear the chieftain’s badge, made of the base of a conical shell. He is also known by a number of small greasy and blackened gourds, filled with physic and magic, hanging round his waist, and by a little more of the usual grime — sanctity and dirt being connected in Africa as in India. These men are sent for from village to village, and receive as fees sheep and goats, cattle and provisions. The greatest danger to them is an excess of fame. A celebrated magi- cian rarely, if ever, dies a natural death : too much is expected from him, and a severe disappointment leads to consequences more violent than usual. The office of the magician includes many duties. The same man is a physician by natural and superna- tural means, a medicine-man, a detector of sorcery, a rain-maker, a conjurer, a soothsayer, and a prophet. As a rule, all diseases are attributed to evil influence. The magician is ex- pected to heal the patients by expelling the demon. The unwelcome visitant must be charmed away, by drumming, dancing, and drinking. The spirit is then enticed from the body of the possessed into some in- animate substance, which he will conde- Devil Dance in West Africa- 21 scend to inhabit. This, called a stool, may be two or more bits of wood bound together by a strip of snake’s skin, a lion’s or a leopard’s claw, and other similar articles. Paper is still considered a great medicine by some of the tribes, who will barter valuable goods for a little bit : the great desider- atum of the charm, in fact, appears to be its rarity, or, the difficulty of obtaining it. Hence also the habit of driving nails and hanging rags upon trees. There are other mystical means of restor- ing the sick to health. Several little sticks, like matches, are daubed with red clay, and marks are made with them upon the patient’s body. A charm is chanted, the possessed one responds, and at the end of every verse an evil spirit flies from him, the signal being a stick cast by the magi- cian upon the ground. Some unfortunately have as many as a dozen haunting ghosts, each of whom has his charm ; the magi- cian demanding a reward for each expulsion. Some of the Africans believe that a malevolent magician can change a man after death into a lion, a leopard, or a hyaena. Others believe that a chief may change himself into a lion, kill any one he chooses, and then return to the human form. Some negroes hold that while per- sons are still living, they may enter into lions and alligators, and then return to their own bodies.* Smelling out a thief is another African superstition. A man to whom a rope is tied, pretends to find out the guilty person. Devil Dance in West Africa. The picture represents a devilr\dance at Loongi, the capital of Bullom, West Coast of Africa. It took place at night. The scene which presents itself to any one * Burton’s Central Africa, Yol. II. pp. 350-356 (abridged). SMELLING OUT A THIEF. 28 Devil- Dancers, Witch- Finders, Rain-Makers , and Medicine-Men. WEST AFRICAN DEVIL^ DANCE. coming suddenly out of the darkness into the noise and glare is decidedly uncanny. In the centre of a circle which fills the courtyard is the devil-dancer, with a great crocodile’s head, long grass, looking like hair, depending from his body and legs, and swaying as he moves, leaps, beating time with his feet to the beat of the drums. Women, in a double row, wail a chant and strike their palms together in slow rhythmi- cal measure, those in the front row bowing down between each beat. Young men, in long robes and caps, wail with the women. They look dazed to begun with, but grad- ually work themselves up into a phrenzy. The dark faces, the monotonous wailing cry, the thrumming of the drums, the rattle of the clackers, and the beat of 29 Wibch- Finding in India . f the dovil dancer’s feet, make a strange scene. When peace is declared between two tribes, the peace devil-dancer comes leap- ing into the town. If he stumbles or falls, it is considered a bad omen, and he is put to death. and west the ignorant believed that if an image were made and stuck full of pins, the person represented would die in great agony. Another method was to make a wax image and place it before a fire causing it to melt, upon which the victim would waste away from disease. The Grcuphic 1890. Witch-Finding in India. WITCH-FINDERS OR WITCH- DOCTORS. Distinction between a Devil-Dancer and a Witch. — Savages do not believe in na- tural death. If a man, however old, dies without being wounded, they conclude that his death has been caused by an evil spirit or some one who has bewitched him. For diseases caused by evil spirits, the proper cure is to get rid of them. For this purpose a devil-dancer is employed. He talks to them, coaxes or threatens them ; makes offerings to them, entices or drives them out of the sick men, and persuades them to take up their abode somewhere else. A witch, on the other hand, is a man or woman* who tries by magical means to do harm to some one. The witch may cause disease among human beings or cattle, or otherwise injure them. On account of their supposed powers, people employ them to re- move some enemy. Hence a ‘devil-dancer may be considered as useful in his way, while the witch is everywhere detested. Means employed by Witches. — The common belief is that a person may be in- jured by anything belonging to him, as his hair, the parings of his nails, &c. Among one tribe a chief is followed by a man with a spittoon into which he spits, lest any one should get hold of his spittle and thus do him harm. Even an image of the person may have the same influence. In both east * Wizard is properly applied to the male ; but witch, in popular use, may refer to either sex. The grand remedy for witchcraft in India is to kill the witch. Among the Kols the whole family was put to death in the belief that witches breed witches. Mrs. Mason describes the following case which happened among the Karens, a wild tribe in Burma : “ There was a poor childless Karen who retired with his wife to the forest, and cultivated a small patch of land there alone. After awhile a man died in the neighbour- hood of congestion of the liver. Dark suspicions began to be whispered that the old man of the jungle knew more than he ought to know of the matter. Soon he was openly pronounced a wizard, and his precincts enchanted ground. After this, whenever any singular death occurred in the neighbourhood, it was laid at his door. Finally, a child died of an unaccountable disease, and, lo, when its body was burned, a portion of the kidneys was found un- consumed. This to a Karen is proof posi- tive. The neighbours, therefore, went up from ail parts to the magistrate, clamorous for the old man’s death. They found out that the English law would give no help, so three stout young men, arming them- selves with axes and knives, hastened to the old man’s hut, and there in broad day, they hewed the wretched man to pieces as they would a hog. When arraigned for trial, they at once confessed, producing the unburned kidneys as proof that they had acted only as public benefactors.”* * Civilizing Mountain Men , pp. 119, 120, 30 Devil-Dancers . Witch- Finders, Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men. The witch is regarded as simply a mis- chievous animal, that deserves to be killed like a man-eating tiger. The grand complaint brought against the English Government by some rude tribes is that they are not now allowed to kill witches as they did before. Sir Alfred Lyall says : “ It is probable that in no other town or country has witchcraft ever been so comfortably practised as it is now in India under British rule. The Indian sorcerer lives under laws which, instead of condemning him, interfere actively to pro- tect him from molestation, and are much more prone to hang witch-finders than witches. Of course the witch is punished when he takes to poisoning or pure swind- ling ; but so long as his methods are simply magical, that is, so long as he pretends to work evil in a way not admitted to be physically possible, by sticking pins in an wax figure, brewing in a cauldron, burying a fowl’s head downwards, howling out in- cantations and the like, it is not easy for an English judge to punish the man because he can make his neighbours believe that these operations affect the climate, the cattle, or the health of any one against whom they are directed.”* Modes of Witch-finding — Witches were discovered in India much as they were in Europe during the Middle Ages. They are thus described by Sir A. C. Lyall : “ The ordeal by water is universal among the barbarious Non-Aryan tribes of Central India, from the Bheels in the west country to the wild men in the almost unexplored jungles of Bustar and the far east, towards the Bay of Bengal. Here is a description of one water test, taken a few years ago from the mouth of an expert witch-finder among the Bheels, who got into a scrape for applying it to an old woman. “ A bamboo is stuck up in the middle of any piece of water. The accused is taken to it, lays hold of it, and by it descends to the bottom. In the meantime one of the villagers shoots an arrow from his bow and another runs to pick it up and bring it back to the place, whence it was shot. If the woman is able to remain under water until this is done, she is declared innocent, but if she comes up to breathe before the arrow is returned into the bowman’s hand, she is a true witch, and must be swung as such.” In the case from which this account is taken the woman failed in the test, and was accordingly swung to and fro, roped up to a tree, with a bandage of red pepper on her eyes ; but it is obvious that this kind of ordeal, like almost all primitive ordeals, is contrived so as to depend for its effect much upon the manner in which it is con- ducted, whereby the operator’s favour be- comes worth gaining. A skilful archer will shoot as far as he chooses. Another mode of trial as by sewing the suspected one in a sack, which is let down into water about 3 feet deep. If the per- son inside the sack can get his head above water, he is a witch. An English officer \ ouce saved a witch in India from ducking to death, by insisting that the witch-finder and the accusers generally should go through precisely the same ordeal which they had prescribed. This idea hit off the crowd’s notion of fair play, and the trial was adjourned sine die by consent. Another ordeal is by heat, as for in- stance, the picking of a coin out of burning oil. But the question extraordinary is by swinging on a sacred tree, or by flogging y with switches of a particular wood. In 1865, a woman, suspected of bringing cholera into the village, was deliberately beaten to death with rods of the castor-oil tree, which is excellent for purging witch- craft. It is usual also to knock out the front teeth of a notorious witch ; the prac- * Asiatic Studies, p. 96. Witch-Finding in India. 31 tice appears to be connected with the belief well known in all countries, that witches assume animal shapes. A good many years ago, there was an old man prac- tising as a physician near Srinagar in the Himalayas, who was notorious as a sorce- rer, insomuch that his reputation of having devoured many persons under the form of a tiger cost him most of his teeth, which were extracted by the Raja who then held that country, so as to render him less formid- able during his constant metamorphoses. Shaving the heads of female witches, is very common among the tribes infested by sorcerers ; it is employed as an antidote, not merely as a degrading punishment, so that one is tempted to trace its origin to some recondite power residing in the hair.”* Sir A. C. Lyall thus refers to witchcraft among the Banjaras: “The Banjaras of Central India, who formerly carried all the grain traffic of the country on vast droves of bullocks, are terribly vexed by witchcraft, to which their wandering and precarious existence especially exposes them in the shape of fever, rheumatism, and dysentery. Solemn inquiries are still held in the wild jungles where these people camp out like gipsies, and many an unlucky hag has been strangled by sentence of their secret tribunals. In difficult cases they consult the most eminent of their spiritual advisers or holy men, who may be within reach ; but it is usual, as a proper precaution against mistakes which even learned divines may commit, to buy some trifling article on the road to the consultation, and to try the diviner’s faculty by making him guess what it was, before proceeding to matters of life or death. The saint works himself into a state of demoniac possession, and gasps out some woman’s name ; she is killed by her nearest relative, or allowed to com- mit suicide, unless indeed her family are able to make it worth the diviner’s while to have another fit, and to detect some one else.”* Witch-finding in Chota Nagpore — Chota Nagpore is a large province to the west ! of Bengal, chiefly inhabited by the Kols and other rude aboriginal tribes who i had no written language. Dalton, in his Ethnology of Bengal, states that a belief in witchcraft pervades all classes. He says : “ All disease in men or animals is attrib- uted to one of two causes, the wrath of some evil spirit which has to be appeased or to the spell of some witch or sorcerer who should be destroyed or driven out of the house. In the latter case a witch-finder is employed to divine who has cast the spell, and various modes of divination are resorted to. One of the most common is the test of the stone and ‘ paila.’ The latter is a large wooden cup, shaped like a half cocoanut, used as a measure of grain. It is placed under a flat stone as a pivot for the stone to turn on. A boy is then seated on the stone, supporting himself by his hands, and the names of all the people in the neighbourhood are slowly pronounced, and as each name is uttered a few grains of rice are thrown at the boy. When they come to the name of a witch or wizard, the stone moves and the boy rolls off ; this, no doubt is the effect of the boy’s falling into a state of coma, and losing the power of supporting himself with his hands. “ In former times the person denounced and all his family were put to death in the belief that witches breed witches, and sor- cerers. The taint is in the blood. When during the mutinies the Singbhum District was left for a short time without officers, a terrible raid was made against all who for years had been suspected of dealings with the evil one, and the most atrocious murders were committed. Young men were told off for the duty by the elders ; neither * Asiatic Studies, pp. 83,84. * Asiati* Studies, pp. 88,89. 32 Devil- Dancers, Witch-Finders, Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men . sex nor age was spared. When order was restored the crimes were brought to light, and the active perpetrators were condigDly punished, and since then we have not only had no recurrence of witch murderers, but the superstition itself is dying out in the Kolhar. In other districts accusations of witchcraft are still frequently made, and the persons denounced are subject to much ill-usage if they escape with their lives Some of the witch-finders, instead of giving the name of the person who has cast the evil eye on the suffering patient profess to summon their own familiar spirit who imparts to them the needed information. The witch-finder throws some rice on a win- nowing sieve, and places a light in front of it. He then mutters some incantations, and rubs the rice, watching the flame, and when this flickers, it is owing to the pre- sence of the familiar,* and the witch-finder to whom alone the spirit is visible, pretends to receive from it the revelation which he communicates to the enquirer to the effect that the sufferer is afflicted by the familiar of some rival witch-finder, or sorcerer, or witch, whom he names. The villagers then cause the attendance of the person denounced, who is brought into the pre- sence of the sufferer, and ordered to haul out his evil spirit. It is useless for him to plead that he Iras no such spirit ; this only leads to his being unmercifully beaten. His best line of defence is to admit what is laid to his charge, and to act as if really the master of the situation. Some change for the better in the patient may take place. This is ascribed to his delivery from the familiar, and the sorcerer is allowed to depart. But if there is no amelioration in the condition of the sick person, the chas- tisement of the sorcerer is continued till he can bear no more, and not unfrequently dies under the ill treatment he is subjected to or its effects. * An ovil spirit supposed to attieud when called. “ A milder method is, when the person denounced is required to offer sacrifices of animals to appease or drive away the pos- sessing devil ; this he dare not refuse to do, and if the sickness thereupon ceases, it is of course concluded that the devil has de- parted ; but if it continue, the sorcerer is turned out of his home, and driven from his village, if nothing worse is done to him.” pp. 179, 200. South African Witch-Doctors. ZULU WARRIOR. South Africa is inhabited by several native tribes. Two of them, called Kafirs and Zulus, are noted for their warlike South African Witch-Doctors. 33 habits. The word “ Kafir/’ means ‘ infi- del/ and was given to them by Malay Muhammadans. In complexion the Kafirs and Zulus are blackish red ; their hair is crisp, inclining to woolly ; but the nose is not so flat, nor the colour so dark as that of the negro. They cultivate to some extent, but depend largely on their cattle. Their huts are ranged in a circle called a Kraal. In the middle of the village is a place where all the cattle are kept and the corn stored up. Beyond that are the huts where the people live, and outside there is a fence which encloses all the village like a round belt. Warriors decorate themselves with feathers ; a spear is the chief weapon ; a long narrow shield is used for defence. Among the Zulus there is deep-rooted belief in witchcraft. If a man gets sick or any other misfortune has happened to him ; it is because he has been bewitched by some enemy, and a witch-doctor must be employed to “ smell him out.” The usual procedure is as follows : The friends of the sick man go to con- sult the witch-doctor, without however in- forming him what is the special object of their visit. He is supposed to know their thoughts and not require to be informed. Before proceeding to business, the witch- doctor demands his fee. His clients plead poverty, that they have nothing just now, but will pay by and by. But with the witch-doctor, it is no pay, no advice, and no credit on any condition. Finding it im- possible to get his advice without the fee in advance, it is paid, not without a loud complaint on the part of the witch-doctor, that it is too little. The clients sit around the witch-doctor, he shouts, “ Beat and hear my people,” each of the persons present having snapped his fingers, replies, “I hear.” The witch- doctor now pretends to have a vision indis- tinct at first, but becoming more distinct gradually, juntil he sees the actual thing 5 that has occurred. As the vision breaks on his view, he keeps up a running commen- tary in a loud voice on what he sees. To find out what the applicants want to know, the witch-doctor takes up animals and human beings, proceeding as follows : — “ Beat and hear my people.” They snap their fingers and say, “I hear,” “You want to know something about an animal with hair. A cow is sick ; what is the matter with her ? No, I’m wrong. A cow is lost; I see a cow in the bush. Nay, don’t beat my people ; I’m wrong. I see ; now beat vigorously ; the thing relates to people. Somebody is ill — a man is ill — he is an old man. No, I see now ; it’s a boy — beat vigorously. He is sick. The spirits are angry with him. Kill a cow, and the boy will recover.” The witch-doctor seeks to know all that is going on in the village, so that he generally understands the circumstances. If clever, he can discover from the appli- cants themselves what has happened, and send them away with a deep impression of his prophetic abilities. The Zulus have an infinite variety of charms; such as bits of bone> scraps of skin, claws, teeth — in fact anything which they wear about their persons to ward off the “evil eye” and the hundred other effects of witchcraft. When a chief gets ill, he always fancies some one in the village has made him so. The witch-doctor must be sent for, so that the person who has made the chief ill may be “smelt out.” Until this is done no one ever expects the chief to get better. Once in a village near a mission station a chief caught a very bad cold. Instead of trying to cure it quietly at home, he sent for the witch-doctor to find out who had given it to him. Then a poor old man was “ smelt out.” The old man was a favourite with the chief, but the doctor said he had given him his bad cold, and everybody 34 Devil-Dancers , Witch-Finders , Rain-Makers , Medicine-Men . ZULU WITCH-DOCTOR. believed it, and felt very angry with him. A guard o£ 20 men was at once put round the old man’s house, and the chief said be must die. When the missionary heard what was going on, he went to the chief’s house to beg him to spare the old man’s life. But it was of no use. Talking only made the chief’s cold worse, and then he felt more angry still with the old man. Soon after the missionary was gone, the old man was strangled. In the above way many inno- cent men and women lose their lives. Revenge, jealousy, hatred, and covetousness, lurk behind this belief in witchcraft, and turn it to deadly uses. Certain men have a grudge against some one belonging to their village, who is rich in cattle and sheep. They talk together about him ; lay their plans, give a present to the witch-doctor, and set about killing him. They go to the chief and lay their case before him somewhat after this fashion : “ We are troubled with much sickness, people are dying, cattle are dying, owls are flying about, snakes are appearing, we are bewitched by some one.” The chief may ask by whom, then they give the poor innocent man’s name. After that the chief refers them to the great smeller-out, the witch-doctor of the country. On arriving at his hut, this gi’eat witch-doctor, who has already been presented with an ox, knows very well whom to select as a victim. He goes through certain performances, and after much noise aud non- sense, picks out this poor man, who is entirely ignorant of the crafty wicked plot of his neighbours. The victim protests against the decision of the witch-doctor, declares his innocence in front of them all, but the wily witch-doctor when he sees all the others are with him, upholds his verdict. The unhappy man thus accused returns as a criminal to the chief, and swears that he knows nothing about these charges ; but now all are opposed to him, he pleads alone in front of the chief, for whose final decision they South African Witch-Doctors- 35 ■WITCH-DOCTOR. wait. It may be, “ cast him to the wolves,” then and there, or a command to kill him in his own village ; or he may be pardoned, or he may flee the country ; but after such a trial as this, his position is lost, the black brand of the witch is upon him, and his life is in jeopardy every day. The most common result is that he is killed, and one or two of his wives with him ; his oxen and sheep are taken by his false accusers, and his home becomes a heap of ruins. A missionary reports that in 1890 thirty such cases came under his personal obser- vation in one month. Such are the effects 36 Devil-Dancers, Witch- Finders, Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men. of the unjust, cruel, and murderous power of witchcraft among the Zulus.* Chaka and the Witch-doctors. — About 70 years ago, when Chaka the Terrible was king of the Zulus, the political power of the witch-finders had reached a great height. They were in the habit of denouncing as wizards one after the other of the king’s ministers and chieftains. It was difficult to put a stop to these wholesale murders, for the sympathy of the people was al- ways on the side of the witch-finders, cruel though they were. At last the king thought of an expedient. He killed a bul- lock, and with his own hands smeared its blood over the royal hut in the dead of night. Next day he summoned a Council and announced that some one had been guilty of high treason in defiling the King’s hut with blood, and that too when it stood apparently secure from outrage in the very middle of the village. "What was to be done ? The witch-finders were summoned and commanded on pain of death to declare who was the criminal. This they were quite ready to do, and named without hesi- tation one after the other of the great chieftains who sat trembling around. But instead of dooming the wretched victim to death, the witch-finders who named a chieftain, heard to their astonishment, that they were to' be executed, and the de- nounced victim keptalive. This went on for some time, until one cleverer than the rest, yet afraid of committing himself too much, rose up and said oracularly, ‘I smell the heavens above ! ’ Chaka took this as a compliment, as well as a guess in the right direction, ordered all the remaining witch- finders to be slain on the spot, and appoint- ed the fortunate oracle to be his one and only witch-finder for ever after. f * Among the Matabele, pp. 34, 36. R. T. 8. Price Is. 6 d. t Lady Barker, A Tear's. Housekeeping in South Africa, pp. 188, 189. A Kafir Prophet. About sixty years ago the Kafirs had several wars with Europeans. In 1856 the chiefs devised a plan by which all the Ka- firs would unite in attacking Europeans, who would thus be destroyed. A Kafir prophet was to tell the people that the spirits of the dead had commanded that all cattle were to be killed and eaten, and every grain of corn consumed. If they did so, on a certain day the an- cient heroes of their race would come back, myriads of beautiful cattle would rise out of the ground and cover it far and wide, and vast fields of waving corn would spring up, ripe for eating. Trouble, sickness, and old age would be known no more, and the sky would fall on the whites A KAFIR rROPUEI. Belief in Witchcraft among Christians. 37 and crush thorn out forever, and with them every Kafir who opposed the commands of the spirit. A delirious frenzy seized the whole community. They killed and wasted their possessions and prepared great kraals for the coming millions of cattle so soon to appear. Even when they had come to the starving point, they worked on, making enormous sacks to hold the milk which was soon to flow like water ! Meanwhile the Government of the Cape Colony, which could not stay these mad proceedings, did all it could to protect its frontier, and laid in stores of food in pity for the misguided people. For while the masses were acting under the influence of superstition, there were leaders whose plan it was to hurl their followers, when half- starving and frantic, upon the colony. These leaders fancied that such a despair- ing host would prove irresistible, and would regain for them their ancient dominion in the land. They probably relied on the destruction of the whites and on the spoils of war to console their people for the non- appearance of the spirits with the wonder- ful cattle and the abundant corn. At length, early in the year 1857, the morning of the day of resurrection so long promised and ardently expected dawned. All night long the Kafirs had watched in the most intense excitement, looking to see two blood-red suns rise over the eastern hills/- when the heavens would fall and crush the hated races. They were famish- ed and half-dying men, yet that night was a time of fierce, delirious joy. The morning was to see their sorrows ended. The morn- ing came, but the same old sun bathed the hillsides with silver light and all was unchanged. “ Could the predictions prove untrue ? ,J No ! it must be at noon ; or, when noontime passed, it must be at sunset ! But when the sun went down in peaceful splendor, the Kafirs awoke to the facts of their dreadful condition. The leaders tried to cheer them and said the day of resurrection was only put off. But they had made a mistake fatal to their success in not assembling the people together, on pretence of witnessing the resurrection at some place from which they could burst upou the colony. It was too late to rectify this blunder. Fierce excitement gave way to despair. The only hope left was to go to the colony as beggars to ask bread. Sometimes whole families sat down and died together, fifteeu to twenty skeletons being often found afterwards under a siugle tree. Brother fought with brother for scraps of those great milk-sacks made for the imaginary supply. The aged and the feeble were abandoned, while the young aud strong fed upon wild plants and the roots of trees. A stream of emaciated being3 poured into the colony, who sat down before the farmhouses and asked in piteous tones for food. The official returns of British Kaffraria showed a decrease of population during the fatal year, 1857, from 105,000 to 38,000. The prophet himself perished.* Belief in Witchcraft among Christians. A belief in evil spirits who caused sick- ness, storms, and other misfortunes was universal in ancient times. The Celtic tribes, early settlers in Europe, were deeply imbued with this belief. The first con- verts to Christianity were generally in- dividuals who embraced the religion from a conviction of its truth, and showed their sincerity by the persecution they endured. After the Roman Emperor Constantine de- clared himself a Christian, sometimes hun- dreds were baptized in one day. Many such hasty converts, however, not properly instructed, retained their old belief in demons, and sought to propitiate them as before. # The Missionary Herald. 38 Devil- Dancers , Witch- Finders , Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men . Such superstitions lingered long among the Celtic tribes in Scotland and Ireland. A traveller who made tours through these countries about 1769, found that the fire festival was observed. Fires were lighted near each other, between which men and cat- tle passed to save them from disease. Leap- ing through the flames was also practised, as it still is in some parts of India. Cakes were baked with scrupulous attention to certain rites and forms, and divided into fragments, which were formally dedicated to birds or beasts of prey that they might spare the flocks and herds. A small piece of land, which was never ploughed or culti- vated, was dedicated to the devil, who, to please him, was called the “good-man.” It was believed that by making an image of a person and sticking it with pins, it would cause his death. Certain persons, called witches, were supposed to make an agreement with the devil. They imagined that they gave themselves up to him, body and soul, while he engaged that they should want for nothing, and be able to assume whatever shape they pleased, to visit and torment their enemies. The devil was supposed to give the witch one of his evil spirits to do what it was directed. By the aid of this imp and the devil to- gether, the witch, who was almost always an old woman, was enabled to fly through the air on a broomstick, and to transform herself into various shapes, particularly those of cats and hares; to inflict diseases on whom she pleased, and to punish her enemies in a variety of ways. Many poor old women were accused of witchcraft. There were men who claimed to be witch-finders. One method was to thrust pins into various parts of the body to find the devil’s mark which did not bleed. Another plan was to wrap the suspected person in a sheet, having the great toes and thumbs tied together and so dragged through a pond or river- If she sank, it was considered a proof of her innocence ; if she floated through the help of the Devil, she was guilty. Another custom was to drag them about, till extreme weariness made them confess that they were witches, upon which they were executed, by being first strangled and then burnt. Individual charges of witchcraft were made at different periods, but it was not till about the end of the 14th century that they were brought on a large scale. Witch- es were no longer burnt in twos or threes, but in scores and hundreds. Within a century and a half, it was reckoned that at least 30,000 witches had been burned. With the spread of enlightment the per- secution gradually ceased. The last sen- tence of death for witchcraft in Scotland took place in 1722. The superstition still lingers in some parts of Europe among the ignorant. Even in 1895 an Irishman murdered his wife, under the belief that she was bewitched. RAIN-MAKERS. Plants and animals are dependent upon rainfall. If droughts were long continued, both would perish. Among uncivilized nations, where the rainfall is scanty and uncertain, there are rain-makers who profess to be able to bring down rain. Before describing them, accounts wijl be given of attempts to produce rain in India and Ceylon. Rainmakinq in India. In the year 1892 the following means to produce rain were employed at Chunar, on the banks of the Ganges: '* The rains this year held off for a long time and on the night of July 24th the following ceremony was performed secretly. Between the hours of 9 and 10 P.M., a barber’s wife went from door to door and Rain Making in India . 39 invited the women to join in ploughing. They all collected in a field from which all males were excluded. Three women from a cultivator’s family stripped off all their clothes; two were yoked to a plough like oxen, and a third held the handle. They then began to imitate the operation of ploughing. The woman who had the plough in her hand shouted, ‘ 0 Mother Earth ! bring parched grain, water, and chaff. Our stomachs are breaking to pieces from hunger and thirst.’ Then the landlord and village accountant approach- ed them and laid down some grain, water, and chaff in the field. The women then dressed and returned home.”* Among some American Indians, to pro- tect fields from vermin, insects, and blight, the mother of a family at night when the children were asleep and the sky overcast, took off all her clothes and made the circuit of the field.* English people have a game called, ‘ the tug of war.’ There are two parties who take hold of the opposite ends of a rope, and then each tries to pull the other over. This is mere sport. But the men in the picture are not amusing themselves ; they are pulling for rain ! The custom is dying out, but when there was a want of rain, the above plan was adopted in some parts of the country. Two parties were made — a rain party and a fair weather party. They pulled at a rope, and having agreed beforehand that the rain party was to come off victorious, they tugged away till it got the best of it, and then they believed that rain would come. All the time those engaged in it abused one PULLING FOE RAIN. * Crooke’s Popular Religion and Folk Lore of Northern | * Schoolcraft, Manners and Customs, Vol. v. p. 70. India, p. 43. 40 Devil-Dancers Wit eh- Finders, Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men . another with filthy language as is done during the Holi festival. What ignorance is shown in believing that such child’s play can bring rain ! It is especially lamentable for people to think that obscene abuse can do any good. Rain-makers in South Africa. Parts of South Africa are subject to long droughts. The chiefs themselves claim to produce rain. To make the people believe them, when rain threatens, they collect various kinds of roots, snake-bones, feathers of different birds, the liver of the crocodile, leaves, and the bark of several trees. All these may be boiled in a pot or burned on the ground. This strange compound is supposed to have power over the clouds and cause rain. If the attempts of the chiefs fail, rain- doctors are called in, whose medicines are supposed to be always successful. Various methods are employed by the rain-doctors. Smoke is somewhat like clouds. One plan is to kindle fires, in a row from which smoke arises. To make the medicine stronger, the rain-doctors, leap through the fire as shown in the picture. A missionary and other people are represented as look- ing on. Dr. Moffat gives the following account of other attempts at rainmaking : The rainmaker who came to my station found the clouds more difficult to control than in the place he had left. He con- sidered that there was some secret machi- nation at work against him. When urged to make repeated trials, he would reply, ‘ You can only give me sheep and goats to kill, therefore I make only goat rain ; give me for slaughter oxen, I shall let you see ox-rain.’ One day as he was taking a sound RAIN MAKING IN SOUTH AFRICA. ' Rain-Makers in South Africa. 41 sleep, a shower fell, on which one of the principal men entered his house to congra- tulate him, but to his utter astonishment found him totally insensible to what was transpiring. “ Hallo, my father ! I thought you were making rain,” said the intruder. The rain-maker, arising from his slumber, and seeing his wife sitting on the floor shaking a milk-sack in order to obtain a little butter to auoint her hair, he replied, pointing to the operation of churning, ‘ Do you not see my wife churning rain as fast as she cau ?’ His reply gave entire satisfac- tion, and it presently spread through the village that the rain-maker had churned the shower out of a milk-sack. “ The moisture caused by the shower was dried up by a scorchiug suu, aud mauy long weeks followed without a single cloud, and when they did appear, they might sometimes be seen, to the great mortifica- tion of the rain-maker, to discharge their watery treasures at an immense distance. This disappointment was increased when a heavy cloud would pass over with tremen- dous thunder, but not one drop of rain. There had been several successive years of drought, during which water had not been seen to flow upon the ground. The women had cultivated extensive fields, but the seed was lying in the soil as it had been thrown from the hand, the cattle were dying from want of pasture, and hundreds of human beings, resembling skeletons, were going to the fields in quest of unwholesome roots and reptiles, while many were dying with hunger. All these circumstances irritated the rain-maker very much, he was often puzzled to find something on which to lay the blame, for he had exhausted his skill. “ One night a small cloud passed over, and the only flash of lightning, from which a heavy peal of thunder burst, struck a tree in the town. Next day the rain-maker and a number of people met to perform the usual ceremony on such an event. It 6 was ascended, and ropes of grass and grass roots were bouud round different parts of the trunk. When these bandages were made, he deposited some of his nostrums, and got quantities of water handed up, which he poured with great solemnity on the wounded tree, amid the shouts of the assembled mul- titude. This done, the tree was hewn down, dragged out of the village, and burnt to ashes. Soon after this unmeaning cere- mony, he got large bowls of water, with which was mingled an infusion of plants. All the men of the village then came to- gether, and passed in succession before him, when lie spriukled each with a zebra's tail which he had dipped in the water. The rain-maker had often said that if they could procure for him the heart of a lion he would show them that he could make rain so abundant that a man might think himself well off to be under shelter, as when it fell it might sweep whole towns away. He had discovered that the clouds required strong medicine, and a lion's heart would do the business. To obtain this the rain-maker knew was no joke. One day it was announced that a lion had at- tacked one of the cattle outposts not far from the village, and a party set off for the two-fold purpose of getting a key to the clouds and disposing of a dangerous enemy .The orders were imperative, whatever the consequences might be, which, in this instance, might have been very serious, had not one of our men shot the terrific animal dead with a gun. This was no sooner done than it was cut up for roasting and boiling ; no matter if it had previously eaten some of their relatives, they ate it in turn. Nothing could exceed their enthusiasm when they returned to the village bearing the lion's heart, and^inging the conqueror’s song in full chorus. The rain-maker pre- pared his medicines, kindled his fires, and might be seen upon the top of the hill, stretching forth his puny hands, and beck- 42 Devil-Dancers, Witch-Finders, Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men. oning the clouds to draw near ; or even shaking his spear, and threatening that if they disobeyed they should feel his ire. The deluded population believed all this, ! and wondered that the rains would not fall. The end of it all was, that to account for the hard-heartedness of the clouds, the blame was laid upon the missionaries. When clouds were approaching, the mis- sionaries looked at them with their white I faces, and rain would not fall. Another excuse was that the tolling of the church bell, was the reason why there was no rain. As all this and much more did not suc- ceed, the rain-maker had recourse to another stratagem. He knew well that baboons, a very powerful and fierce kind of monkey, were not easily caught among the rocky glens and shelving precipices ; therefore, in order to gain time, he informed the men that to make rain he must have a baboon ; that the animal must be without blemish, not a hair wanting on its body. One would have thought that a simpleton would have seen through his tricks, as there being able to present him with a baboon in that condition was impossible, even though they caught him asleep. Forth sallied a band of chosen runners, who ascended the neighbouring mountain. The baboons from their lofty domiciles had been in the habit of looking down on the plain beneath at the natives encircling aud pursuing antelopes, little dreaming that one day they would themselves be the objects of pursuit. They hobbled off in consterna- tion, grunting and screaming and leaping from rock to rock, occasionally looking down on their pursuers, grinning and gnash- ing their teeth. After a long pursuit, with wounded limbs, scratched bodies, and broken toes, a young one was secured and brought to the village, the captors exulting as if they had obtained a great spoil. The wily rain-maker, on seeing the animal, put on a countenance exhibiting the most intense sorrow, exclaiming, ‘ My heart is rent in pieces ; I am dumb with grief and pointing to the ear of the baboon which was scratched, and the tail which had lost some hairs, added, ‘ Did I not tell you that I could not make rain if there was oue hair wanting V After some days another was obtained ; but there was still some imper- fection, real or alleged. At last, the people wearied out with the excuses of the rain-maker, wished to kill him as is often done. Through the inter- cession of the Missionaries, he was allowed to go to another village. American Indian Rain-Makers. Among the American Indians, wonder- workers are called medicine-men. They are all supposed to be acquainted with charms which give them miraculous powers. Every Indian has his medicine or mystery bag which he regards with reverence, and will not part with for any price. He looks upon it as a kind of charm that is to pro- tect him from evil. He takes it with him to battle, and when he dies it is his companion. The medicine lag is usually the skin of some quadruped, as the beaver, otter, pole-cat, and weasel ; or of some bird, as the eagle, the magpie, and hawk, or of some reptile, as the snake, and the toad. The skin is stuffed with anything the owner chooses to put into it, such as dry grass or leaves ; and it is carefully sewn up into some curious form, and ornamented in a strange manner. Some medicine bags are large and conspicuous as the skin of a wolf ; while others are very small, and altogether hidden under the dress. The animal is chosen as follows : A lad about 15 years of age goes into the jungle for two or three days, crying to the Great Spirit and fasting the whole time. When bo falls asleep the first animal of which he American Indian Rain-Malcers 43 dreams, or pretends to have dreamed, he considers the Great Spirit has chosen to be his protector through life. He kills it and forms with it his medicine bag. It seems strange that he should kill his pro- tector. It is considered the greatest disgrace for an Indian to sell or give away his medicine bag. It is nearly as disgraceful to lose it in battle. His enemy carries it off and dis- plays it as a trophy ; whilst the loser is known as “a man without medicine;” or “ he has lost his medicine,” until he can replace it again. This can only be done by rushing into battle and taking one from an enemy whom he slays with his own hand. This done, his medicine is restored. All this tends to make a man fight bravely in battle to protect his medicine or to regain it if lost. While male Indians generally have their medicine bags, some are known as “ medi- cine men,” being specially skilled in their use. Among them are rain-makers. A traveller thus describes their attempts at an Indiau village. The Indiaus at this place raised a great deal of corn, but the growing crop was threatened to be destroyed by drought. The women came crying and groaning to the rain-makers, asking them to send rain. The great object of the rain-makers was to gain time. They told the women that if they began too soon, it might result in failure. After a few days delay, the women became so clamorous, that the rain-makers felt that something must be done. They assembled iu the council-house with all their strange apparatus and abundance of sweet-smelling plants, with a fire prepared to burn them. They were then to prepare medicine to bring down rain. Each rain- maker was afterwards to try his skill. The first who went up was called the Shield. He stood all day counting over and over his string of mystery-beads, the whole village standing around and praying for his success. Not a cloud appeared, and at sunset he came down. The people said that “ his medicine was not good.” The Stag was the next. On his left hand he carried a beautiful shield and a RAIN- hakes. 44 Devil- Dancers, Witch- Finders, Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men long lance in his right; and on his head the skin of a raven, the bird that soars above the clouds. He flourished his shield, and brandished his lance, and raised his voice, but in vain. At sunset, the sky was clear, and the women were crying. The Beaver was the next. He also spent his breath in vain and came down at • night. Next morning the White Buffalo’s Hair took his stand. He was splendidly dressed. Among his ornaments were locks of hair taken with his own hands from the heads of his enemies. On his arm he carried his shield, while his other grasped a bow and a single arrow. The villagers were all gathered around him. He first threw up a feather to show how the wind blew, and then told the people that the rain would come from that direction. His shield would draw a great cloud ; he would pierce it with his arrow, and rain would fall in torrents. White Buffalo’s Hair spent the day, sometimes addressing the people, some- times pretending to talk with the winds; stamping his foot, and asking the spirits to send rain. At the approach of evening White Buffalo’s Hair saw a dark cloud coming. He then commanded the cloud to come rearer, while he stood waving his shield, stamping his foot, as he drew his bow, threaten- ing the heavens, and com- manding it to rain. He then shot an arrow at the cloud, and the rain poured down with flashes of lightning. The people received him with great honour, and gave him the title of “ mediciue man.” A poor woman was killed by a flash of lightning. White Buffalo’s Hair was afraid that h e might be charged with her death. He made the excuse that his medicine was too strong. This was accepted, and he received hereafter in- creased honour under the name of “ Bio Double Medicine.!”* RAIN-MAKERS. * Oatlin’e North American Indians. Vol. I. pp, 36, 134-137. (abridged.) Buffalo and Bear Dances of the American Indians. BUFFALO DANCE. 46 Devil-Dancers, Witch- Finders, Rain-Malcers, and Medicine-Men. Now that Indians are acquainted with fire-arms, they sometimes shoot with guns instead of arrows. Some of them are seen doing so in the picture, while others flourish battleaxes. As already mentioned, the great object of the rain-makers is to gain time, knowing that rain will generally come at last. Buffalo and Bear Dances of the American Indians. There were formerly large herds of wild buffaloes roaming about the country on which the Indians depended much for food. To briug these herds near their villages, buffalo dances are employed. Each man has a mask made of the buf- falo’s head with the horns on, and it generally has a strip of the skin hanging to it, with the tail attached. Each dancer has in his hand his favourite lance or bow with which he is used to slay the buffalo. The dance goes on while drums are beaten, rattles are shaken, and amid the shouts and yells of the bystanders. When a dancer is tired, he bends quite forward and sinks towards the ground. Another then draws a bow upon him and hits him with a blunt arrow, and he falls like a buffalo. He is seized by the by- standers, who drag him out by the heels, bandishing their knives over him. Having gone through the motions of skinning and cutting him up, they let him off, and his place is at once supplied by another who dances with his mask on. By thus taking places the dance is kept up day and night until the desired effect is produced, that of “ making buffalo come.” It is considered never to fail, because the dance is continued for weeks till the buffaloes make their appearance, which is attributed to its performance. Bear Dance. The bear is the chief beast of prey in North America. The Indians eat its flesh and use its fat to oil their long hair and the surface of their bodies. Before setting cat : n a bear hunt, several days are spent in BEAK DANCE. Medicine Men. 47 a bear dance, when all join in a song to the ments of that animal. Some represented Bear Spirit. If this honor were not paid its motion in running, others its peculiar to the Bear Spirit, he would be offended, attitude and banging of the paws, when it and prevent their success in the chase. is sitting up on its hind feet, and looking The bear dance is thus described. One out for the approach of an enemy. With- of the chief medicine-uieu placing over his out this strange performance, the hunt body the entire skin of a bear, with a war- would certainly end in failure.* A MEDICINE-MAX PREPARING MEDICINES. eagle’s quill on his head, took the. lead iu the dance, looking through the skin which formed a mask that hung over his face. Many others in the dance wore masks on their faces, made of the skin from the bear’s head, and all, with the motions of their hands, closely imitated the move- MEDICINE MEN. Some account has already been given of the Medicine-Men of the American Indians who act as rain-makers. It has also been explained that “ medicine,” is to be under- * Gatlin, Vol. I. p. 245. 48 Devil- Dancers, Witch- Finders, Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men . MASKS WORN BY MEDICINE-MEN. Btood in the sense of “ mystery ” or charm. But the medicine men also act as doctors, using their charms in certain cases to increase the respect people. For some common and fear of the diseases, they use Medicine-Men. 49 medicines. In cases of pain, they often bleed the part ; sometimes they apply red pepper. Frequently they burn sweet-smell- ing plants. Sometimes they auoint the body ; sometimes steam it. For pain in the bowels, they use purgatives. For sick stomach they try to induce vomiting by tickling the throat with a feather. Wheu these fail there is a resort to magic ; but many medicine-men rely entirely on incan- tations. Diseases are caused by evil spirits, and the only remedy is to expel them. MEDICINE MAN PERSONATING A DEMON. 7 The medicine-men are regarded with great awe and dread by the ignorant Indians, whom they can easily deceive by their conjuring tricks. They profess to converse with gods and spirits, and to have the power of life and death over individu- als. They pretend to foretell events and to be able to point out where stolen articles are to be found. In all councils of war and peace, they have a seat with the chiefs. They are consulted before any public step is taken, and the greatest deference is paid to their opinions. To frighten the Indians, the med- icine-men have a variety of strange dresses. They wear curious masks ; the skins of many animals, as bears, snakes, bats ; the beaks, claws and tails of birds ; hoofs of deer, goats, antelopes, &c. The medicine-man endeavours to extract as much as he can from all who seek his services. A traveller saw a sick child brought to a medi- cine-man to ascertain the cause of the disease and the remedy. A pres- ent has been given, but the medi- cine-man does not consider it enough, and the spirit refuses to answer. When asked the reason, the reply is that everything necessary has not yet been done. Upon this the father gives some tobacco and blue cloth. Still the spirit is silent. When asked, “ what is the matter V* the applicant is told that sugar is still wanting. Answers like the following are then given : “ Your child has a piece of iron in its stomach which must be taken out; the patient has a bear’s claw in his body ; the child is sick because it has a bad name — it must be changed; such a one is sick, because he has killed a bear and given no part of it to the spirits. You must throw your 50 Devil-Dancers, Witch- Finders, Rain-Malcers, and Medicine-Men. dog into the water to feed the spirits ; you must kill it and give a feast.” Sometimes the answer is, “ The soul of the patient is no longer in his body; an evil spirit has carried it off; it is imprisoned; a more powerful spirit must be sent to deliver it.” Thereupon the family gives something more for the deliverance ot the soul which is brought back to the sick person. The Indians believe that when a sick person is j very low, his soul has already departed ; he is dead • but he may recover if his soul is brought back. When the medicine-man thinks he has succeeded in expelling an evil spirit, he directs that guns should be fired at the door of the tent to destroy the evil spirit as it passes out ! Should the patient recover, the medi- cine-man may be seen for several days after, on the top of a house, with his right arm extended and waving Over the gaping multitude, to whom he is vaunting forth the wonderful skill he has acquired in his art, and the undoubted efficacy of his medicine. If, on the contrary, the patient dies, the medicine-man soon changes his dress, and joins in lamentations with the mourners. He protects his repu- tation by assuring the people that it was the will of the Great Spirit that the patient should die, and his efforts therefore could not avail. Catliu, an American who lived for years among the Indians, thus describes what he saw in the case of a dying man. The man who had been shot was still living, though two bullets had passed near each other through the centre of his body. There was not the slightest hope of his recovering, but a medicine- man was sent for. There were several hundred spec- tators, who when it was announced that the medicine-man was comiug were required to form a ring, leaving a clear space of 30 or 40 feet around the dying man. A space was also opened to allow the medicine-man to pass through the crowd without touching any one. All were silent and nothing could be heard but the slight tinkling of the rattles on the dress of the medicine-man. MEDICINE-MEN. Review. 51 The picture represents the appearance of the medicine-man. lie came near with his body in a crouching position, with a slow step. His body and head were entirely covered with the skin of a yellow bear, the head of which (his own head being inside of it) served as a mask. The huge claws of the bear were also dangling on his wrists and ankles. In one hand he shook a frightful rattle, and in the other braudished his magical medicine-spear. To all this he added wild and startling jumps and yells, with the gruuts and snarls and growls of the bear, in incantations to the good and bad spirits on behalf of his patient. This jump- ing and dancing were continued amid the deep silence of the audience for about half an hour, when the man died. The medicine- man then ran off, and packed up his medicine dress. As already mentioned, the ignorant su- perstitious Indians are not undeceived. The medicine-man retains his reputation. The time for the death of the patient had come, and he could not avert it. On the other hand, he claims the credit of any cure. REVIEW. The foregoing pages form a sad picture of human ignorance, folly, and wickedness. There is a Persian proverb, “The proper devil of mankind is man.” Most of the evils from which we suffer arise from our own misconduct or that of others. The following remarks suggest them- selves : 1. A belief in demons and witchcraft as the cause of disease exists only among savages and half- civilized nations — The belief prevails universally among savages. The illustrations given have been drawn largely from the wild tribes of India. African Zulus and Negi’oes, the Red Men of America, and others. It was the original superstition in Ceylon, Burma, Siam and China. Though condemned by Buddhism, it has not been able to extirpate it. A belief in witchcraft, magic, and the power of charms is a test of the civilization of a people. In enlighteued countries stories of witches chaugiug themselves into tigers and such like, are simply laughed at. Those who accept such tales as true show that they are half savages. With the advanceof civilization such beliefs die out. 2. There are no such beings as the demons supposed to cause disease. — Igno- rant parents frighteu their children by saying that some one will take them. Sup- pose a mother cries, “ Come and take away this child,” she knows very well that no one will come. Why? because there is no such being. Just as children are deceived and frightened by their parents, so the parents, in their turn, are deceived by devil priests, who frighten them into performing the ceremonies by which they get their living. The Bible tells us about Satan and other evil spirits ; but they are quite dif- ferent from the supposed demons invoked in devil-dancing. They do not cause disease, but tempt men to sin. 3. Devil Ceremonies are a useless waste of money which ought to be spent in getting good doctors. — Xearly every ceremony re- quires to be paid for, some of them at a high rate. When there is sickness in a house, the income may be less, from the men being unable to work, while the ex- penses are increased. Money, especially in such cases, should not be spent need- lessly. Just as pigs, hares, birds, &c., seek to prey upon fields and gardens, so do thousands of devil priests, astrologers, &c., try to take the money of ignorant people, without doing them any good in return. Some people are so ignorant that they do not give any medicine in sickness, trusting 52 Devil-Dancers, Witch- Finders, Fain-Makers, and Medicine-Men. only to charms and devil dancing. Others, who are a little more enlightened, think that charms should be used to give effect to the medicine. It should be clearly understood that God has given certain properties to bodies which act without charms, and cannot be altered by charms. Fire burns, pepper is hot, vinegar is sour, arrack intoxicates, arsenic kills. Suppose a man charmed some water before taking a drink to quench his thirst or a woman charmed some salt before put- ting it into the pot, any one would laugh at them as fools. They know that they would act without charms. But it is just as ab- surd to think that charms are necessary in the case of medicines. Castor oil, mercury, and other drugs act from their own nature, just like water or salt. When any one says that charms are also needed, he only shows his ignorance. It may be said that doctors themselves recommend devil ceremonies. This is only done by ignorant men. To conceal their want of skill, they lay the blame on demons. In this country any one may set up as a doctor as easily as he can open a shop. Only good doctors should be em- ployed, such as have had a medical edu- cation or are skilful through experience. 4. Devil Ceremonies tend to increase disease. — Two men having gardens, are troubled by pigs coming in at night. One man gets ceremonies performed to keep them out. The pigs never mind, and the holes in his fences become larger and lar- ger. The other man mends his fences, and the pigs are kept out. Bad water, insufficient clothing, and ex- posure to the night air are some of the chief causes of fever ; bad food of diarrhoea. Attention to these is like mend- ing the fences to keep out pigs, whereas devil ceremonies have no effect upon them. Indeod, devil ceremonies often do harm. They take place at night, and often last a long time. The body is then weakest and the causes of disease strongest : exposure to the night air and fatigue sometimes make the sick person worse or even cause his death. Especially when fever is about, ceremonies at night tend to spread sick- ness among all who take part in them. 5. Devil Ceremonies are morally de- grading. — There is a Sanskrit proverb, “As is the god, so is the worshipper.'’ We tend to become like those whom we worship. Demonsare supposed to be malicious beings, hating what is good, and delighting to in- jure others. Demon worship fosters evil passions. In one charm, the following prayer is made to a she-demon with regard to a supposed enemy : “ Eat his flesh and drink his blood. Eat his bones, and mus- cles and nerves. Drink his heart’s blood and suck his marrow. Eat his liver and lungs and entrails.” To offer such a prayer is a great sin. There is no she-demon to fulfil such a horrible request : the mischief falls upon the head of the man who utters it. It makes him like a demon. He who paid him to repeat it, is equally guilty. People who try to injure others do most harm to themselves. 6. Devil Ceremonies are sinful and dan- gerous. — A wise, good, and rightful king demands the obedience of his subjects. Suppose some of his people should set up a low, vile man as their king, they would justly be punished for rebellion. God is the Creator and rightful Lord of this world. He first gave us life ; He keeps us in life ; we live on His earth ; everything we have belongs to Him. He justty claims our obedience. But demon-worshippers dis- regard His commands, and honour evil spirits instead of Himself. They deserve the severest punishment. English people sometimes put brass col- lars round the necks of their dogs, with their names on them, showing that the dogs are their property. Persons who Flow to keep Healthy • 53 wear charms or perform devil ceremonies show that they have forsaken God, and given themselves up to cruel demons. The uselessness of Charms and Mantras may be shown in three ways : 1. Mere words have no power. What is considered the strongest charm cannot hurt even a fly. People may trample charms under foot, cut them in pieces, throw them into the fire. If they cannot protect themselves, much less can they protect those who wear them. It has beeu mentioned that the Burmese have charms tattooed on their bodies to preveut their being shot or drowned, yet such men die in these ways, showing the uselessness of the charms. 2. The demons of which the people of India staud so much in dread have no existence. They are like the imaginary goblins by which some ignorant parents try to frighten their children. There are no such beings as Sitala Devi, Mari Amman, &c. 3. The nations of the world that suffer least from sickness and live longest, who are the most prosperous, never use charms, while they abound among savage tribes. How to keep Healthy. Care. — Many diseases cau easily be cured by a little care at the beginning. The body, itself, gives help. If dust gets into the eyes, tears begin to flow to wash it out; if we take unwholesome food, some- times the stomach tries to vomit it, or the bowels seek to get rid of it. When a person feels ill, he should stop work, and lie down, keeping himself com- fortably warm. Instead of his usual meals, let him take conjee or some light food. If this is done, it will often be sufficient to restore him to health. Pever. — This is the disease of which most people die. One great cause is bad water. Decaying things, whether plants or animals, are generally poisonous. The water of marshes in which plants are rot- ting, is unfit for use. One of the worst kind of fever is brought on by matter from privies soaking into wells. Privies should never be near wells. If good water can- not be had, the water used should be boiled, which helps to destroy the poison. During feverish seasons exposure to the night air and cold winds should be avoided. Warm clothing is a great safeguard. Cots are better than lying on the ground. Some food should be taken before going out in the morning. All changes of the weather require care. Cholera. — When cholera, is about, unripe or decaying fruit, tainted meat and fish, raw vegetables and articles difficult of digestion, should especially be avoided, though they are bad at all times. Pure water is very important. Warm clothing should be worn. A flannel belt over the bowels at night is a great protection. Small pox — Vaccination is the grand preservative against small-pox. Children should be vaccinated when about three months old, and it should be repeated after puberty. This will ensure almost complete safety. By observing the directions given, much sickness might be prevented, and people might add some years to their life. In serious cases of illness, a good doctor should be sent for ; but charms and devil cere- monies should never be used, as they only do harm, and bring down God’s anger. Spiritual Health. We have souls as well as bodies. Our bodies must die, but our souls will live for ever, either in happiness or misery. It is of far more importance to enjoy spiritual than bodily health. Are our souls in health : Alas ! no. Every one has the leprosy of sin. In God’s sight 54 Devil-Dancers, Witch- Finders, Rain-Makers, and Medicine-Men. we are, as it were, covered from head to foot with putrefying sores. Who can count up the wicked thoughts, words, aud deeds of which we have been guilty ! There is only one Physician of souls, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of the one true God. He became man aud died in our room. Trust in Him as your Saviour, seek pardon in His name. Your sins will be forgiven for His sake, aud God will give you His Holy Spirit to purify your heart. He will watch over you through life, and at death receive you to dwell for ever in His palace. Try in every thing to please God, your great Father in heaven. Obey His laws for the health of your body ; obey His laws in the Bible, for the health of your soul. Seek to light against disease, igno- rance and misery. Thus will your life be happy and useful, according to God’s loving will. Duty of Educated Men. Persons who have been well educated should do all in their power to put an end to the superstitious beliefs which have been described. Ignorant women are the chief supporters of such customs. They wish them observed through love to the sick person in hope of a cure. But if an unskilful person tries to give medicines to a sick person, he may do much harm. Wisdom is necessary as well as love. It should be explained that such ceremonies are useless and hurtful, and their performance should be positively for- bidden in every case. Charms should be broken off. At the same time, a good doctor should be employed, and God’s bless- ing sought. One of the most common excuses for demon ceremonies is, that they are the custom. Simply to follow the example of our forefathers would put an end to all improvement. In worldly matters people are not so foolish. All now travel by rail iustead of walking on foot or by bullock- carts like their forefathers. So with other improvements. The great reason why people are fright- ened about demons and by other supersti- tions is because they do not worship the Almighty Creator and Preserver of the Uni- verse. 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