Abstract
WITCHCRAFT IN SOUTHERN INDIA.—In Man for March, Mr. F. J. Richards publishes photographs of houses in Arantängi, Tanjore, which have been demolished by their owners in their fear of ‘black magic.’ On the occasion of a visit to the village in 1900 he found the Brahmins in a panic, stripping the thatch from the roofs of their houses and removing their belongings into the street. On the previous night no less than seven houses had been set on fire by supernatural agency, and the whole Brahmin quarter had been pelted with stones thrown by invisible hands. Stone-throwing continued in broad daylight, and when another fire broke out the householder brought to the author a rag ball a little bigger than a tennis ball which had been found under the eaves. Tow and rag had been rolled tightly together. It was damp and was said to smell of phosphorous, though this was not perceptible. In the centre was a small fruit stone held by the villagers to be conclusive evidence of sorcery. The kitchens were desecrated with blobs of boiled rice, coloured yellow or magenta, and mixed with clippings of human hair and nail parings. These were found secreted in and about the cooking places. This defilement of places of which the ceremonial cleanliness is of the utmost importance, was especially to be noted. The Brahmin quarter was the residence of the most intelligent and prosperous section of the village. It was suggested that blackmail was the origin of the visitation. Some professed expert in sorcery had demanded a contribution from each household and had been refused. This was his retaliation.
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Research Items. Nature 123, 542–544 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123542a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123542a0