The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-07-07
INDIAN WITCHCRAFT.


There is scarcely any age or country
in which a superstitious belief in witch
craft has not had powerful hold on
the minds of the people. In Europe,
till about the end of the last century,
the possession of magical powers and
the practice of the black art were i'm
plicitly believed in, and the minds of
learned diyines greatly exercised to
prove, by the aid of revelation, that the
practice of sorcery was hateful to God
and man. Stringent laws were there
fore framed for its suppression, and the
ecclesiastical authorities pursued with
unrelenting vigor their self-imposed
task of furnishing and eXtirpating those
who were believed to have dealings
with the Evil One. 1t need not, there
fore, be wondered that amongst large
portion of the inhabitants of India,
witchcraft in various guises exercises a
vast and potent influence. The relig-
ion of the Hindus would naturally in
duce those who profess it to give Gre
dence to all kinds of marvels; but it
will be found that even the followers
of the Mohammedan creed are very
nearly as much disposed to pin their
faith upon the grossest follies, and to
adopt every idle invention which
springs from the fears or the craft of
their associates.
The followers of these religions need
not go farther for their justification
than their own scriptures. The Vedas
enjoin special reverence for the Brah-
minical soothsayers, whose nuiatrdS or
lamentations are declared as having ter
rible effects; while the Koran, in its
twenty-first and twenty-seventh chap
tiers, dilates upon the magic excellence
of Solomon and the power he possessed
over all created things, even the ele-
ments; and the thirteenth chapter
said to have been revealed to the
Prophet of Islam on the occasion of his
having been bewitched by the daughters
of Jew-is still devoutly used as
charm against evil spirits and the spells
of witches and sorcerers. The belief
of Mohammedans in good and evil spir-
ats who may be compelled to perform
the bidding of q mortal is not only
manifested in their tales and legends,
but forms also subject of grave re-
cord, and is mixed up with their relig-
ious creed. While, on the other hand,
they are taught to believe that there
exist good angels who ever attend upon
man, and ever prompt him to do his
duty to God and his llow-creatures;
on the other hand, they are warned
against evil spirits, who, with deadly
malignity, pursue their every step and
lead them into misery.
These spirits or genii constantly re-
side in the lowest of the seven firma-
ments, and are able to lender them
selves visible at pleasure to the human
inhabitants of the earth. They are of
various denominations, some good and
some evil; some very powerful and lux
urlous, and others reduced to such
low estate as to be compelled to live
upon bones and air. And though these
spirits are represented as supe-
rlor to the human race in wis
dom and power, it is commonly
believed to be possible for mortals to
become allies of these intellgences, to
Partake their powers and to assist their
evil designs. Even further, the Hindu
taklrs and sages, by the practice of
austerities and self-torture, are credited
with having attained such degree of
-sanctity and power that they could con-
'trol supernatural beings. 1t is no I'M
common thing at the present day for
person to resort to fakir and obtain
from him charm for the purpose of
removing an illness, as safeguard
against accidents, or for the purpose of
avoiding an impending disaster, or it
may be with the view of causing some
evil to happen to any one with whom
he may be on unfriendly terms.
There are in India protested heart
eaters and liver-eaters, who by their
spells and incantations pretend to steal
away and devour these vital organs,
thereby reducing the luckless individ-
uals thus attacked to the greatest ex-
tremity. These extraordinary feeders
are, it is said, able to communicate
their art by giving those who desire to
exercise it a piece of liver-cake to eat.
They are dangerous people, effecting
as much mischief by their pretended
power as if they were actually able to
achieve what they profess, since they
work upon the fears and excite the i'm
agination of the unhappy individuals
who are subjected to their diabolical
influence, producing upon the victim
who is rendered hypochondriac by the
artful suggestions of the enemy-an-
guish, disease. and finally death.
A recent Indian mail gave very Gu
rious instance of the fatal results which
arise sometimes from native supersti-
ton. 1t was brought to light in the
course of trial held before the Agent
of the Governor of Madras at Gangam,
in South India. A paltry dispute had
ar zen between two men regarding a
SUN of six annas (about sevenpence)
which had to be divided between them,
and it ended in one of them going into
a house and fetching knife, with
which he inflicted several stabs upon
his opponent, from the effects of which