Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-21
BLACK ART IN INDIA.
A COUNTRY WHERE WITCHES AND
 SORCERERS LIVE AND THRIVE.

How Anxious Hindoo Mothers Try to
 Render Their Children Witch Proof.
 The Great Occult Powers of Sorcerers.
 Brahmins Who Excel in the Black Art.
 There is scarcely village in Eastern and Southern India that does not possess its witch, to whom terrible powers are attributed by the popular mind The witches, they say, can suck the blood of healthy children; and the anxious mother, directly she sees the witch approach, catches up her child and mutters some charm to save the dear one from being sucked to death. Of course the best antidote to the occult influence of the dreaded hags is the gift of few copper coins or some sort of aims. But there are other means em- ployed to counteract their malignity. They are sometimes detected by salt being placed on their heads, which causes them to turn round and mutter incoherent syllables- Some times the trembling mother spits on the head of her child, or gently bites his little finger, in order to render him witch proof. No woman of the lower orders who lives in village infested by a witch would venture to leave her house with her child until she had made herself and her child safe by putting certain mark on his forehead.
 TREATMENT OF THE BEwITCHED.
 There are various modes of treatment for persons supposed to be under the influence of a witch. The forehead of a child suffering from illness brought on by witch's curse is sometimes marked with burnt turmeric. Often the mother, muttering some spells, sprinkles water over her child and rubs his forehead over with burnt wicks of earthen lamps fed with mustard oil. Sometimes branches of particular trees are waved over the patient, who is made to chew the leaves of plum trees But should these simple reme- dies fail, as they often do, to produce any effect on the bewitched child, what would happen then to the poor suffererf There is no need to be in despair in this matter; for, as the dock grows side by side with the nettle, 50 in India there lives close by the witch the sorcerer, the practitioner of the black art, who is always called in when the simple remedies fail.
 Like the witches, the sorcerers are believed to possess great occult powers; but, unlike the former, they often use their skill for benefcent purposes. The common sorcerers in India are a people of very low caste, or no caste at all, belonging mainly to the aboriginal races who are still outside the pale of Hindooism. Their treatment, though often violent, does not in modern times result in death, as it did in some authenticated cases which happened years ago. The sorcerer, taking his place in front of his patient, with uO"STS HI HIS uanu auu q lamp ana 1QCSuSS burning before him, gives burnt turmeric and charmed mustard seed to the bewitched person to smell, and dashes cold water with violence upon his face. Sometimes the treat ment of the patient at the hands of sorcerer v1cariously tortures the witch. Thus it is said that in one instance, upon the sorcerer squeezing the juice of certain plant into the eyes of bewitched child, the witch inn mediately complained of pain in the eyes, which she lost, and the child was cured
 METHODS OF BRAHMIN soRCERERs.
 By far the most formidable magic powers are, however, attributed to class of Brah- mins who are par excellence the professors of the black art in India. The Brahmin sor- cerers are verSed in the practice of the spells and charms which, with the accompanying rites, are described in the Sanskrit books, called tantras. The keynote of these is struck in well known couplet, which done into English, runs thus: "The whole world is in the power of the gods, and the gods are in the power of magic; magic is in the power of the Brahmins, and therefore the Brahmin is himself the god" It must not be forgotten, however, that ill spite of this oracular de- Hverance, and the systematization of the magical spells and charms in several San skrit treatiseS and their commentaries, the Brahmins themselves acquired tho black art | from the wild aboriginal races of India. Of | the six modes in which the Brahmin sorcerer | can influence his neighbors, four are malig- nant, one is doubtful and one only is benefi- cial. The four malignant operations are the | causing of death, the destruction of property or mental capacity, the stoppage of physical or mental action and the causing of feuds be- 1 tween friends. The art of bringing an indi- vidual completely under the control of the expert is the neutral operation. The only branch of white magic discussed is the power of relieving sufferer from disease or the | hostile influences of the stars and other heavenly bodies.
 A severe and prolonged probation must be undergone before a man is considered com petent to commence the practice of the magic art He must go through 6 course of recita- tion of cabalistic words, consisting of unin- telligible Sanskrit roots, and of repetition of the name of the deity to be conquered about million times. Special hours are assigned for the performance, special pastures of the body, special diet and a specially appointed space, beyond which the probstioner is not allowed to go until the process of initiation is finished. Of course, all of this has to be accompanied with handsome offerings to the deities and the Brahmins and substantial feasts to the latter. Of the six magical arts the one most frequently practiced in India ir modern times is that of the neutral ''subju gation." Certain ingredients are prescribed for this operation. A small piece of the frontal bone of a man, the fruit of the pois onous plant dhatura, camphor and honey ars to be taken in proper proportions and wei mixed together, and the forehead is to bt painted with the compound before the wearel may bring under his influence and contro the mind of any person whom he fears ol loves. Other nostrums similar to the ingre
 dients in the witches caldron in Mac
 heth," increasing in complexity and grew someness as the higher departments of tn
 black art are reached, are to be found in tn
 Sanskrit treatises.-London Standard,
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