Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-09-01
DErrn DANCERS or,oErLox.
Earn Good Living by Exorcising Demons
From the Sick.
Nav yorl JnnrnnI

new 1Otk journal
The real Singhalose devil dancers in
Ceylon are most ferocious and savage
fellows. Their dances are revolving and
horrible. But their profession is popular
and affords royal living for the men
who go into it
There is q superstition among the Sim
ghalese that when a man falls sick he Is
supposed to be afflicted by q devil. In
order to rid him of the disease the devil
dancers ere called in TO propiuate the
demon.
Two or more of them go by night TO the
sick mans house, In front of which
small, square inclosure, about six feet
high, has been made of grasses and palm
leaves. This answers the purpose of the
greenroon at theatre. The men ap.
pear at first without masks, and with long
yellow grass streamers hanging from
their heads and waists. The only light
cast on the scene is by torches made of
sticks, around which pieces of cloth are
wrapped, dipped in oil. To the music of
O tom-tom, kept up on one note, the
dancers sing a peculiar. wild, funeral
dirse, in which the spectators often join.
The dancers begin by slowly moving
about, stretching the right foot, and
bringing the left up to it, and appear as
II they are searching for something, dur
ing which the singing sounds like crying.
There are "a different sorts of devils,
and, after the first part, the dancers are
constantly changing their clothes to rep
resent the entire species; some wear
masks, some don jaws and terrible teeth
reaching to the ears; the jaws open and
close In very realistic manner.
| fkUn mir he
whole "a devils have all to be personated
before the particular demon, who is
affecting the sick man, Is pitched on,
When he gives signs of his presence the
dancers go into sort of frenzy, which
increases as he takes possession of them
the tom'tom beats faster and faster, the
chanting grows into yells, the men wh.rl
and stamp, the bells Fastened by brace.
lets on to their ankles jingle end clash.
At this stage the dancers appear to bt
looking for some object TO give the devi
in sacrifice, and into which he may pass
A chicken is usually offered by the frienC
OF the sick man, and this unfortunate
bird is seized upon, twisted and tor
mented and bitten between the falls
teeth, until the dancers, worn out, NOV,
slower and slower, and the chicken sink
into sort of trance, which is a sign tina
the devil has accepted the sacrifice, ant
is willing to pass from the man into tn
bird. Now and then the bird is revive,
by some charmed water being thrown OF
its head, and then the torture of it be
gins again. After this the men dol
sheepskin petticoats aud capes. and il
the torchlight look more and more dia
bolical and frenzied in their thanks b
the devil for consenting to leave the sic
man.
When the bird dies it is sign that tn
devil has left the man, and he will b
cured. The bird is then thrown into til
river, to be carried to the sea. 1t is neve
killed, and never eaten after dying
About an hour of this sort of thing |
quite enough; it is really horrible and re
voting, and one is thankful when tn
men leave off to go to drink the todd
prepared for them, and make night of i