Evening star., 1917-01-07
NATIVES OF CHOSEN
BELIEVE IN SPIRITS
They Haunt Every Spot and Are
Blamed for All Bad
Luck.
Natives Have Two Glasses Of Sor.
cerers-Pansu and Mutang-to
Cope With Them.


,populous with active and malevolent
beings who are ready at any moment
to fall upon them in wrath, according
to a statement by DR.. I. M Casanowicz.
assistant curator Of old world archeol-
ogy of the National Museum, concern
ing the paraphernaiia of a native sor-
ceress now deposited in the museum
collections.
DR.. Casanowicz says the natives of
Chosen believe that these beings, or
spirits, haunt every tree, mountain and
watercourse. are on every roof, fire.
place and beam and infest even their
chimneys. living rooms and kitchens;
that they beset them at home and way
lay them when abroad. They seem to
be everywhere at all times and make
their lives miserable.
Blamed for All Bad Luck.
| To their influence the natives attrib-
ute every Ill. all bad luck. Official ma
levolence. loss of power or position, and
especially sickness. The natives divide
these countless leglons of spirits into
two main classes-demons, consisting
1
parted impoverished persons who died
in distress. and spirits whose natures
are partly kindly. which include the
| ghosts of prosperous and good people,
but even the latter appear to be easily
offended and extraordinarily capri
cious.
To cope with these two forms of spir-
quiet. the motives of Chosen have two
classes OF sorcerers, or, as they call
them. "shamans'-the Pansu and the
Mutang. Both classes are mediators
between the people and the spirits. ut
The former are 'fortune-tellers," and
the latter. the deceiving crowd" or
| bad lot"
In this connection, DR.. Casanowicz
said:
Restricted to Blind Men.
THE ONCE of the Pansu is restricted
to blind men. perhaps owing to the
common belief among primitive peoples
that those who have been deprived Of
physical sight have been given an in
ner spiritual vision. The Mutang Is al
ways a woman, generally from the low
er classes and of bad repute, and her
calling is considered the very lowest
in the social scale. While the Pansu Is,
as IL were. born or made by dint OF his
loss Of eyesight.. the Mutang enters
sp1. 'spppernaturai ne U CALI Consisting in the
assurance Of demoniacal possession, the
demon being supposed to have become
her double and to have superimposed
his personality upon hers.
by hysterical and pathological symps
toms The spirit may seize any woman.
maid or wife. rich or poor. pleoeian or
patrician, and compel her to serve him.
and on receiving the call of the spirit
.~4ynon will break every tie OF GUS
tom and relationship. leave home and
family to become henceforth social
outcast. SO that she Is not even allowed
to live within the city walls But not
services are in constant demand
"In travelling through the country the
mutang or sorceress Is constantly 10
be seen going through the various mS.
sical and dancing performances In the
midst Of a crowd In front Of house
where there is sickness. And at the
close of the nineteenth century the
fees annually paid in Chosen to the
sorcerefs were estimated NJ %foo'o'o:
Master of the Spirits.
The pansu acts as master Of the
spirits, having gained by his potent
formuiae and ritual an ascendency
over them BY his spells he can direct
them, drive them out and even bury
them. The mutang is supposed to be
able to influence them with her friend
ship with them. She has to pray TO
them and coax them to go. By her
performances she puts herself On rap
port with the spirits and is able to as
certain their will and to name the ran
som for which they will release the
victim who is under torment.
more varied than the functions OF
the pansu are the pacifications and
propitiations, called kauts or kuts. per-
formed by the mutang. The kaut may
be carried out either at the house OF
the patient or at the home OF the mu-
called tang, dedicated to some spirits,
which are seen on the hillside of Chosen.
II, as 10 occasionally the case. the mu-
tang belongs to a noble family. she Is
allowed by her family to ply her trade
only in her own house. Those who re-
ouire her services send the required Zee
and necessary offerings, and the cere-
mony Is performed by the nutang in
her own house or at the tang
Has Varied Equipment.
Her equipment consists of a num-
Der Of dresses. some of them very
costly; a drum. shaped like an hour
glass, about four feet high; copper
with small bells or tinklers suspended
from IL by copper chains: q pair OF tele-
scoping baskets. strips Of silk and pa
per banners which hoat around her as
she dances. fans. umbrellas. wands and
images of men and animals"
The paraphernalia Of the sorceress
or exorcist was acquired for the Ma
tional Museum through the agency OF
w. w. Rockhill. formerly envoy ex-
traordinary and minister plenipoten-
tiary of the United States to China,
and is now exhibited in the section Of
historic religions in the older build
ing of the museum.
The service of the mutang most In
demand II the healing Of the sick"
continued DR.. Casanowicz. "If sick
man believes that his distemper has
been caused by a spirit he sends to
the mutanR to describe the symptoms
and learn what spirit IL doing mis-
chief. The mutang may declare the
name of the spirit without going to
the patients house. or may say that
she must see the patient first. On re-
nate" day for the ceremony, which
| will be performed either at her house
| or shrine or at the patients house, ac-
cording to the seriousness Of the all
| ment and the fee he can pay"
One Of the Performances.
The performance of a certain sor-
| ceress reported took place before the
| open door Of the sick mans house, In
an inclosed space within which were
| tables laden with food and delicacies
Three old women accompanies the mu-
tang. two Of them beating large hour
| glass-shaped drums, while the third
clashed cymbals. The sorceress faced
| them. dressed in rose-pink silk and q
NhA 80 h,.Ap IL ~ -