Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/79

 which consists in sprinkling all the posts with flour and water (teupōng taweuë) by means of a broom formed of plants and twigs having a "cooling", that is an evil-dispelling influence. The same process is resorted to whenever there has been any unusual feast or ceremony in the house, since such occurrences are supposed to set the heat, that is the powers of evil, in motion. Of all the pillars the raja and the putròë receive most attention on such occasions.

The two "royal" pillars and sometimes others as well are at the time of building covered at the top with a piece of white cloth, over which again is placed a piece of red, so that they look as though they had turbans on their heads. This is also supposed to contribute to the protection of the inmates from evil influences.

The family, whose dwelling-place is the Achehnese house just described, its origin and the customs and laws that control its daily life are all dealt with in a later chapter. There we shall see how among many genuine patriarchal institutions, survivals are not wanting of the former prevalence of what the Germans call "Mutterrecht", or to which they apply the curious hybrid name "Matriarchat."

The child never ceases to regard the house and gampōng of his mother as his own. The daughters continue after marriage to reside in their mother's house (in which case a jurèë is vacated in their favour) or obtain another house in its immediate neighbourhood. The sons when married are said to "go home"" (wòë) to their wives, yet they remain, except when visiting their wives, citizens of their mother's gampong, where in common with all whose wives do not reside in that gampōng or who are still unmarried, they pass their nights in the meunasah.

Thus descendants of a common ancestress through the female line are usually to be found living as relatives in the same neighbourhood, while those derived from a common ancestor are scattered about in different villages.

These and similar facts, however, interesting though they may be, have at the present time only a rudimentary signification for the Achehnese community. When mention is made of a family in the more