Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 13, 1902.djvu/172

158 it is possible that the familiar demon called Polong, which is described as so minutely resembling a kris-handle, may really represent the spirit of the kris, as Mr. N. W. Thomas has suggested. Such "manufactured" spirits are, as he points out, found in America (vide Bureau Am. Ethn., 1884-5, page 591. I am inclined, however, to think that more direct evidence is required on this point, and that the Polong and the kris-spirit are not necessarily connected.

In ceremonies of the fourth class, which include possession and exorcism, the purpose of the ceremony appears to be, in the first instance, divinatory and diagnostic; but in many cases the magician invokes the spirit of some powerful wild beast, such as the elephant or tiger, which it may be presumed is strong enough to conquer the evil spirit with which the sick man is possessed; and though the simulated struggle in such cases is often a severe one, the magician generally succeeds in carrying his purpose of frightening or driving the evil one out of the sick man's body; a form of exorcism which is obviously parallel to the practice described in the Scriptures as the driving out of devils through "Beelzebub," their "prince."

We now come to the ceremonies of the Fish-trap and Palm-blossom class. I venture to think there are good primâ facie reasons for supposing them to have been performed, in the first instance, for a practical purpose. Stated in the form of a syllogism the argument is—

1. These particular ceremonies are animistic ceremonies.

2. All other Malay animistic ceremonies have some practical object.

3. These particular ceremonies should also have some practical object.

This argument, however, does not carry us very far, but I think that the best results can only be obtained by the comparative study of more or less homogeneous, as well as contiguous, groups; and perhaps the most satisfactory