Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/363

 Occult Powers of Healing in the Panjab. 325

"In Raslilpur, Tahsil Ambala, certain Arains (a caste of petty cultivators) profess to have the power of curing swelling in the stomach hy J hdrnd,'^'^ or the recitation of a charm. A family of Rajputs in Barara, Tahsil Ambala, claims the power of curing pain in the knees by a charm."

" In several other places individuals claim to cure snakebite by means of charms, but have not hereditary powers." (Ambala.)

"At Beri in Tahsil Rohtak, a kumhar (potter) cures pain in the abdomen, however violent, by reciting a secret charm. At Shamspur Majra in Tahsil Jhajjar, a Mahajan (Bania) family, which has been blessed by a Fakir, can cure ulcers of any kind in three days by the recitation of a secret charm. At Talao in Tahsil Jhajjar a Mohammedan Rajput can cure any disease of the spleen by secret charms. A Brahman of Badli in the same Tahsil can cure headache by similar means. At Dighal in Rohtak Tahsil is a Jat who can cure worms in the head by secret charms which cause the worms to come out through the patient's nose. Several men at Rohtak cure worms in the wounds of animals by charms which compel the worms to come out of the wound. A schoolmaster at Rohtak cures ague by giving the patient a secret charm written on a piece of wood ; and at Jhajjar another schoolmaster cures intermittent fever by reciting some secret charms over two pieces of cotton, which are placed in the patient's ears." ^^

"These secret charms are only communicated to sons or regular disciples, after long trial and constant attendance on those who possess them." (Rohtak.)

We may now^ examine some cases in which the charm is not spoken directly over the patient, but over some article given to him by the healer, either as a cure or to be carried as a protection. In the latter case the given article becomes an amulet.

"The Sayyids of Sahii Lakhd in Kharian Tahsil cure hydro- phobia, or the bite of a mad dog, by reciting the verse Allahu- samad over some salt, which the patient has to taste twice or thrice every morning and evening for four days. He is also

^''Literally "to sweep," (d. JJuIrd, sweeping), and so "exorcism." ^"^ So that the disease may hear them ?