Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/369

 Occult Powers of Healing in the Panjab. 331

" The following are two charms for binding scorpion-bite :

I. — Lakan ka kot, samundar ki khdt, Nikal be chhachhud,y Shaikh Nizam ki duhdt.

2. — Gori gchi goringe singid iere bachchoh lakhon Pinie Nan kar bichhu bdndn teri zdt jurum sohdnd ghar ghar mittt urde wick tera ptth main tere bdndh ditte per khaddoii phat.

"These charms must be repeated seven times. In the same way a fire or an oven {chfilhd) can be ' bound ' by the following charm : —

Ag ko bdndhCm, ndr ko bdndhuh, siiraj bdndhun, Jot Nastar {?) deotd. Bdndhuh ndr ko ndr se Shams Tabriz ki duhdi haiy Mangal bdndhilh, Sanichar bdndhuh, Shams Tabriz ki duhdt hat.

" This mantra must be repeated eleven times. The result is that, though the fire burns, its heat is controlled by the charm, so that it will not burn anything, nor cook food; and an oven can be bewitched in the same way," (so that this charm may be used for evil as well as good).

" The mantra or charm for binding a needle is as follows : —

Sfiti baund?'i, Sdr baundh, Plr de Pahdr baundh, lohe de Lohdr baundh, Satte Aitwdr baundt'i.

" This charm must be repeated seven times, and the needle blown on with the mouth. If the body be then pricked with the needle, it will not bleed nor even feel any pain."

" The charm for ' binding ' a dust storm has not been obtained. By it the dust storm can be kept suspended in the air, but the wind ceases to blow." (Jhelum.)

" The Chishti tribe and the Bodlas, in the Fazilka Tahsil of Ferozepur, have also the bakhsh (gift) or inherited power of curing hydrophobia by charms, which are kept secret."

" The Rawals of Sialkot District perform two special functions : — (i) They expel plagues of mice which occasionally occur, the tract being completely overrun by this pest. To do this they read incantations for a fixed fee, and sometimes bury charms at the four corners of a square in the centre of the village lands, so that the mice may be driven out. (2) A class of Rawals, called rath bahnas (from rath, hail, and bdhnd, one who checks or imprisons), can avert hailstorms, either by dispersing the clouds