Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 23, 1912.djvu/489

 Collectanea. 465

plantains are placed on the top of the third cloth, and the other things are laid over them. If the parents are poor, a puggri^ muslin shawl, and either a loincloth or a petticoat may be substituted for the cloths. The winnowing-fan with its contents is now placed on one side, and the following articles are collected in the verandah, — a handkerchief, a plantain leaf, a bunch of plantains ending in chCing, a betel nut which has begun to sprout, one big and seven small /^/^ leaves, a lemon or some sort of lime, two circular pieces of plantain leaves on which pan and betel nut and some fruit are placed, and a candle made of beeswax. These being all collected in the verandah, the ceremony commences about six or seven in the evening. The Maiba faces Kobru, a high hill at the northern end of the valley and the abode of a very powerful Umang-lai or forest god, who is called the guardian of the north, and recites a prayer to Guru-sidaba, who is the chief of the seven gods of the stars. The goods collected in the verandah, having been offered to the god, are removed, and become the property of his minister the Maiba.

The next stage in the proceedings commences with a small portion of the eatables collected on the winnowing-fan being brought and placed on a handkerchief in the north-east corner of the verandah, while the Alaiba addresses Lamjasara lathokpa. "Here we offer you your share. Do not disturb our worship." [Lamjasara lathokpa is a malevolent spirit, who has no home, and so wanders about troubling mankind.] All preliminaries being accomplished, the actual Suren thingatpa ceremony commences by the parents, dressed in their best clothes, taking up their position in the north-east corner of the yard, the Maiba standing on their right holding the winnowing-fan with all the articles on it. The whole party faces Kobru. The Maiba passes the winnowing- fan to the father, and the parents hold it over their heads, moving it up and down while the Maiba prays that the Suren will be satisfied and go to Guru sidaba, and not return and trouble people. This over, the winnowing-fan is returned to the Maiba, who takes possession of its contents. The parents, relieved of care as to the Suren, dance back to the house. If they are desirous of more children, the Alaiba follows them and gives the father a lime, which he has previously offered to Guru-sidaba,