Page:Occult Japan - Lovell.djvu/182

164 Although this is my first mention of pins, I hasten to add that I had already tried them with like innocuous result upon the sterner sex, and I desire to add in self-defense that it was the god, not the woman, that was pricked.

After speaking, the subject lapsed into a comatose condition, but could be roused by being addressed. When the priest had finished with her he took the wands from her hands, not without difficulty, they were so cataleptically clenched, and somewhat irreverently rolled her over on her side, like a doll, into a corner, where he left her to wake, while he and the others finished the service. By the time they were done she came to of herself.

The facing of the possessed—from the altar or simply sideways to it—is a matter dependent on the particular priest and upon the character of the god expected to descend. If the god be of more importance he sits ex cathedra as it were; if not, simply ex parte. This relative disrespect shown by the Buddhists to the possessing gods will be discussed later.

Such are the phenomena of god-possession