Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/324

308 inspired figure and that, by Allah's will, she will fall asleep and have a vision which shall contain certain guidance for the tribe in this hour of trial. The Marabouts always choose a woman that is far from young and usually in some way abnormal. When his subject falls asleep, she sees in her dream the legendary, mysterious traveler, Ali ben Abi Thaleb, with whom she speaks in a loud voice, while the Marabout constructs from her words new horoscopes for the guidance of the tribe.

This is the only example that I came across of the Marabouts using hypnosis and profiting by the hysteria of their victims. Lehmann says that what is called "magic" has its sources and explanation in an obnormally active state of the nerves, in hysteria and in hypnotism. This pronouncement may well be applied to the Asiatic magic, that of Buddhism and Lamaism as well as that of the paganism of the Eastern continent; but the magic of Islam is upheld by tradition and by the blind faith in Marabouts and sorcerers.

Such magic practices stir up the fanaticism not only of men but of women as well. Accustomed to obedience and to remaining at home, sheltered by veils and high walls from the eyes of strange men, these Moslem women during a period of war often so far forsake their ordinary customs and surroundings as to go with their husbands to battle, urging them on in the fight and carrying their spare arms.

The contrasts and examples touched upon in this chapter will suffice to indicate somewhat the difference between the two worlds, the European one with its railroads, tractors and rationalism, and the Moslem one with