Page:The sexual life of savages in north-western Melanesia.djvu/489

 DECENCY AND DECORUM

long list of aromatic herbs, in which the mint (sulumwoya) takes the lead; and we have also seen the use made of oil perfumed with sandal wood. Pleasant smells are closely associated with magical influence; and as we know already many charms in the magic of kula, of love, of beauty, and of success are made over mint, over the butia flower, and over several aromatic herbs used as vana (tuft placed in the armlet). Personal cleanliness is an essential in all these forms of magic, and charming the kaykakaya (washing leaves) is an important part of the ritual.1

Indeed, the sense of smell is the most important factor in the laying of spells on people; magic, in order to achieve its greatest potency, must enter through the nose. Love charms are borne into the victim on the scent of some spellbound aromatic substance. In the second and very dangerous stage of sorcery, the object or compound over which black magic has been done is burned, and the smoke enters through the nostrils into the body against which it is directed and causes disease (silami). For this reason, houses are never built on piles in the Trobriands, as it would greatly facilitate this stage in the sorcerer's work. Thus the idea of magical infection through the nose exercises a considerable influence on the culture of the natives.

The malignant witches (mulukwausi) are believed to emit a smell reminiscent of excrement. This smell is much feared, especially by people who are sailing, for

1 Cf. chs. viii and xi of this book, and chs. xiii and xvii of Argonauts of the Western Pacific.

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