Note 67 — Chapter III · DISEASE DEITIES.

The patient will then perhaps reply: ‘Don’t you know me? I am chāran’, or I am zāmhādi, (a female spirit guarding the village gates) or Vāgharan67 or Purvaj (the spirit of a deceased ancestor). Regarding the reason for possession, the evil spirit will give some such explanation as follows:—“Once upon a time the patient was taking a loaf and vegetables which he hid from me, and therefore I shall leave his person only with his life.” The bhuvā will then say “life is precious and not so cheap as you think. If you want anything else, say so and leave this person.” After a dialogue such as the above, the bhuvā and the spirit come to some compromise, and the bhuvā then leads a procession with the utār either to the village boundary or to a cemetery. The bhuvā then draws a circle on the ground with the point of a sword which he carries, and places the utār within the circle. He then slightly cuts the tip of his tongue with the edge of the sword, and spits blood into a fire lighted for the purpose. The smoke of this fire is supposed to carry the offering to the evil spirit. The utār is then taken away by the drummers, who share it secretly with the bhuvā. In the event of the patient deriving no benefit from this ceremony, the bhuvā advises the patient’s relatives to repeat the process.68