Note 6 — Chapter VI · THE EVIL EYE AND THE SCARING OF GHOSTS.

The following devices are used to ward off such evil effects. A black mark is made on the forehead of children. Black beads called Drustamani, and Vajrabuttu are tied round their necks. Marking nuts and cowries tied with a black thread are fastened round the necks of animals. A little black spot is marked on an image. A worn out shoe or a sandal is tied to the fruit-yielding trees. Salt and mustard seed are waved thrice round the face of a child repeating “Ishta mishta konyá pápinichi drushta” and thrown into the fire. Some people roll a cotton thread round a curry stone, wave it three times round the patient, and then put it into the fire; if the thread burns, the evil eye is held to have been removed. If the evil eye be on the food, three morsels of food are first raised to the mouth, and then thrown into the fire. Sacred ashes are applied to trees and creeping plants to remove the effects of an evil eye.6