Note 13 — Chapter VI · Magic Rites as affecting the Life of Man

The last of these spirits, the Pĕlĕsit (or house-cricket?), which is the Polong’s “plaything” or pet, flies to and fro (rasok sini, rasok sana) till it finds the body which its mistress has ordered it to enter, harm only being done when it enters tail-foremost, as it generally does. It is occasionally caught and kept in a bottle by Malay women, who feed it either on parched or saffron-stained rice, or on blood drawn from the tip of the fourth finger which they prick for the purpose, and who, when they wish to get rid of it, bury it in the ground. When a sick person is affected by a Pĕlĕsit (one of the signs of which is to rave about cats)13 the medicine-man comes and addresses the Pĕlĕsit (or Polong?), which has taken up its residence in the patient’s body, with the words: “Who is your mother?” To this question the Pĕlĕsit replies, speaking with the patient’s voice, but in a high falsetto key, and giving the name of the person who sent it, whereupon prompt measures are taken to compel the owner to recall it. It now only remains to describe the means employed by the Malays to secure one of these familiar spirits, which can be guaranteed to cause the greatest possible annoyance to your enemy, with the least possible trouble on your own part.