Note 11 — Chapter VI · THE INTERPRETATION OF ANDAMANESE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS: MYTHS AND LEGENDS (continued 2)

1 Page 214. ↑

2 We have seen, in the last chapter, that any condition of the individual in which he is withdrawn from active participation in the common life is regarded as one of danger from magico-religious forces antagonistic to the society. ↑

3 It will be shown later in the chapter that some part of the respect paid to the cicada is due to its connection not with the day and night but with the seasons of the year. ↑

4 Page 215. ↑

5 Page 221. ↑

6 Page 294. ↑

7 Page 215. ↑

8 Page 213. ↑

9 Pages 207 and 204. ↑

10 Page 207. ↑

11 Ibid. ↑

12 Page 204. ↑

13 Page 203. ↑

14 Page 207. ↑

15 Page 202. ↑

16 Page 206. ↑

17 Ibid. ↑

18 Page 207. ↑

19 Page 208. ↑

20 The same threefold division of the world is seen in the beliefs about the three kinds of spirits, those of the forest, those of the sea, and the Morua who, while spoken of as spirits of the sky, are often thought of as living in the tops of the tall trees. ↑

21 Page 218. ↑

22 It is worth while to recall here the belief that if a man goes into the water after eating civet-cat he will not be able to swim. ↑

23 Page 208. ↑

24 Ibid. ↑

25 Page 209. ↑

26 Page 206. ↑

27 Page 207. ↑

28 It appears also in geographical names. Puluga-l’ar-mugu, meaning ‘the Puluga front’ is the name of a part of the Archipelago facing the N.E. and means ‘the side facing Puluga.’ ↑

29 Although it is generally believed that storms (or more exactly, violent storms or cyclones) are the results of the anger of Biliku, yet there is a conflicting belief that storms are made by the spirits, particularly the spirits of the sea. ↑

30 Page 154. ↑

31 The application of the name biliku to the spider is clearly a minor motive, and probably a late accretion. The name of the N.E. monsoon is the same in all the divisions of the Andamans about which we have information, with dialectic differences only. In the Little Andaman the form of the name is Öluga, and the same name is given to the monitor lizard. Presumably, therefore, there was originally one name throughout the Andamans for the N.E. monsoon (Öluga, Puluga, Bilik, Bilika, Biliku) and later this name was applied to the spider in the North Andaman and to the monitor lizard in the Little Andaman. It may be noted that the name of the monitor lizard varies from one language to another in the Great Andaman. ↑

32 It is to be noted that these tabus connected with Biliku are not absolute prohibitions; they are beliefs that if certain things are done Biliku will be angry (i.e., there may be storms); if you do these things you must risk the danger. It is exactly the same with the roasting of pork. ↑

33 See, for instance, the Aka-J̌eru legend on pages 197–198, the Aka-Kede on page 200 and that from the Akar-Bale tribe on pages 200–201, and also the legends on pages 207, 208. ↑

34 In a paper in Folk-lore, vol. xx, 1909, I put forward the hypothesis that probably at one time all the tribes of the Andamans regarded Biliku (Puluga) as female, and Tarai (Daria) as male. I am still inclined to think that there is some evidence for this, but a discussion of what the Andamanese beliefs may have been in the past is entirely outside the scope of this chapter and is therefore omitted. ↑

35 The stem be seems to be connected with the idea of cutting. ↑

36 In dealing with the account given by Mr Man of the Andaman mythology it is necessary to remember that he was undoubtedly influenced by a very strong desire to show that the beliefs of the Andamanese about Puluga were really fundamentally the same as the beliefs of the Christian about his God. It may be taken as certain that he did not consciously allow this wish to affect his record of the Andaman beliefs, but it is very improbable that it did not unconsciously have a great deal of influence both on Mr Man and on his informants. ↑

37 To complete the discussion of this part of the subject it would be necessary to deal with many points in the legends of the real meaning of which I do not feel satisfied. I have, for instance, given no explanation of the position of Pe̱rǰido in the Biliku-Tarai myth, although this is probably an important matter. Nor have I traced to its source the connection of Biliku (with her net, and her hole, or cave, in which she shuts herself up to sleep and from which she comes out to bring rain and storm) with the spider. Besides Tomo, Biliku has yet another competitor for the position of control over the fine weather of the hot season, namely the snake, or-čubi (wara-ǰobo), which is regarded as being in some way the guardian of honey and of fine weather. There are legends that show the connection of this snake with honey (page 227) and the same connection is shown in the honey-eating ceremony (page 105). According to Mr Man, when the natives of the South Andaman see a dark cloud approaching and they do not wish it to rain they threaten Puluga that they will call up the wara-ǰobo to bite him. The snake, like other snakes, is only to be seen during the hot weather of the honey season. It may be remembered that it is from this snake that the pattern used in decorating the body with white clay is named. ↑

38 In the last chapter it was shown that the attribution of magical force to such things as foods and human bones is simply the means by which the social values of these things are represented and recognized. Similarly here the magical powers of the ancestors are simply the representation of their social value, i.e. of the social value of tradition. ↑

39 In Central Australia it is believed that if a boy who has not been initiated eats large lizards he will develop an abnormal and diseased craving for sexual intercourse. (Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Australia, p. 471.) A friend who has observed the monitor lizard in Australia tells me that the animal fully deserves its reputation. ↑

40 Page 217. ↑

41 Page 218. ↑

42 Page 218. ↑