Note 80 — D. (continued 2)

37. The Eastern Doms are particularly afraid of the ghosts of drowned people who are called Bûrna (bûrna “to be drowned”). These malignant ghosts drag under the water and drown boys who bathe in tanks and rivers infested by them.80 Fields are in charge of Mari Masân, the deity which haunts cremation grounds, and Kukarmari, the dog goddess, already mentioned. They are ever in dread of the ghosts of the dead, which torment them in dreams if not propitiated with an annual sacrifice. If neglected they appear in their original shapes and demand a sacrifice. Women are tattooed on the arms, wrists, breasts, and cheeks. If a woman not tattooed attempt to enter heaven the gate-keeper of Parameswar pitches her down to the earth again. They have the usual omens of meeting. Many of their women, as in the case of all solitary and uncanny races such as they are, are said to practise witchcraft. One way such persons acquire influence over a man is by throwing a cowry shell at him. They believe firmly in the Evil Eye. When children have been overlooked and pine away, the cure is to wave some garlic and pepper pods round the child’s head on a Tuesday or Sunday, and then to throw them into the fire. The evil influence is supposed to pass away with the filthy smoke.