demons and possession in old sources

[SuryaPrakash Sharma]

--- Lukas Werth <lukas.werth at RZ.HU-BERLIN.DE> wrote:
> At 22:09 30.03.01 +0100, you wrote:
> >>Can anybody suggest old sources to me which deal
> with demon (bhut, pret,
> >>Tamil pey) possession and exorcism - preferably
> from 1200 AD downwards?
> >>Lukas Werth
> >
> >There are thousands of poems in ancient and
> medieval
> >Tamil describing spirit possession, 'veRi". Singing
> >veRi (veRi pATutal, veRiyATTu, veRi-ayratal) was
> considered demanding.
> >In sangam and prabandham literature a love-sick
> girl often
> >feigns the frenzied possession. Parents often
> >arrange exorcism by vEla_n priests, kaTTuvicci
> ladies
> >.... to scare the demon away, but in vain.
> >Needless to say, when scholars knowing Tamil well,
> >with a grounding in Sanskrit and modern advances
> >in shamanism, indology devotes years into Tamil,
> >new breakthroughs will be made in understanding
> >ancient Indian religion that includes drumming,
> blood
> >sacrifice, dance, songs and possession as important
> >components.
> >
> >Let me give a poem of about 2000 years antiquity
> >describing spirit possession:
> >
>
>-----------------------------------------------------
> >
> >    In that confused time
> >    when no one realized
> >    that it was the broad fragrant chest
> >    of the chieftain in the countryside of forests
> and waterfalls
> >    descending from high mountains where aNaGku
> dwells
> >    which caused [my] desire and suffering,
> >    the women of ancient wisdom proclaimed:
> >
> >         "She will be soothed
> >          by worshipping NeTuvEL
> >          whose strong arms are famous
> >          for wiping out those
> >          who do not bow to him."
> >
> >    In the awe-inspiring midnight,
> >    to invite Muruku,
> >    red millet mixed with blood
> >    was scattered as offerings,
> >    to the loud singing in the shrine,
> >    the spear was garlanded,
> >    the threshing-floor polished.
> >
> >       while [my] lover came to cure me
> >       of the debilitating illness of love,
> >       like a mighty tiger who moves fast,
> >       hiding in a shelter watching the elephants
> as its prey,
> >       so that the watchmen of the large house
> >       in our beautiful home
> >       do not see him.
> >
> >    He wears wreaths with many flowers
> >    buzzing with honey bees,
> >    which grow in plenty near the waterfalls
> >    on the slopes fragrant with sandal.
> >
> >    He comes to fulfill the desire of my heart
> >    with his lust,
> >    and whenever I make love to him
> >    so that I swoon in the soul's ecstasy,
> >
> >    I must laugh, really,
> >    when I see the waste
> >    spent here on the useless priest with the
> spear!
> >
> >                          -    akanAn2URu 22
> >
> >The female author is called "The Lovely Eyed One
> >who Sang About Religious Frenzy" (veRi pATiya
> >kAmakkaNNiyAr).
> >
>
>----------------------------------------------------------
> >I would translate kaLam as sacrificial altar
> >here, not as threshing floor. Few more chnages
> >may be needed.
> >
> >This quoted translation is from K. Zvelebil,
> >"The nature of Sacred power", Acta Orientalia,
> >40 (1980), p. 157-192.
> >
> >Tamil literature talks of tAkkaNaGku (afflicting
> aNaGku)
> >often. Probably the same as tAkurANi/TAkurANi in
> North
> >India. These demons/goddesses attack as well as
> nourish
> >(mAri/maGgalA/sItala).
> >
> >Considering Muruku-Skanda as a demon, Iravatham
> Mahadevan
> >identifies a shrivelled deity(demon) in Indus
> seals:
> >I. Mahadevan, 'Murukan' in the Indus script,
> >p. 21-40. J. Inst. of Asian studies (Madras),
> >vol. XVI, no. 2, March 1999.
> >
> >Prof. Peter J. Claus (email= pclaus at csuhayward.edu)
> has written
> >articles about bhUta worship in TuLu country. pEy
> theme among
> >modern Christians in Madras is analyzed in
> >The Anthropology of evil (edited by David Parkin.)
> >B. Blackwell, 1985.
> >
> >Best wishes,
> >V. Iyer
> >
> >
>
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>
>
>
> Thank you for this interesting reply. The poem is
> beautiful, was unknown to
> me. I fail to recognize the comparison to spirit
> possession in it, however.
>
> "Anthropology of Evil" is known to me, and I do have
> first-hand experience
> of spirit possession and exorcism in Tamil Nadu
> (among Christians, too).
>
> Perhaps I should state the motive for my short
> question: possession in
> ritual, foremostly by goddesses (like those you
> refer to) is an important
> feature of non-brahmanical religion - linked
> frequently to bloody sacrifice
> - in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere in India. The people I
> was with drank the
> blood of buffaloes and goats they sacrificed when
> the goddess was in them.
> Ecstatic ritual also includes well-known practices
> like piercing of tongs,
> walking over hot coal - you know it.
> I also believe such practices can at least be traced
> into the Devi Mahatmya
> (as analyzed by David Coburn): the frenzy of the
> goddess killing the
> buffalo demon in myth parallels possession.
> Besides, you have evil spirits possessing mostly
> women, which makes
> exorcism necessary (like the spirits of women who
> died in childbirth). At
> many temples, possessed women with their relatives
> who seek help are a
> common sight (as in Sufi shrines). Note that this is
> not necessarily the
> same as in reigious ritual. Islam or Christianity do
> not know possession by
> god - though they do know religious ecstasy - but
> possession by jins is a
> prominent Islamic theme.
> Now, I was wondering how long back this sort of
> spirit possession in South
> Asia can be traced.
>
>
> Lukas Werth
in Atharva veda shonak and pappalad versions ,there
are many suktas dedicated to drive them off from the
house or from the body of any one,ref>av
1.7/1-5;2/11/1-5;etc..,there are many medicines also
suggested,to drive them off,also there are many
mantras to protect against the black magic and
kratyaa,adeadly killer one. etc..,
spsharma


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