demons and possession in old sources

[Venkatraman Iyer]

>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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