FOLK MEDICINE IN BORNEO DIAGNOSIS AND CURE
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his hand, catching the gifts which he then presses into the patient's head. More gifts are asked for, and are pressed into the base of the throat, the belly, the back, and other places that are sore. These stones and flowers are to strengthen the patient and to begin to drive out what is dirty, and to repair the damage done by the attacking spirit to the patient, either by its rough handling of the soul or by spearing it. Injury of that kind to the soul reacts on the body and causes it damage as well.
The next step is to finish cleaning out the sickness and any damage it may have done to the body; so that the soul, if it has already departed, may return in safety. First the shaman puts his lips to the places in which he has inserted the heavenly stones and flowers and sucks out the dirt and sickness, at the same time silently bidding what is harmful and unclean to depart. He then takes the bunch of leaves he brought with him and sweeps the patient from head to foot, sometimes singing aloud, but always bidding the sickness to go.
The treatment by this spirit is now complete. Often the helping spirit is the one who has caused the trouble because the patient in some way or other annoyed him. Once the man knows what he has done and has, as it were, apologised, or the shaman's spirit friends have persuaded the annoyed spirit to cease his attack, the situation can easily be put right. But before the spirit goes he may stop to gossip with the audience; he may also advise further treatment of the patient by other spirits; the cause of the illness may not be simple or single, and in any case one spirit's powers are limited, even if he did cause the damage. In simple cases it may not be necessary to fetch the attacking spirit; but if the attack is serious then the illness can only be cured by fetching the attacker; and it may take quite a long time to find him while the shaman explores his network of friends in the spirit world.
The attack on the man may not be the result of either anger, malice, or hunger; it may be the result of love or the wish for friendship. Spirits sometimes take an unreasonable liking for human beings — it is, as I said earlier, an improper and alarming state of affairs, and a sensible person (especially an aristocrat who has to consider his dignity at all times) is likely to ignore all the usual danger signals made by omens or in dreams. If the patient does that there is nothing for it but for the spirit to make the man or woman ill. After the spirit has made his wish for friendship known, there is nothing more the patient can do if he wishes to get better other than to accept the friendship.
FOLK MEDICINE IN BORNEO DIAGNOSIS AND CURE
21
his hand, catching the gifts which he then presses into the patient's head. More gifts are asked for, and are pressed into the base of the throat, the belly, the back, and other places that are sore. These stones and flowers are to strengthen the patient and to begin to drive out what is dirty, and to repair the damage done by the attacking spirit to the patient, either by its rough handling of the soul or by spearing it. Injury of that kind to the soul reacts on the body and causes it damage as well.
The next step is to finish cleaning out the sickness and any damage it may have done to the body; so that the soul, if it has already departed, may return in safety. First the shaman puts his lips to the places in which he has inserted the heavenly stones and flowers and sucks out the dirt and sickness, at the same time silently bidding what is harmful and unclean to depart. He then takes the bunch of leaves he brought with him and sweeps the patient from head to foot, some- times singing aloud, but always bidding the sickness to go.
The treatment by this spirit is now complete. Often the helping spirit is the one who has caused the trouble because the patient in some way or other annoyed him. Once the man knows what he has done and has, as it were, apologised, or the shaman's spririt friends have persuaded the annoyed spirit to cease his attack, the situation can easily be put right. But before the spirit goes he may stop to gossip with the audience; he may also advise further treatment of the patient by other spirits; the cause of the illness may not be simple or single, and in any case one spirit's powers are limited, even if he did cause the damage. In simple cases it may not be necessary to fetch the attacking spirit; but if the attack is serious then the illness can only be cured by fetching the attacker; and it may take quite a long time to find him while the shaman explores his network of friends in the spirit world.
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The attack on the man may not be the result of either anger, malice, or hunger it may be the result of love or the wish for friend- ship. Spirits sometimes take an unreasonable liking for human beings — it is, as I said earlier, an improper and alarming state of affairs, and a sensible person (especially an aristocrat who has to consider his dignity at all times) is likely to ignore all the usual danger signals made by omens or in dreams. If the patient does that there is nothing for it but for the spirit to make the man or woman ill. After the spirit has made his wish for friendship known, there is nothing more the patient can do
if he wishes to get better other than to accept the friend-
!
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