Priests, Healers, Mediums and Witches The Context of Possession in The Kathmandu Valley

Priests, Healers, Mediums and Witches: The Context of Possession in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal Author(s): David N.
Gellner Source: Man, New Series, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Mar., 1994), pp. 27-48 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2803509 . Accessed: 22/10/2013 10:18
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Man.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 147.142.173.200 on Tue, 22 Oct 2013 10:18:59 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
PRIESTS, HEALERS,MEDIUMS AND WITCHES: THE CONTEXT OF POSSESSION IN THE NEPAL KATHMANDU VALLEY,
DAVID N. GELLNER
Brookes University/University ofOxford Oxford

in theKathmandu This article examines mediums andspirit possession Valley, Nepal,in hisapproach is mosthelpful It is argued that whendealing thelight ofI.M. Lewis's writings. than ofwhysometypes ofpeoplearemorelikely to be possessed withthespecific question notbe expected toprovide andmeanings others. Lewis'stheory should thekeyto theorigins andmediumship, itso happens that ofspecific localcultural ofgender representations though inthe with modes ofthought hiscentral/peripheral doesindeed coincide dominant metaphor andwitchcraft mustalso be Kathmandu Valley. Indigenous ideasaboutpriesthood, gender ofthemeansof in recent a gradual democratization taken intoaccount. Furthermore, years in part has occurred religious legitimacy in theKathmandu Valley, whichexplains whythe in importance. roleofmedium hasexpanded
Introduction
In his well-known theory of shamanism and spirit possession Ioan Lewis arguesfora distinction between central and peripheral possession(Lewis 1966; 1970; 1971; 1986; 1989).A central possession cultexists whenecstasy is a partof thedominant religion and possession is thepreserve of thoseof highstatus; typically, thepossessing spirits arehighly moral. Peripheral possession is possessionby amoral spirits(e.g. demons or witches).It is in two distinct senses:first, are peripheral because the possessing spirits as coming from frequently represented outside; second, becausethevictims of such possession are usuallyof low status, and are mostly, thoughnot in this a kind women.Becoming exclusively, possessed wayis,Lewisargues, lackofpowerand status. ofprotest at,or compensation for, This,he claims, in a periphwomenwho becomepossessed explains whyitis predominantly eralmanner. in Lewis'swritings. In his MaliTherehas been a certain development in 1986: 24) his nowskiMemorialLecture(Lewis 1966: 308; reprinted with'whatin medicalparlance concern was explicitly would be calledthe I meantheexamination ofpossession, context epidemiology bywhichin this of persons in of the categories who are mostreadily proneto possession a spectrum of fourtypesof He also briefly sketched different societies'.
Man (N.S.) 29,27-48
28
DAVID
N. GELLNER
shamanisticreligionor cult, moving fromperipheralto centralpossession: (i) possession which is an occasional means for mainlywomen to seek reshamanistic dress without an elaborate cult; (ii) regular,institutionalized to the still in opposition cults with a leadershipand complex pantheon,but values of the dominantreligion;(iii) propheticmovementswhich not only and moralmessage; (iv) estabsolve worldlyproblemsbut propose a spiritual the Nuer and the Dinka. lished religionssuch as those of the Old Testament, which hintedat a developmentaltheory, However, in spite of this typology of charisma, Lewis's earlyessaywas or in Weberiantermsat the routinization primarily concerned with one limitedand precise question: Why do some typesof people (women, low-statusmen) seem to be more likelyto become betweenthemaccount possessed thanothers?But since thesetwo categories formore than halfthe population,one mightwell suggestthatthe question men not become possessed? should be turnedaround:Why do high-status ways. in two principal Lewis has broadenedhis theory In his laterwritings through often go possession First,he has suggestedthat those who suffer he has certainstandardized stages(Lewis 1971: 123-6; 1986: ch. 5). Secondly, just arguedthatthose societieswith a centralpossessioncult are responding, to outside pressures. as the possessed individualis responding, In the context to be examined in this article,it will be seen that two elements of Lewis's theoryhave considerablecogency: (a) the distinction between centraland peripheralpossession and the predictionthat those of lower status,usually women, tend to be subject to peripheralpossession, whereas central possession is reservedfor people of high status; (b) the postulationof stageswhich the possessed pass throughif theyembarkon a that(c) The thirdpartof his theory, careeras a shamanor a (spirit-)medium. by a centralpossession cult are so because they are societies characterized under external pressureand thatthereis a parallelhere between individuals In the case of individuals, Lewis does not and societies,is more problematic. individualwill become possessed; likewise,not low-status envisagethatevery develop a centralpossession everysocietyunder pressuremust necessarily cult. But in the Nepalese case to be outlined below we have a societyin which the centraltypeof possession,albeitsecret, partin playsan important and it is not evident thatwhen a complex religioushierarchy, legitimating presthisformof religionwas adopted,the societywas under any particular sure at all. Lewis's theoryhas been the subject of considerable criticalcomment.1 Much of it has unfortunately ignoredthe factthatthe heartof Lewis's theory is the very specific'epidemiological' question with which his Malinowski have assumed thatto label possesMemorial Lecturebegan. Often his critics In or inessential. to implythatit is unimportant sion peripheralis necessarily possession,as definedby Lewis, is of great fact,in some societiesperipheral a valid and interand culturalsalience.2But this,while certainly importance of Lewis, as I understandhim. Furthermore, estingpoint,is not a criticism so, about the culturalform Lewis's theoryhas littleto say,and intentionally
DAVID N. GELLNER
29
of spirit or meaning experiences. Yetthisvery fact is frequently heldagainst it.In recent aboutspirit it,as ifit invalidated dissatisfacwriting possession with the functionalist or indeed any theory tion is oftenexpressed of is a general offered The alternative somepossession.3 anti-reductionism, with the label 'the interpretive times dignified approach'.This surely to therole of mebothaboutrecruitment forecloses interesting questions, of indigenous schemesof dium and about the ideologicalimplications thought. different from ofLewisarerather thosementioned so My own criticisms to hisgeneral and thisis fairly and aremuchlesshostile far, approach. First, distinction between mediums and shamans canbe made a meaningful trivial, in the Nepalesecontext, as we shallsee below.Second,and moreimporhis extensionof the theoryto the level of whole societiesis tantly, whathe calls implausible and vague,as notedalready. Third,in describing the'possession' or 'shamanic career' (Lewis1989:8), he has laidinsufficient stress and mediums seekto beon theprocess bywhichshamans actively in thewaythey come 'central' and in whatthey stand for(thiswill perform thespread ofwhatLewiscalls'peripheral be illustrated below).Finally, cults', moreaccurately be called'half-way central butwhichin manycasesmight is notnecessarily a response to a declinein women'sposition cults', (Lewis of somewomentaking ofan 1989: 12), butcan also be theresult advantage in their status andopportunities. ofthe improvement Thus,in myexamination I stress theKathmandu thesetwopoints: material from the Valley, precisely processwhereby individuals, once possessedin a peripheral manner, then moveawayfrom it and towards central as theyestablish possession themselvesas specialists; and, second,the longer-term historical processesin whichthe spreadof possession is a reaction to hierarchy. In particular, I in thenumbers interpret theincrease in theKathmandu of mediums Valley in recent of thegeneral years as an aspect of Nepaleseculdemocratization ture. Thelocal context In the widercontext of Nepal, shamans, knownin Nepali as jhJkri, have attracted considerable attention scholarly (see, forexample, Hitchcock& of theNepalesehills, Jones1976).4In thetraditions shamans, who areusuand trance to curepatients allymale,use drumming and carry out certain functions.5 priestly Relatively little has been written on the same themes within theKathmandu where therelationship Valley between gender, possessionand priesthood is rather different.6 Thiscontrast between theNepalesehillsandtheKathmandu Valley canbe to an article explicated by reference by Hofer(1974). H6ferdistinguishes a SouthAsiantradition inwhichmediums, between drawn from thelaity, are orghosts, whoarebelieved tocome possessed bygods,ancestors, tothem, and a Himalayan and central Asianshamanic tradition (exemplified of byjhakris varioustypes)in whichthe specialist shamanis believed togo to the god.
30
DAVID N. GELLNER
H6fer argues thatlay possession spreadwith the developmentof Hinduism which reduced the distance between gods and men (mainly by means of iconographicrepresentations), but simultaneously increasedthe distancebeHe continues: tween the religiouselite and the laity.
The question is,whether thespread of possession in Indiamaybe seen also as a response to thesituation, itwas a process i.e.,whether whichtookplacein defiance andin default elite.In defiance, of thereligious becausepossession represents an alternative to thedisof meditation and asceticism. tance-reducing techniques In default, because,firstly, the and other-worldliness of theelitecould not satisfy intellectualism all thereligious needs a specific of thelaity of status and/or because,secondly, concept debarsparts of thiselite as priests fromserving amongcertain groupsof the population or on certain occasions from during thelife-cycle, whichimpurity accrues (Hofer1974: 162-3;emphasis in original).
The very long-termhistoricaldevelopmentthat Hofer postulateswill be in attempting seen to be important to explainthe recentrise of mediums in the KathmanduValley.For presentpurposes the point to note is that the in the South Asian part of Hofer's typoKathmanduValleybelongs firmly logy, and not with the shamanismof the Nepalese hills. The cultural context of the Kathmandu Valley is largelyNewar.7 The of the Valley, Newars, who are the originalinhabitants nowadays comprise about half its population. They have theirown language,Newari, which is all of themare bilingualin Nepali and Newari, Tibeto-Burman.Todaynearly and some have begun to speak Nepali systematically to theirchildren, much Most of the otherinhabitants to the despairof Newar culturalnationalists. of 'hill people'), the Nepali-speakingdomithe Valleyare Parbatiyas (literally nant ethnic group of Nepal. Another large group are the Tamangs, a Tibetanized hill 'tribe',who speak theirown Tibeto-Burmanlanguage,and are settledin the hills around the edge of the Valleyand in some cases inside in 1982, has, among other with over 235,000 inhabitants it. Kathmanducity, Marwariand Muslim minorities. more recentarrivals, longstanding There are threeold royal cities in the Valley:Kathmandu itself, Lalitpur Kathmanduand Lalitpurare in thewesternhalfof theValley, and Bhaktapur. In the eitherside of the Bagmatiriver;Bhaktapuris in the east of the Valley. which is the main focus here, about half the western part of the Valley, and Newars are Buddhist,i.e. have Buddhist domestic priests(Vajracaryas) Hindu domestic half are Hindu, i.e. have priests(i.e. Brahmans). Only for the highest castes, however, is religious identityat all exclusive.8 Both to go throughTantric initiaand Newar Brahmanshave the right Vajracaryas tions and performTantricrituals,but it is the formerwhom Newars and associatewith Tantric otherNepalese particularly powers and healingmagic. In KathmanducityMuslim healers(khan)are also consideredto be powerful in view of the factthatthe majority This is perhapsnot surprising exorcists. conceive of Muslims as 'upside down' Hindu and Buddhist population all normal social conventions.Untouchables are also often (ultd),reversing thoughtto be powerfulhealersbecause, people say,'theyare able to frequent cremationgrounds'.
DAVID N. GELLNER
31
Despite these ethnic or caste associations,anyone fromany background can be a healer or medium. Gender,as consideredbelow, is arguablymore important thanethnicity. Anyonemaybe a clientor a patient.Low castesare not excluded. Having said that, figurespublished elsewhere (Gellner & Shrestha1993) show thateven a highlysuccessfulhealer,with a Valley-wide of his clientsfromhis own ethnicgroup; this reputation, drawsthe majority is presumably so a fortiori of less successfulones.
Healers andmediums: inmisfortune specialists

Among the Newars thereare basicallytwo typesof practitioner specializing in the diagnosis and cure of supernaturally caused misfortune, or in problems which, while occurringnaturally, require supernatural diagnosis: the are made elsewhere in South healer and the medium. Similar distinctions Asia.9Jhakris,to whom the term'shaman' will be restricted, are not of great importance.Newars and Parbatiyas of the Valleyknow about them,but do not generallyvisit them in my experience.10They are confined to the I refer Tamangcommunity. to thosewho consulthealers,mediums orjhakris the former as 'clients' or 'patients'. Neither word is entirelysatisfactory: which usuallydoes not existand the latter suggestsa long-term relationship In Newari theyare referred is too narrow. to most economicallyas kyd waipt, 'those who come to show', i.e. thosewho come to presentsymptoms, horoscopes, or some otherproblem. I use the term 'healer' to translate the Newari vaidya,and 'medium' to translate dyahwaimha (Nepali: devataaune) or dya4zmJ, respectively 'one to whom thegods come' and 'god-mother'1 1. Healers,who are alwaysmale, are never possessed, but ratheracquire theirpowers by spiritualexercisesand instruction. Some women specialists, straightforward namelymidwives,do know how to use the techniqueof brushing and blowingused forhealingby both mediums and (ritual) healers,but they do not set themselvesup as For women, the only path to becoming a generalpracgeneralpractitioners. titioner is as a medium. Men do sometimesbecome mediums,but theyare vastlyoutnumberedby women. Mediums are possessed, often on a daily basis, by a tutelary deity;occasionallytheyare possessed by other deities as well. The word vaidya can refer to a wide variety of healersand apothecaries. A broad division can be made between those who stick exclusivelyto Ayurvedic methodsand diagnoses,and thosewho make use of an eclecticmix of and Tantric ritual.12 The latter are calledjharphuke Ayurveda, astrology vaidya, i.e. vaidyas who use the techniqueof brushingand blowing.13 The brushing is believed to remove evil influencesand the blowing to impartprotective mantras.Both the term jharphuk and the practiceare common throughout thatboth strictly Nepal and northIndia.14It is noteworthy Ayurvedic practitioners and ritual healers are equally vaidya; thus they are not sharply in local usage. However, in the restof thisarticle, when I refer distinguished to healersit is thesejha7rphuke or ritualhealerswho are intended. vaidya
32
DAVID N. GELLNER
For mediums the main possessingdivinity is Hdriti, the Buddhistgoddess who is believedto be a spirit(yaksa)converted of smallpox, to Buddhism and the guardianof young children.Other divinitiesI have encounteredas the main possessingtutelary deity- one case each - are Krsna,UnmattaBhairava and VajrayoginL.15 On occasion othergods may also temporarily possess the medium, particularly HarTtT's eight children. In an exorcism observed in different 1982, twenty divinities entereda male medium's body one after the three of them twice. Of other, occurring the twenty, eightwere the children of Harit1,fourwere locally identifiable formsof the Goddess, one was an Indian formof the Goddess (Sadasimata),two were local formsof Bhairava, four were more general formsof the Goddess (IQli, Durga. Kumari and and one was Hanuman, the monkeygod.16The exorcismwas Vajrayogini), performed by Hanuman on his second appearance.Hdriti, the usual possessing deity, did not appear on this occasion. Both 'good' possession by a god and 'bad' possession by a witch (bwaksi, (dyah),such as HarTti, Nepali boksi) are describedusing the same verbsin Newari, 'to come' (waye)and 'to enter a similarity into' (dubiye), which will be seen to be significant below.17 The same kinds of problems are, it seems, broughtto both healers and mediums. These problems are rarelystraightforward medical ones. When froma simple physicalailment,today people believe thattheyare suffering at leasttheybuy medicine,consulta 'compounder',or,ifit is seriousenough and theycan afford it,a doctor.Both healersand mediums encouragepeople to come to them with physicalcomplaints,referring to themselvesas 'the more than doctors of the poor'. They are, however, just doctors. Many as problemsbroughtto themwould be classified by biomedicalpractitioners and some have no physicalcomponent at primarily social or psychological, all. The symptomspecifiedis oftena vague and generalmalaise. The treatment offered by healersand mediums is also verysimilar.They both offerblessed and empowered powder,blessed and empowered water, healershave different brushingwith a broom, and blowing. Different styles Some do itvigorously, of brushing. othersin positively whackingthe patient, a very genteel manner,barelytouching them. Both healers and mediums recommendspecificacts of worship and ritualsforcertainills. Both tend to with regardto purity taboos. However, thereare two means be conservative which mediums cannot make use of: astrologyand Ayurvedicmedicine. Both of these are bodies of expertiserequiringliteratestudy fromwhich women are excluded.18The god who speaks throughthe medium's mouth may pronounce on the auspiciousnessof certaintimes,and may venturea diagnosiswhich makes use of Ayurvedic concepts,but the medium cannot actuallyconsult a person's horoscope,decide the cause of imbalancesin the body by feelinga person's pulse, or sell Ayurvedicmedicines as the healer clients can, and oftendoes. A medium must accept whatevergiftgrateful may offer;so too must the healer, but he also has the option of selling medicinesfora fixedprice.
DAVID N. GELLNER
33
These healersand mediums,as well as thejhakris(hill shamans), are part and otherswould of what Kleinman (1980) would call a healthcaresystem, probablybe happierdescribingas a pluralistic and, in many aspects,syncreculturalfield.The situationin Nepal has much in common with that tistic, in Taiwan as described by Kleinman. Westernbiomedicine has the highest prestige.In and near Kathmandu a wide range of biomedical facilities are available,includingmany hospitalsand privateclinics. There are also both privateand government-run Ayurvedic clinics,and a government Ayurvedic college. However, fewerresourcesare devotedto them thanto biomedicine, and mostAyurvedic specialists hope theirsons will become biomedical doctors.TermsderivedfromWesternmedicinehave enteredthe wider language (TB, typhoid, cancer) and are used by healersand mediums. Biomedicine is one further tradition- though one with certain unique characteristics which has been added to, and has achieved a hegemonic position within, what was alreadya pluralistic situationincludingAyurveda, herbal astrology, remedies,magic and religion.Most Nepalese have a considerable(but very in the technology of biomedicine,particularly in injecrarely exclusive)faith tions and antibiotics (the latter often being self-administeredas a in India is A wide range of Westernmedicines manufactured prophylactic). freely available without prescriptionfrom 'compounders' (i.e. those in new charge at pharmacies)who lack any formaltraining.Other relatively elements in this pluralisticsituationare the manufactured traditional Chinese remedies importedfromTibet; and the existenceof Japanese healing cults,e.g. Seimeiky6,in Kathmandu. Witches and their enemies In a largenumberof cases (39 per cent. of diagnosesin one Kirtipur healer's practice(Gellner & Shrestha1993)), the healer or medium identifies 'spoilthe action of a witch,as the cause of ing action' (sydkdh ta.zgu),by definition the complaint.Thus both healersand mediumssee themselves as identifying and combating witchcraft. They are crucialto the process of confirming and legitimating people's suspicionson thisscore. Local, and especiallyNewar,culturalideas about the interrelations of these various roles can be represented withouttoo much distortion as a series of oppositions,thus: order disorder male female priest healer healer medium medium witch. This is not meant to be a generative structure the limitsof all determining Newar thought.In fact,the different oppositionsapply at somewhatdifferent levels.The first threeare to an extent of local ideas; analytical distillations the fourth, in its fullsense, is an interpretation made mainlyby healers;and the last represents the point of view of mediums and those who resortto them. In short,this set of oppositions is intended as a heuristicdevice, a
34
DAVID N. GELLNER
of the framework whichNewarsand others of the representation within related ideas. tendto associate Valley and mediums appearon It willbe noticed immediately that bothhealers This suggests there is a sliding that bothsidesofthelistofoppositions. scale, at theother. Whileeducated Nepalese withpriests at one end and witches to mediums, areusually convinced ofthe firmly often denyanyvalidity they This reflects cultural aboutthelatter, existence ofwitches.19 certainty greater eventraditionally. witches in four distinct there Newarsencounter contexts. arestories First, on and sayings about them:thattheycome out at night(and especially suchas PisacaCaturdas', in a minorfestival usually falling particular dates, as meet use their and at frightening places, March), lighted forefingera lamp, outsideof settlements and nearcremaMotherGoddesstemples especially tiongrounds; thatthey can turnintoanimals at will,and thatthey try out on street theirharmful medicines themmad. Many believe dogs,turning at all,and thatdoingso may witches thatit is religiously wrongto discuss there is a masculine form ofbwaksi, their attention. attract malign Although in thiscontext itis always assumed that witches arefemale. namely bwaksa, arespecific misfortunes whichareascribed bymediums and Second, there who harms others bymagihealers to the'spoiling' action ofothers. Anyone This maybe done byacting cal meansis considered a witch. on an itemof simply by clothing or a hairof thevictim. But one mayalso harmothers eat.Some Newarssaythat looking at themor,particularly, at thefoodthey can do this;others to happens anyone sayit onlydoes harmiftheonlooker consumed excrement theinattention of be someone through who,as a child, a viewfound also in Rajasthan 1988: 197); and yet thecaretakers, (Lambert others can harmother through jealousyor denythat anyone peoplesimply desire to harm. As Levine(1982)emphasizes for theNyinba, a Tibetan group in thefar ofNepal,there is no consensus on thesematters. Nor north-west in thedistribution is there of thesebeliefs amongthe anyobviouspattern Newars.UnliketheNyinba, and unlike African Newarsdo many societies, believe is hereditary. notgenerally that witchcraft is used as an explanation A typical of thewaywitchcraft of misexample I shallnameP: is thefollowing fortune account given byan informant
P's cousin(his father's half-sister's has for15 or 20 years wandered distractedly daughter) in the street, dreadful old clothes.She stealsher family's moneyto buy duck wearing to Hariti. up. Everyone saysshe is mad (wi). eggsto offer They haveto lockeverything Brother whenP goes for (kijd puja) (forwhichshe invites P) However, Younger Worship and although somepeopletellhimnotto go, he does. One she appears perfectly normal, to his house as if running She awayfromsome terrible danger. day she came running his name,as if in fearof her life.They let her in. A man rattled the front door,calling her.P askedhim: 'Whoareyou?Whyareyou trying to catch who was chasing appeared that her?'The man explained she had stolenan egg.P gavehimthemoney and he went herdown,and his cousinwas on theroof, tojump off. P brought Meanwhile away. ready askedherwhyshe alwayshas to offer finally eggs.She repliedthatthe god comes and her to offer eggs the god doesn'tcome. She frightens her,forcing eggs; if she offers itwasn'ta dream.Peoplesaythat she has been 'spoilt'by a witch. insisted
DAVID N. GELLNER
35
A thirdcontextin which witchesare encounteredis thatof witchattack or and much less common than possessionby a witch.This is farmore extreme simplybeing harmed by a witch, since the witch entersthe victim's body (usually a woman) and speaks throughher mouth. I have never observed but have heard several cases described. The possuch possession myself, sessed person acts in a violentand bizarreway.As discussedbelow,thiskind which of possession may be a prelude to the benignpossessionby a divinity oftenunder the instruction of makes one a medium. Members of the family, a healer,beat the woman or twisther thumbs,believingthatit is the witch who is being hurt,in orderto persuadethe witchto name herself, or at least to driveher out. In the past the possessed woman's cheek was brandedwith a red-hotrice spatula in the beliefthatthe witch would be markedby this The Law Code of 1854 attemptedstrict procedure and therebyidentified. it liable to heavy regulation of such action,makinganyhealerwho prescribed finesif it did not work. It also forbadethe banishment of a suspectedwitch unless the brandingtesthad alreadysucceeded; and it banned ordeals (Macdonald 1976). The fourthand final context in which witches are encountered is the actual suspicion and naming of known people. (Clearly this contextis the backgroundto the namingof a culpritduringwitchexorcism.)In practiceit is women, especiallyold women, and among them especiallywidows, who are suspected of being witches. Nowadays little is done to them beyond in order avoidingcontact;often,however,outwardpolitenessis maintained, to avoid offending them.A common responseseems to be to throwa brick it has glasspanes or not). As implied through their window at night(whether by the 1854 Law Code, much severeraction was commonly taken in the past. What one does not find, though everyone believes they exist, are women who call themselveswitches and practiseblack magic. Withouta Louis Mahuzier (n.d.: ch. 1) describeshis attempts traceof irony, to findand filmsuch a woman performing her rituals:she alwaysseemed to remain just out of reach, and all the Newars Mahuzier requested to mime a witch's ritualsrefusedwith horror.In otherwords, unlike the Africancases vividly describedbyJackson(1989: 94-6), no one ever confessesto being a witch.20 On the other hand, the gap between the witch stereotype and actualpeople accused of witchcraft, identified by Jackson,applies equally to the Newar case. Two further fleshon the postulatedoppoexampleswill put ethnographic sitionsof medium and witch,and healer and medium. The followingcase of mediums and witches. illustrates the hostility
Near a femalemediumfromLalitpurlived a woman who did not get on with her All herchildren had died and she believed mother-in-law. hermother-in-law was a witch and was killing them.She cameto themedium who toldherthat was hermother-in-law indeeda witchand thatas longas she was in thehouse she,thedaughter-in-law, would If the mother-in-law neverbe able to have offspring who survived. died, on the other hermother-in-law. would be saved.The womanwentand confronted hand,thechildren The localpeopledecidedthatthesenior shoulddecidethe peopleof theneighbourhood case. In front of themall themother-in-law declared thatshe was not a witch.All right
36
DAVID N. GELLNER
'Let's go and see the medium'.Theywentthere, then,'said herdaughter-in-law, but as theywere comingin to the room the mediumcriedout, 'Don't come in, you are a witch!''No, I'm not' she replied. The mediumraisedherhand,and hervajra[a Tantric Buddhistritualimplement] touchedthe templeof the witch.Even thoughit barely a great stream of bloodflowed forth. The womanwentto hospital. touched her, Latershe thatshe had been accusedunjustly tookthe case to court, saying of beinga witch.The courtcalledthemediumwho said: 'I didn'tdo it. She is a witch.If she is a witch, she will die in ninedays.If not,she won't.'And thewomandiedwithin ninedays.The case was dismissed and themedium becamefamous.
when I visitedthis medium, she told me thatafter Interestingly, this case she had given up searchingout witches,and restricted herselfto treating illness,at the requestof her husbandand children(who were evidently afraid thatshe would provokefurther hostility). Another case (involving Tuladhars,high-casteBuddhist Newars, from Kathmandu) also illustratesthe hostilitywhich can easily arise between in the Newar joint family. mother- and daughter-in-law In this case my informant pointed out thatthe daughter-in-law's natal family was rich but her husband'swas relatively poor and thattheyoungman, encouragedby his had asked his wife's father to buy him a house. Ratherthanwait for family, he had done thisat theverybeginning trust to grow, of the marriage and this evidence of the husband's family's greed had sown seeds of mistrust at the outset.The reluctance of thewife'sfather to buy the house (he fearedto buy it in his daughter'sname in case theykilled her to acquire it) angered the The account began with the followingincident: husband's family.
her daughter-in-law The mother-in-law of putting suspected ensorcelled substances in hervegetables. A nearby mediumconfirmed thatthe daughter-in-law was a witch, and thisled to thedaughter-in-law to hernatalhomewithhertwo smallchildren. returning The daughter-in-law's thecharges and made a counter-accufamily rejected indignantly sationthatthemother-in-law was a witch. And they refused to send their back daughter forfearthatthemother-in-law would enlist thehelpof other to to herhusband witches killher.Shortly thisthedaughter-in-law's father after died,and thenhermother gotill, ascribed overa year. The mother herillnessto thewitches enlisted dying slowly by her becausethedoctor's treatment was doingno good and because daughter's mother-in-law, said 'Someonewho comesto yourhouseand sitsnear a healeror mediumshe consulted her suspicion thata neighbour who came you mayhave harmed you'. This confirmed set was a witch.Finally she was takento Vellorein to watchtheirtelevision regularly not the TB forwhich her South India wherethe doctorsfoundthatshe had cancer, butit was too late. had been treating Nepalesedoctor her,
in identifying In prescribing ritualsand recommendingritualistic purity, mediums appear as the guardians witchesand suggesting counter-measures, the medium is assimilatedto of order.From anotherpoint of view,however, the witch and opposed to the healer.Healers themselvesdo not look kindly a question of competitionforbusiness. on mediums. No doubt it is partly Thus, healers tend to run mediums and witches together, implyingthat mediums arewitches.One healerput it to me thathealers,being men, have to worshipfiercemale gods,particularly Bhairava,in orderto undo the harm women do throughtheirworshipof a goddess,Hdriti. Yet even the healeris not above suspicionof using his knowledgeto harm he is more likelyto be suspectedof this than mediums,who others.In fact,
DAVID N. GELLNER
37
are regardedeitheras fakesor as divinelyinspired.Thus, people are careful not to offendhealers. Many say thatthe knowledgeof how to cause harm and thatrequired to undo it are the same. When I asked if therecould be male witches,one healerreplied:'I'm a witch (bwaksd)!'21 I thinkit is trueto say,as Kleinman (1980: 240) does of attitudesto Taiwanese shamans, that, though people are gratefulfor the healer's cures, 'he also is envied and for his financialsuccess and occasionallyfearedfor his reputed distrusted power to engage in sorceryor otherwisecause individualsto become sick'. I know of no case of a devotionalcult focusedon a healerparallel Certainly, to thatdescribedbelow fora medium. Compared to the double-edged benefitsof healers,the blessings ,handed and Sakyas) out by the male priests (Brahmans, Karmacaryas, Vajracaryas are unambiguouslygood, who controlthe cults of high and pure divinities to and not harmful.Unfortunately, such blessingsare often not sufficient keep misfortune away.Thus healersare opposed to priestsin thatthe latter whereasthe fordispenseotherworldly and/or generalized worldlyblessings, mer providespecificremediesforspecific worldlyills. Mediums on thecentral/peripheral spectrum Having consideredlocal representations as a seriesof oppositions,the consequences of conceptualizingthese same ideas as a spectrum can now be analysed.At the same time it will be possible to address Lewis's question, why women are more likelyto be possessed and become mediums than men. When dealingspecifically with thisquestion (and not takenas a general which accounts forthe origins, theory existence, meaningand culturalform of possession in all societies) Lewis's theoryis very plausible. Contraryto what is sometimesclaimed, his theoryis not contradicted by the fact that peripheral possession frequently springsfromgenuine suffering. I have suggestedthatNewar culturepresupposesa kind of spectrum with high-caste, male priestshandingout generalized, whollybeneficent blessings at one end, and witches,causingparticular harm,at theother.The healerand the medium mustgo partof theway towardsthe 'witch'end of the spectrum in order to combat the witches' harm.Lewis himself(1971: 44) admitsthat his two typesof possession are 'opposite extremes on a singlecontinuum'.I would suggestthatthe spectrumof local representations identified above is how Newars and othersin the Valleythinkabout Lewis's 'continuum'.The 'central:peripheral' pair mighttherefore be added to the set of oppositions givenabove. in a mannerconsonant Furthermore, local conceptionscan be represented with Lewis's spatialmetaphoras indicatedin figure1. That thisis possible is in view of the importance in traditional of the mandala perhapsnot surprising Newar culture: in essence a manydala is a sacred diagram,with a centre,a to the sacred boundaryand fourgates. For most Newars it refers primarily diagramsdrawnby priests duringcomplexrituals, but it is also the model for the architecture of both Hindu and Buddhist temples,for the planningof
38
DAVID N. GELLNER
Newar cities,and of the cosmos itself(Gellner 1992: 45-8, 190-1). At the geometrically around centreof the man.dalais the principaldivinity; arranged the centre is a retinueof lesser deities who protectagainst the evil forces situatedbeyond the boundary. A typicalmedium's career traces a movement from the outside in. It and possessedbywitches- typical periphusuallybeginswithbeingattacked eral possession - until finally the woman agrees to be possessed benignly, She must then worship Hariti on a daily basis, be posusually by Hariti.22 sessed, normallyevery day, and cure for the good of all beings. This is represented as the woman being chosen, againsther will: it was her only maleficent option in orderto prevent continuing possession by witches.She She cannot herselfis usually the strongest advocate of this interpretation. be blamed forundertaking what is in effect a career,one which is therefore but may be relatively undoubtedlyrisky lucrative forher,if successful.It is the onlycareer, open to women. as opposed to wage-labouror petty retailing, While possessed,she will be worshippedas a god. This is in starkcontrast to women's normal position,which is symbolizedby the daily obligation to bow down to the feet of theirhusbands and other senior affinal relatives. Possession can therefore be seen as givingsome women, in some circumstances,the power withinstrict limitsto manipulatetheirfate. By being possessed by a god, and no longerby a witch,the medium has moved away from the peripheralend of the spectrum.She tries,underto get as near to the centralend of the spectrumas she can. Being standably,
4 4 CENTRE PERIPHERY
~~Key:
1
=
the thecentral position, moral 'high ground', of occupied bythepriests high andpuredeities. ofhealers. theposition ofmediums. theposition theperipheral position of witches anddemons.
2 3 4
= =
of priests 1 A spatialrepresentation of local ideas about the relation FIGURE mediums andwitches. healers, NOTE: a medium, movesfrom 4 to 3 in thecourseof becoming The medium whenmalign bybenign possession by possession bya witchis replaced a divinity. Ritual healers,many of whom also occupy the central position in their role as priests,must spend the night in a to position witch-infested cremation 4) as partof ground(equivalent their training. line should I owe to Nick Allenthe suggestion thatthe spectrum's whichmakeit be jagged,not straight, to indicate thatthe oppositions thesametype. up arenotall ofexactly
DAVID N. GELLNER
39
a woman, and considering the natureof the ills withwhich she deals, she can never be entirelysuccessfulin this. Even if the medium is no longer so peripheralin termsof the possessingagent,the divine possessor is rarelya veryhigh god. The higherthe god, the more likelyit is thatpeople will be sceptical of claims to possession by him or her. For instance,a Maharjan (Farmer) man from a village south of Lalitpurwho appeared one day in Buddhistsacredcomplex) and claimed to be posKwa Bahah (an important sessed by Kwabaju, i.e. SakyamuniBuddha, was metwith polite but definite a medium remains'peripheral'in her origin (neiscepticism.Furthermore, therhigh-status nor rich), in the generally lower statusof those who resort to her,and in her place in the overallhierarchy of religiousspecialists.The effort more 'central',position is nonetheless to move to a more prestigious, in the factthatmediums oftentell moral homilies in the middle of manifest curing,and thattheyinstruct clientsto obey purityrules, and worship the In a following Mediums who attract gods. religiontheyare traditionalists.23 of adherents tend to be thosewho appear continually benign.Newars findit puzzling thata medium should usuallysay entirely convincingthingswhen possessed, but at other times seem to be full of petty jealousies, and their faithin such mediums is correspondingly weaker. forthe predominanceof women among mediums and Local explanations witchesfallinto two types:thosewhich invokesome religiousmythor fact, of the feminine. and those which focus on stereotypes We have seen already thatsince the principalpossessingdeityis a goddess,HdritT, some considerit natural that women should be more often possessed. When asked why women are more oftenwitches,some cite the followingstory. When Siva was recountingall the wisdom of the world to his wife, Parvati,she fell when he gotto thesectionon blackmagic asleep, but she woke up witha start Others say simply that women are weak, in particularmorally (kuvidyd). weak, and are therefore more likelyto wish harmon othersand to succumb to the temptation to use magic to accomplishit. If asked why some women and not othersbecome mediums,locals maysaythatit is a question of karma, i.e. thatthese women had the bad luck (determined by a previousbirth)to be attackedby a witch,and thatbecoming a medium was the only remedy. Some are not above pointingout, in particular cases, the inadequacies of the woman's husband. Ideas about the moral weakness and ficklenessof women, a common theme of Newar folktales,are confirmed forboth men and women by the factsof everyday life in thejoint family. Transported at marriagefromher natal family to thatof her husband,a young Newar woman must maintain multiple allegiances: to her parents,to her husband and to her husband's household. She must repeatedly prove her allegianceto the last by subservience to her mother-in-law, by hard work, by self-denialand by producing - transchildren.It is at this most stressful point of a woman's life-cycle a dramaticloss of status,and under ported to a new household, suffering pressureto givebirthto sons - thatperipheral possessionoftenstrikes. When
40
DAVID N. GELLNER
households breakup, women are frequently blamed forcausing brothers to quarrel.Women, coming fromoutside,are not only essentialto, but dangerous for, the stability of the household: they are essential for, but simultaneously threatening to, its ritualpurity.24 Women, it is assumed,need to be controlled by men, and youngerwomen need to be controlledby older women as well. Men perceivedto be controland pejorative led by women are referredto by various unflattering expressions(for instance,thattheyhave disappearedup theirwife's sari or impure,low castes are vagina). In contrast to women, who are contextually thought of as permanently impure. This is sometimes ascribed to their explainedas a consequence essentialnature,but is perhapsmore frequently rules (niyam) and perform few of the factthattheydo not observeritualistic rituals.Traditionally, low casteshad to be controlledalso, in orderto prevent them adoptinghigh-castepractices. Lack of controlis evidentin spiritpossession. Thus one can see how both women and low castes are associated with spiritpossession, and why high-castemales should shun it, except in closely definedesotericcontexts.This secretpossession by the Tantricgods in both religions(see of Buddhism and Hinduism is partof Tantric initiation Gellner 1988; 1989; 1992). In both Hinduism and Buddhism such initiation is restricted (with a few,only partial, exceptions)to high castes. High-caste family, or lineage Buddhistwomen repeatthispossession in certainprivate, In fact, ritualsduringthe year.25 similarassociationsbetweenthe female,the low caste,and spiritpossession are common throughout South Asia (Fuller 1992: 240). In spiteof theseobstacles,a mediumwho combinesa convincingteaching of religious truthswith a reputationfor curing people may under certain circumstances start a cult.A minorcult maybe said to centreon one Lalitpur medium. She has been curingfor over twenty years,and the new (though husband have house into which she and her Vya-njankur traditional-style) moved is said to have been boughtwithher earningsas a medium. She has a in gratitude forcures she loyal followingof devoteeswho visither regularly A considerablenumberof thesefollowers(between twenty and has effected. and to cure, under have themselvesbegun to be possessed regularly, thirty) her influence.On the anniversary of her first possession,she inviteseveryone to be present at an elaborate worship of HaritTperformedby her domestic priest.The house is packed all day long. Women sing Vajracarya devotionalhymns.The atmosphereis joyful and those presentreferto the medium as 'mother'.Withinthe purified worship area all those who regularlybecome possessed sit in line,so thaton the occasion when I was present mediumsall possessed simultaneously. When (1989) therewere ten to fifteen the worshipis over,the principalmedium offers her of cloth to disciple gifts to her,and thento mediums,and all the devoteescome to pay obeisance first to all the othermediums.The devoteesare theninvitedto sit down together a feast served by the medium's relatives,neighbours and local devotees. This cult brings togetherNewars from a wide varietyof class and caste
DAVID N. GELLNER
41
backgrounds,as well as a few Parbatiyas. However, without the desire to expand,and lackingclose discipleswith expertisein the use of writing, buthatthisveryminorcultwill reaucracy, or the Englishlanguage,it is unlikely grow as some othershave done, such as some Japanesenew religions, or the Sai Baba movement.As in Bengal (McDaniel 1988: 229-30), the factthat mediums deal everyday with worldlyproblems is in itselfan obstacle to establishinga spiritualmovement. This is probablythe case generallyin South Asia, but is certainly not elsewhere.27 as beneftciaries Mediums of'democracy' I have stressedthatboth healersand mediums deal with the same kinds of complaint,but that mediums are unable to make use of two of the techniques, based on literatetraditions, available to healers, namelyAyurvedic medicine and astrology. It maywell be thatmediums are, as faras theycan, imitating healers. Many Nepalese say thatthe phenomenon of mediums is new; although or fortyyears ago, possession occurred in the past, roughlysome thirty as regularmediums.In otherwords,the women did not establishthemselves to as the coming spreadof mediums coincideswithwhat the Nepalese refer in 1951, i.e. the overthrow of the autocratic Rana of 'democracy'(prajatantra) regime.In the modern technicalsense, i.e. rule througha nationalassembly elected on the basis of multiparty competition, democracywas established only in 1990 (apart froma briefinterludein the 1950s). In a largersense, however,the popular perceptionis quite correct. The yearsafter1959 under King Mahendra's Partyless Panchayat Democracy, as itwas called,did see the establishment of equality before the law, the principleof one person one vote, and in general a considerable decline in all spheres of life of the authoritarian and hierarchical values of the Rana period. The pace of social change has been especiallyrapid in the KathmanduValley.In the modern period, male priestsand healers may disapproveof mediums, but there is nothingtheycan do to stop people patronizing them,and theirdisapproval now counts forlittle. But is it in facttruethatmediumsneverpractised on a regular basis before a seventeenth-century 1951? Brinkhaushas translated Newari farcebyJagat which depictsone of the protagonists Prakisa,kingof Bhaktapur, pretending to be a Buddhistfemalesiddhayogini who hands out charmsand can perceive what is going on in Tibet while in Nepal (Brinkhaus1987: 102 sqq.). Perthe possible existenceof haps this refersto a medium; perhaps it reflects femalehealers,not known today, at thattime. Certainly, even today a local woman who set herselfup as a medium in a Parbatiya villagewould rapidly findherself and - unlikethe urbanmediums described accused of witchcraft here- would be unable to practise.28 Whetheror not the medium phenomenon is entirelymodern as many believe, it has undoubtedlygrown and in the lastfewdecades,so thateverylocalityin the Newar spreadremarkably citiesand towns has at least one such medium.
42
DAVID N. GELLNER
In making use of possession, mediums are borrowinga technique that Newar contexts.Jones (1976: 5-6) has occurs in a number of traditional suggestedthatin generalfour,ratherthan Lewis's two, typesof possession tutelary, reincarnate and oracular.The peshould be recognized:peripheral, thatwhich can, in theory, happen to ripheralis, as in Lewis's terminology, at any time: possession by witches or other evil forces. anyone, anywhere, Tutelary possession is the possession of the shaman or medium,which anyone can experience,but it is not permanentand only occurs at designated times. Reincarnatepossession is thatof the Tibetan reincarnate lama, who at all times;thiskind of incarnates the spiritof a previouslama permanently to a few persons. Oracular possession is thatwhich possession is restricted on specificritualor festival occasions. occurs to specifiedfunctionaries All four of Jones's typesoccur among the Newars. Peripheralpossession has been discussed above, and tutelary possession refers to thatof the mediums. Reincarnate of the 'livinggoddess' possessionis foundin the institution a weak (KumarT)describedby Allen (1975). One mightalso wish to identify kind of reincarnate possession: thatin which the King incarnates(or is believed to be a partialincarnationof) Visnu, Brahmans incarnateBrahma, incarnateVajrasattva, KAp3iis(Jogis,low-caste Saivite death speVajracaryas cialists)incarnate KdpdlaBhairava,and so on. Masked dances of the Mother Goddesses may be considereda formof oracularpossession. Furthermore, there is a kind of possession - that occurringduring Tantricrituals,mentioned above - which fitsnone of Jones's typeswell. Unlike both oracular to functionaries and tutelary as possession,it is not public; it is not restricted oracular possession is, nor is it open to all like tutelary possession. It can, 'central however,be accommodatedwithinLewis's broad and vague category, possession'. forinstance,in dances of the Public possession occurs at certainfestivals: EightMother Goddesses at Mohan! (Dasain) and otheroccasions. Such public possession is made manifest just like both secretpossession by shaking, and the possession of the mediums. Usually it is fairly stylizedand thereis out of control.VWhen middle littleprospectof the possessed person getting castes incarnategoddesses in thisway theysometimesreand low farming fromthe animal's half-slit and drinkthe blood directly ceive blood sacrifice, throat. specified Againstthisbackgroundof controlledpossession by traditionally in personnel, the spread of freelancemediums can be seen to represent, Mediums use of the means of religiousauthority. a democratization effect, the pronouncementsabout daily life by means of possession to legitimate which they act as arbitrators, doctors, priestsand moral preceptors.This borrowed from the Great Tradiparallels their use of ritualparaphernalia tions, for instance,the Vajracarya priest'svajra and dagger,symbols of his and Tantric authority power. The kind of group possession describedabove, which occurs at the annual celebrationof a Lalitpurmedium's first possesis not restricted in this But case initiation. participation sion, recallsTantric
DAVID N. GELLNER
43
on grounds of caste and the possession is less routinized.At least one medium, who is permanently possessed, has adopted the 'reincarnate' possession of the 'livinggoddess', KumarT (see note 15). In these ways, then,mediums appropriate the most prestigiousreligious I would see this process as a rapid means known to them. Furthermore, of the accelerationand expansion,under the conditionsof modernization, verylong-term historicaltendenciesof lay resistanceto priestly prerogative withinHinduism postulatedby Hofer. In otherwords,as priestly power has to priests, and in the extent declined,both in termsof the deference afforded are willingand able to act on theirbehalf,new to which politicalauthorities religious opportunitieshave opened up for the laity.Thomas (1988) has made a similar argumentfor Pacific societies: that shamanism flourished and was undeveloped or in retreat; where chiefswere weak and hierarchy thatconsequentlyshamanicpractitioners expanded in numbersand significance with the initialdisruptive impactof colonialism. Conclusion I have arguedthatthe overwhelming predominanceof women in the role of in line medium in the citiesof the KathmanduValleyshould be interpreted with I.M. Lewis's theoryof spiritpossession. Yet, in order to understand what the medium role impliesand how it is viewed we have to see it as part healersand witches.We need to conof a largerset which includes priests, sideralso, as Kapferer argues(1991: 139), 'the culturalconstructs which men have of women and women have of themselves'. Thus the emergenceof the medium role can only be understoodin the lightof (a) pre-existing cultural ideas about gender,priesthoodand witchcraft; (b) various pre-existing practices involvingpossession for both men and women; and (c) culturaland political changes in the KathmanduValley since 1951. These changes, far from implyinga decline in women's position, as Lewis assumes, have, if anything, improvedit. It is not yetacceptableforan unmarried woman over 35 to claim a shareof her father's and brothers' joint family property, as a law of 1975 now entitlesher to do. But some women have takenover religious in the controlof high-caste more firmly techniquesand symbolspreviously male priests. This democratization of the means of religious legitimacyis, however, only partial.The highestpriestlyroles remain the hereditary preserve of males of the highestcastes. Possession in public remains a predominantly The existenceof exactly low-statusactivity. the same technique in the secret ritualsof those of high statusparadoxically confirmsits low status in the outer realm. I have suggestedthat it is rightto see witch attackand spirit mediumshipamong the Newars as a kind of rebellionby some women and a few men againstthe circumstances in which theyfindthemselvesand, in the women's case, against the limitationsof the female role expected of of them, but it is a rebellionthatcalls into question neitherthe hierarchy caste nor thatof gender.The spiritmedium role, addressingitselfas it does
44
DAVID N. GELLNER
to mundane problems,and beneficialthough it may be both to incumbent and those who consult, tends to confirmstereotypes of gender and social lowness.
NOTES in Lalitpur, Fieldwork Kathmandu and Kirtipur was carried out between 1982 and 1984, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, and againin August and September 1989 funded by the Max MullerFund, Oxford, and the British Academy. It was onlyon the secondoccasion thatthe topicsdiscussed herewerethe mainfocusof research. Much moreremains to be on mediums'own perceptions done, especially of theirroles. This articlehas benefited greatly from the comments of the following, who have also done theirbestto get me to its shortcomings: acknowledge NJ. Allen,M. Banks,H. Donnan,J. Gray, H. Lambert, C. D.P. Martinez, B. Owens,A. Pach,D. Quigley MacDonaugh, and P.R. Sharma. 1 See Giles (1987) foran excellent For a general summary. survey of recent workson see Atkinson shamanism, 1992. 2 For example, bothGiles (1987:245-7) on EastAfrica and Kapferer (1991: 153-4)on Sri Lanka have arguedthatwomen and theircultsare symbolically central to the culture in question. 3 For tworecent bothofwhichclaimto be goingbeyond examples, Lewis'stheory butto mymindsimply confirm it,see McClain 1989and Kendall1989. 4 More recently, to cite onlybooks,therehave been studiesby Miller 1979,Shrestha 1980,Peters1981,Holmberg 1989,Mumford 1989and Desjarlais1992.See also Himalayan Research Bulletin (Vol. 9, Nos. 1 and 2). 5 Some Tamangshamans are women,but mostare men.Nonetheless, shamanism is associated withfemaleness, and opposedto themaledomains of theother mainritual specialand Buddhist ists, territorial sacrificers lamas(Holmberg 1983; 1989). 6 Particularly relevant to thispaperis the article by Ellen Coon (1989), the onlyone in the Himalayan Bulletin Research specialissue to deal withthe Kathmandu Valley.See also Okada 1976,Durkin-Longley 1986. 1982,and Dougherty 7 The standard of theNewarsis Toffin 1984.One shouldnow also consult ethnography see also Gellner Levy1990.On Newaridentity, 1986; 1991,and Quigley1987. 8 The questionof religious affiliation is too complex to go into here.See Locke 1980, Toffin 1992. 1984and Gellner 9 Thus Carstairs' of a southIndianvillage and Kapur's(1976) study mentions three types theVaid or pureAyurvedic the Mantarwadi, or a mixof specialist: doctor, usingmantras tureof methods, and thePatri, who becomes or godling. The Mantarpossessed bya spirit thePatri wadi is theequivalent of theNewarhealer, of theNewarmedium. Unfortunately, we are not toldwhatproportion of Patris we are toldthatthere are womenPatris, though In theMalnaddistrict the mediums are female. of Karnataka, studied by Harper, appearto to be a similar be exclusively male (Harper1957:268). In north Indiathere contrast appears or ojha),although it or sayand) and the medium(bhopd betweenthe Tantrichealer(siddh thelatter male (Henry1981:303; Lambert 1988:356). that are usually appears thatthe Newarsof Bhaktapur use ? On theone hand,Levy(1990: 338) reports mostly 'hill shamans thatthereare specialthars forspirit but on the other, he indicates healers', in Bhaktapur or clans)of Newarhealers (castesub-groups (1990:362). 11Italicized of Manandhar that theorthography wordsareNewari.I follow (1986),except ones (thusvaidya, notbaide). Sanskritic forms arepreferred to Newarized morerecognizable 12Kakar's a summary of inadeon 'Tantric chapter healing' (Kakar1982:ch. 6) - mostly thanthoseof his accounts sources- is much less convincing text-based quate secondary He does,however, observe that'it whichare based on fieldwork withpractitioners. rightly matter' is difficult to get widespread on any tantrik agreement (Kakar1982: 186). For an
DAVID N. GELLNER
45
analysis of the diagnoses made by one Nepalese Tantrichealer,see Gellner& Shrestha 1988. 1993;cf.Skultans 13 Durkin-Longley in Kathmandu, (1982: 162), who made a studyof Ayurveda distinfrom of the casteof Buddhist guishes jharphuke vaidya, Gubhaju,i.e. Vajracaryas (members Tantric priests) who actas healers. This distinction, notmadebyNewars,reflects theusage of Nepali-speaking it is notstrictly in that it distinguishes Parbatiyas; necessary on casteand a single category of healer. It is true that ethnicgroundswithinwhat is essentially as a castehavethegreatest within thiscategory, deVajracaryas representation and that they rivesomeprestige from their position as priests; it is also possible thatpeopleare moreinclined to ascribeTantricpowers to them than to other similarspecialists. However, is no different from that Va4racarya healers' eclectic practice of other jharphuke vaidyas. 4 Lambert1992: 1073. In the Kathmandu Valleyit is alwaysan ordinary household is used. broomthat 15One veryunusualwomanclaimednot to be possessed, but simply to be Sivas'akti, i.e. and his consort; she never shookor showedother theLordof theUniverse signsof possesof theperson herbodybeto discusstheidentity who had inhabited sion,and she refused 1988:135). fore God tookit over(Gellner 16The complete as they was as follows: Dhan list,identified byonlookers appeared, KMaI, KankaAjima,Guhyes'vari, Kal Bhairav, Maiju, NyataAjimza(Naradevi), Bhadrakali, Akas' Bhairav, Hanuman,Kumar!, Vajrayoginl, Bhagavati (Durga),Sadasimata, Dhan Bhaju,Wasi Bhaju, Wasi Maiju, Lati Maiju, JulumBhaju,JulumMaiju, Lata Bhaju, Hanuman,Lati Klli. Maiu, Dhan Maiju,and finally 1Joshi(1987: s.v.) glossesdubiye as 'to come intothebody(as of a god,ghost(bhuit-pret), or witchetc.)'.As Gold (1988: 40) notesforRajasthan, thephysical symptoms, though very to the nature of the possessing are similar forboth evaluated differently according agent, attack witch and divine possession. 18Womenare not excluded from in modern literate medicine and thereare a few study and teachers. womendoctors, as well as numerous nurses 19See, forexample, the story recounted by Dr B.P. Sharma(1986: 78-82),a psychiatrist at Bir Hospital, Kathmandu. 20In spiteof the dramatic case described by Carstairs (1983) in whicha suspected witch in India,as in Nepal,publicaccusations was beatento death, normally are rare, and confessionsunknown (Lambert 1988:191;Fuller1992:237-8). 21Greve(1989) notesthat in muchHimalayan shamanism theshaman is thought to form thisis represented a pactwitha witch; as taking heras hiswife. mythically 22Amongthe Newarspossession by a recently dead member of the family seemsnever to occur,as it does amongParbatiyas (H6fer& Shrestha 1973; Stone 1976) and in both north and southIndia(Fuller1992:224-36). 23Coon (1989:2) also notesthis. 24In spiteof their relatively higher status, greater freedom and moreextensive links with their natalhome,Newarwomenultimately sharemuchwiththeir neighbours, theParbatiya womenso well described byBennett (1983). 25 In a rather technical senseVajracarya priests could be said to be possessed whenever In otherwords,thisis one of the things rituals imtheyperform complex ('do sadhana'). pliedbytheliturgy they recite. However, mostlaypeople,and evenmany practising priests, are not awareof thisand do not see priests' ritualperformances as a typeof possession (Gellner1992:287-92). 26This is entirely is no expectation and there voluntary that patients shouldbe possessed as partof thecure,as there was in one (unusual)Taiwanesecase investigated by Kleinman is in other of theworld, (1980:312f.)and frequently parts e.g. theBrazilian umbanda cults. 27 See the manyexamples(therecalled 'thaumaturgical' cited in Wilson movements) 1975. 28Al Pach andJohnGray, communications. personal
46
DAVID N. GELLNER
REFERENCES Allen, M.R. 1975.TheCult of Kumari: Virgin worship inNepal. Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu: INAS. Atkinson, J.M. 1992.Shamanisms today. Ann.Rev. Anthrop. 21,307-30. Bennett, L. 1983.Dangerous wives andsacred sisters: social andsymbolic roles ofhigh-caste women in Nepal.New York:ColumbiaUniv.Press. Brinkhaus, H. 1987.Jagatprakas'amallas Das alteste bekannte Mutadevasasidevavydkhydna-ndtaka: vollstdndig iiberlieferte Newari-Drama. Stuttgart: FranzSteiner. in north Carstairs, G.M. 1983.Deathofa witch: a village India1950-81. London:Hutchinson. & R.L.Kapur1976.TheGreat Universe Kota: anddisorder inanIndian of stress, change village. London:Hogarth. Him.Res.Bull.9(1), 1-9. Coon, E. 1989.Possessing power: Ajimaandhermedium. Desjarlais, R.R. 1992.Body andemotion: the aesthetics ofillness andhealing in the NepalHimalayas. Univ.ofPennsylvania Press. Philadelphia: Dougherty, L.M. 1986.Sitaandthegoddess: a casestudy ofa womanhealer in Nepal.Contrib. Nepal.Stud. 14,25-36. in Nepal: a medicalbeliefsystem Durkin-Longley, M.S. 1982.Ayurveda in action.Thesis, Univ.Microfilms MadisonUniversity. Int.8224034. andsociety Fuller, C. 1992.Thecamphorflame: popular Hinduism inIndia.Princeton: Univ.Press. D.N. 1986.Language, andterritory: andmodern. Gellner, caste, religion Newaridentity ancient Sociol. Europ.J. 27, 102-48. inthelight 1988. Priesthood andpossession: Newarreligion ofsome Weberian concepts. Pacf Viewp. 29, 119-43. in NewarBuddhism. In Pretrise, 1989.Monkhood andpriesthood pouvoirs etautoriti en EHESS (Purusartha 12: 119-43). Himalaya (eds) V. Bouillier & G. Toffin. Paris: ofwomen: theproblem ofNewaridentity. 1991.Hinduism, tribalism, andtheposition Man (N.S.) 26, 105-25. 1992.Monk,householder, and Tantric priest: NewarBuddhism and itshierarchy ofritual. Univ.Press. Cambridge: 1993.Portrait of a Tantric on research & U.S. Shrestha healer: a preliminary report In Nepal, in theKathmandu andpresent intoritual curing Valley. past (ed.) G. Toffin. Paris: CNRS. cults a re-examination oftheories L.L. 1987. ontheSwahili coast: Giles, Possession ofmarginality. Afrca 57,234-58. in rural andperformed Gold,A. Grodzins 1988.Spirit possession perceived Rajasthan. Contrib. Ind.Sociol. (N.S.) 22,35-63. to shamanic in the and thewitch:an analytic R. 1989.The shaman Greve, approach poetry In Shamanism, andpresent Himalayas. past (eds) M. Hoppal& 0. von Sadovsky. Budapest: Ethnographic Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Los Angeles/Fullerton: ofTrans-Oceanic International Research. Society in southIndia.SWest.J. Harper, E.B. 1957.Shamanism Anthrop. 13,267-87. ofhispower. In Thesocial andthesources andcultural Henry, E.O. 1981.A north Indianhealer inIndia(ed.) G.R. Gupta.Delhi:Vikas. context ofmedicine inthe Aris Warminster: Hitchcock, J.& R.L.Jones(eds) 1976.Spirit possession NepalHimalayas. & Phillips. in SouthAsia.In Theanthropology A. 1974.A noteon possession H6fer, ofNepal(ed.) C. von Aris& Phillips. Warminster: Fiurer-Haimendorf. of central 1973.Ghostexorcism & B.P. Shrestha amongtheBrahmans Nepal. Cent. Asiat. J. 17,51-77. in Tamangritual D. 1983.Shamanic femaleness structure. Holmberg, soundings: Signs 9(1): 40-58. andexchange London: inparadox: 1989.Order myth, ritual, among Nepal's Tamang. Ithaca, CornellUniv.Press.
DAVID N. GELLNER
47
Jackson, M. 1989.Paths towards a clearing: radical empiricism andethnographic enquiry. Bloomington: Indiana Univ.Press. R.L. 1976.Spirit andsociety inNepal.In Spirit Jones, possession inthe possession Nepal Himalayas Aris Warminster: (eds)J.Hitchcock & R.L.Jones. & Phillips. Newahkhagwahdhuku Joshi,S.M. (ed.) 1987.Bahcadhagu (A Concise Dictionary oftheNewar Language). Kathmandu: LacoulPublications. a psychological into India andits Kakar, S. 1982.Shamans, mystics anddoctors: inquiry healing traditions. Delhi: OUP. Kapferer, B. 1991 [1983].A celebration of demons: exorcism andthe aesthetics ofhealing inSriLanka. Oxford: Berg. andgrateful a Korean shaman's In Women Kendall, L. 1989.Old ghosts children: ashealers: story. London:Rutgers Univ.Press. cross-cultural perspectives (ed.) C.S. McClain.New Brunswick, inthe A. 1980.Patients andhealers context culture. Univ.ofCalifornia Press. Kleinman, of Berkeley: in Rajasthan: of illnessand Lambert, H. 1988. Medical knowledge popularconstructions therapeutic practice. Thesis, Univ.ofOxford. inRajasthani 1992. Thecultural logic ofIndian andetiology medicine: prognosis popular therapeutics. Soc.Sci.Med.34 (10): 1069-76. N.E. 1982. Belief inNyinba Levine, andexplanation women's witchcraft. Man(N.S.) 17,259-74. Hinduism andthe Levy, R. (withK.R. Rajopadhyaya) 1990.Mesocosm: organization ofa traditional Univ.ofCalifornia Press. Newar city inNepal.Berkeley: cults. Lewis, I.M. 1966.Spirit possession anddeprivation Man (N.S.) 1, 307-29. In Witchcraft to witchcraft andspirit-possession. 1970.A structural approach confessions andaccusations (ASAMonogr. 9) (ed.) M. Douglas.London:Tavistock. an anthropological and shamanism. 1971. Ecstatic religion: study of spirit possession Harmondsworth: Penguin. incontext: andcharisma. 1986.Religion cults Cambridge: Univ.Press. New York:Routledge. 1989.Ecstatic reltigion (second, revised edition). London, thecult in theValley Locke,J.K. 1980. Karunamaya: ofAvalokitesvara-Matsyendranath ofNepal. Kathmandu: Sahayogi. womenin healing roles.In Women as healers: McClain,C.S. 1989.Reinterpreting cross-cultural perspectives (ed.) C.S. McClain.New Brunswick, London:Rutgers Univ.Press. saints: ecstatic inBengal. McDaniel, J. 1988.Themadness ofthe religion Chicago, London:Univ.of ChicagoPress. A. 1976.Sorcery in theNepaleseCode of 1853.In Spirit in the Macdonald, possession Nepal Himalayas (eds)J.Hitchcock & R.L.Jones. Warminster: Aris& Phillips. Mahuzier,L. n.d. (?1974). Chez les magiciens et les sorciers de l'Himalaya.Belgium: self-published. T.L. 1986.Newari-English Manandhar, modern oftheKathmandu dictionary: language Valley. Delhi:Ecole Frangaise andAgamKalaPrakashan. d'Extreme-Orient intheHimalayas: aninvestigation Miller, C.J.1979.Faith-healers oftraditional healers andtheir festivals in Dolakhadistrict ofNepal.Kathmandu: Sahayogi (reprint 1987). S.R. 1989. Himalayan in Nepal. Mumford, dialogue:Tibetanlamasand Gurungshamans Madison:Univ.ofWisconsin Press. inKathmandu. Okada,F.E. 1976.Noteson twoshaman-curers Contrib. Nepal.Stud.3, 107-12. Peters, L. 1981.Ecstasy andhealing inNepal. Malibu:Undena. D. 1987.Ethnicity without theNewarsof Nepal. Europ. nationalism: Quigley, J. Sociol. 28, 152-70. B.P. 1986.Native healers Sharma, of Nepal(2ndedn).Kathmandu: self-published. R.M. (with M. Lediard) 1980. Faith healers: Kathmandu: UNFPA and Shrestha, aforcefor change. UNICEF. healer V. 1988.A comparative ofa Tantrik and a hospital clinicin Skultans, study out-patient theKathmandu Med.18,969-81. Valley. Pyschol. L. 1976.Concepts in a central ofillness andcuring Contrib. Stud. Stone, Nepalvillage. Nepal. 3, 55-80.
48
DAVID N. GELLNER
Thomas, N. 1988. Marginal powers: shamanism andthe disintegration ofhierarchy. Crit.Anthrop. 8 (3): 53-74. lesNewar duNepal.Paris:CNRS. Toffin, G. 1984.Socie'te' etreligion chez B. 1975.Magic andthe millennium. StAlbans: Paladin. Wilson, Frogmore,
mediums et sorciers:le contextedes cultes de Pretres,guerisseurs, possessiondans la vallee du Katmandou au Nepal

Resume'
des mediums et des cultesde possession Cet article, inspirepar les ecritsde Ioan Lewis, traite dans la vallee du Katmandou au Nepal. L'auteur defend l'approcheanalytiquede Lewis qui, mieux que d'autres,permetd'expliquerpourquoi certainespersonnes sont plus susceptibles d'etre poss6dees que d'autres.Alors qu'il seraitd6place d'attendrede la theoriede Lewis la culturelleslocales des resolutiondu probleme des originesspecifiqueset des significations du genreet du statut des m6diums,il n'en restepas moins que sa m6taphore representations correspond de pres aux modes de pensee dominants dans la vallee du centre/p6ripherie de la priseen compte des id6es autochtonessur Katmandou. L'auteur insistesur l'importance II ajoute enfinque la democratisation graduelledes moyens la pretrise, le genreet la sorcellerie. de legitimation religieusesurvenueau Katmandou au cours des dernieresann6es explique en grandepartiel'importanceaccrue du role des mediums dans cetteregion.
Brookes GipsyLane, Oxford Oxford Anthropology Unit,SchoolofSocialSciences, University, OX3 OPB
An annual medal foranthropological by Sir Henry research was instituted Wellcome in 1931, and was continued by the Wellcome TrustafterSir Henry'sdeath in 1936. The award lapsed in 1966 but was revivedin 1977 as a biennialmedal for'reas applied to search in anthropology medical problems'. The Bronze Medal and ?600 will be awarded fora recentbody of published workwhichmakes, as a whole. to the develcontribution a significant opmentof research in anthropology as applied to medical problems. Itwill be awarded by the Council of the Institute on the Royal Anthropological of a Medal Committee. nomination Persons may apply,or may be nomireferences nated. Bibliographic should be supplied. Submissions may be made in any language, but those in languages otherthan English must be accompanied by an adequate sum-
WELLCOME MEDAL FOR RESEARCH IN ANTHROPOLOGY AS APPLIED TO MEDICAL PROBLEMS 1994
maryin English.The Committeewill to all supporting give due attention submitted. documentation given to canPreferenceis normally didates at an early stage in their careers. No person may receive the Medal on more than one occasion.
Previous biennial awards: 1978: JohnJanzen and GilbertLewis Kleinman 1980: Arthur 1982: Alan Harwood 1984: Janice Reid 1986: Francis Zimmermann 1988: no award 1990: Zachary Gussow 1992: Paul Farmerand Roland Littlewood Full rules available on request. Apto be sent plicationsand nominations by 1 September 1994 to the Director's Secretary,Royal Anthropological Street,London Institute, 50 Fitzroy Wl P 5HS.

Priests, Healers, Mediums and Witches The Context of Possession in The Kathmandu Valley

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Priests, Healers, Mediums and Witches The Context of Possession in The Kathmandu Valley

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Priests, Healers, Mediums and Witches: The Context of Possession in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal Author(s): David N.

Brookes University/University ofOxford Oxford

Man (N.S.) 29,27-48

Healers andmediums: inmisfortune specialists

mediums et sorciers:le contextedes cultes de Pretres,guerisseurs, possessiondans la vallee du Katmandou au Nepal

Brookes GipsyLane, Oxford Oxford Anthropology Unit,SchoolofSocialSciences, University, OX3 OPB

WELLCOME MEDAL FOR RESEARCH IN ANTHROPOLOGY AS APPLIED TO MEDICAL PROBLEMS 1994

Вам также может понравиться