A belief is current that change of sex can be effected by the performance of the Shatchandi or the prayoga of Rudra, Bahucharāji, Āshāpuri and Mahākāli.[50]
It is also believed that change of sex can also be effected by the spell of magic.[51]
There is a further belief that Yogis by their incantations, and Mahātmās by their blessings or curses, can effect a change of sex.[52]
The following things are considered efficacious in protecting oneself against evil spirits:—
(1) A sword, (2) iron,[53] (3) a woollen blanket, (4) fire, (5) a coin in the funeral pyre, (6) a nail of a tiger, (7) a blue thread, (8) the red lead offered to the god Hanumān, (9) a lime consecrated with incantations, (10) five kinds of cotton thread worn round the elbow,[54] (11) blood, (12) corn, (13) frankincense, (14) salt, (15) water, (16) leather, (17) an amulet of iron procured from a well polluted by the death of some one in its water,[55] (18) a garland, the beads of which are made of the wood of the Ekal ber (Zizyphus jujuba), (19) the sacred thread worn by Brāhmans,[56] (20) iron nails extracted from a wheel of a cart used for carrying fuel for cremation,[57] (21) human blood,[58] (22) a costly jewel.
Amulets are generally used as a precaution against the attack of evil spirits or the influence of an evil eye. They are also used to cure diseases. They are made of iron, copper, tin, gold, silver, alloys of precious metals, or leather.
Chithis or pieces of paper on which mystic signs are drawn are put into the amulets and are tied to the forearm with black woollen or silk thread.[59]
In some places, frankincense of gugal (Canarium strictum) or lobān (olibanum) is offered to the amulets before they are worn.[60]
Amulets are also made of tād-patras (palm-leaves). They are tied round the arm with an indigo-coloured cloth.[61]
Dorās or threads are also worn with the same object as amulets. They are generally made of five kinds of silk thread, black wool, or red or black cotton thread. The length of the dora must be eight feet, one and a quarter of a cubit or a man’s height. They must have three folds and must be twisted seven or twenty-one times. After they are twisted, they are knotted seven, fourteen or twenty-one times, when they become ready for use. An offering of frankincense made of gugal or of lobān is made to a dora before it is worn.[62]