The ends of peacock feathers are pounded and smoked in a chilum (clay pipe) by the patient.[68]
A moharo (stone found in the head of a snake supposed to be a cure for snake poison) is applied to the wound caused by the bite. It absorbs the poison, and on being dipped into milk, transfers the poison to the milk.
Thus it can be used any number of times.[69]
There is a Girāsia in Lakhtar who is believed to cure patients suffering from snake poison. As soon as a person is bitten by a snake, one of the garments worn by him is taken to the Girāsia, who ties it into a knot and this cures the patient.[70]
There is a Bāva in Rajpāra, a village near Anandpur. He and all the members of his family are reputed to be able to cure snake-bites. When a person is bitten by a snake, he or a friend goes to the Bāvā’s house and informs him or any member of his family of the occurrence. The Bāva or the person who receives the intimation folds into a knot a garment of the informant, which he afterwards unfolds. As soon as this is done, the patient is in great pain, loses his senses, is seized with convulsions and tells why the snake bit him. Thereupon the relatives of the patient implore the pardon of the snake, which is granted on condition that the patient should give alms to the poor.[71]
In some places, Bhagats or devotees of Mātāji are invited to dinner along with a number of exorcists, who are generally Rabāris. After they have assembled at the house of the patient, they start out in a procession headed by one who holds in his hand a bunch of peacock feathers, to bathe in a river. On their way to and back from the river they sing songs in praise of the goddess to the accompaniment of drums and other musical instruments. After their return from the river, the whole party are treated to a feast, which is supposed to cure the patient of the effects of the snake-bite.[72]
Some people believe that snakes, like evil spirits, can enter the bodies of human beings. Such persons, when possessed, are supposed to have the power of curing snake-bites.[73]
Every village has an exorcist who is a specialist in curing the effects of snake-bites. When a person is bitten by a snake the exorcist is at once sent for. He gives the patient Nim leaves and pepper to chew, to determine the extent of the effect of the bite. Next he asks one of those present to bathe and bring water in an unused earthen jar. He then recites incantations, and sprinkles water from the jar over the body of the patient. If this does not counteract the effects of the poison, he throws red-hot pieces of charcoal at the patient, when the snake speaks through the patient and states that he bit the patient because he committed a certain offence, and that he will leave him if certain offerings are made. After he has ceased speaking, the patient begins to shake and to crawl about like a snake, and is then cured. If the man be doomed to death, the snake would say, “I have bitten him by the order of the god of death, and I will not leave him without taking his life.”[74]
Sometimes the exorcist fans the patient with branches of the Nim tree, reciting mantras, and thereupon the patient becomes possessed by the snake and declares the cause of his offence.
Some exorcists present a magic epistle or charm asking the snake that bit the patient to be present. The snake obeys the call, and appears before the exorcist. The latter then asks the snake to suck the poison from the wound of the patient, which is done by the snake, and the patient is then cured.[75]