He has put on an imitation tiger’s tail as a joke.
Every ratsen possesses a “familiar” (sonyo), which is usually a leopard,[47] but occasionally a snake. The Lhotas are perfectly familiar with the “leopard men” who are found among the Semas, and clearly distinguish them from their own ratsen. They say that the soul of the Sema “leopard man” actually enters his leopard, while the ratsen [[165]]is merely very intimately connected with his sonyo, which is an ordinary leopard indistinguishable in form from other leopards. If, however, the sonyo of a ratsen is killed the ratsen will sicken and perhaps die unless he can get another. As the powers of the ratsen grow so his sonyo increases in size, until in time it may even become unmanageable. This happened to a ratsen from Akuk called Mungchemo. His leopard became so big and fierce that he begged the villagers to kill it. They ringed it, but Mungchemo, who was helping, shouted in his excitement and so gave the leopard sufficient warning for it to escape. This failure to get rid of his sonyo so weighed on his mind that he eventually committed suicide. Ordinarily, however, the sonyo is believed to be under such excellent control that its owner can call it up from the jungle at will. This he rarely does, however, for if another man sees his sonyo the ratsen becomes ill. There are numerous stories, however, of leopards having been seen actually in ratsens’ houses. Naturally a ratsen ordinarily objects strongly to his sonyo being killed, for it may entail his own death. The result is that several villages have told their ratsen that since he cannot stop his leopard killing their pigs they cannot allow him to be present when they ring the leopard, for at leopard hunts the ratsen is supposed to warn the quarry either by shouting to it or spitting on bits of worm-cast and throwing them towards it. In some places if a ratsen’s leopard is hunted and killed he lays a cloth over the body as a mark of respect. The fits from which a ratsen suffers are believed to be in some way connected with his sonyo. They usually occur at the dark of the moon, at which time he has most influence over his leopard, and when he falls in a fit the soul of the leopard is believed to walk over his body. The soul is of course invisible, but visible tracks are supposed occasionally to be left on the ratsen’s chest.
In addition to the ordinary food taboos a ratsen is forbidden to eat bamboo rats, frogs, or king-crows. They are supposed to be able to foretell the future by gazing into “madhu,” or water held in a leaf, but their chief occupation in life is to “extract” foreign bodies from the persons [[166]]of sick people. This is always done inside a house where the bad light makes sleight of hand easy. The patient is rubbed with a leaf, usually a wild lemon leaf, upon which the ratsen repeatedly spits. Finally he will show the patient a small pebble or a bit of leaf or hair, which he says was causing all the trouble by lodging in the body. In cases of laboured breathing the ratsen says that there is a hole in the lungs. He then by sleight of hand makes a leaf seem to disappear into the patient’s chest, and after a few minutes extracts it and announces that the hole is now stopped up. Coughs are usually cured by pretending to extract a lump of hair from the throat. Usually the foreign body which is extracted is simply thrown away anywhere, but in cases of rheumatism, which is regarded as in some way especially connected with lightning, the ratsen “extracts” bits of wood from the patient’s joints and throws them away near a tree which has been struck by lightning. Into the trunk of the tree he sticks a piece of iron, which he leaves there, and throws down one or two eggs as an offering. Often the ratsen will say that the illness is due not to the presence of a foreign body, but to the capture of the patient’s soul by an evil spirit. He will then announce the whereabouts of the evil spirit in question, and the appropriate ceremonies must be performed. These have been described under the section on private ceremonies.
Luck-stones. The Lhota believes that certain stones called oha bring good fortune. They are smooth, water-worn stones, varying in size from that of a man’s head to that of a walnut, and are kept either under the mingetung, or at the foot of the carved post of the “morung,” or by individuals in their houses or granaries. Ratsen, however, as has been mentioned above, are believed to have the peculiar habit of keeping their oha inside their heads. Those kept under the mingetung are usually large, and on them the luck of the whole village depends. Those kept in the “morung” affect the prosperity of the section of the village to which they belong. Stones of these two classes have been handed down from generation to generation and are never added [[167]]to nowadays, though they are believed occasionally to increase spontaneously. But individuals still from time to time find small oha in the jungle and bring them home to keep as private luck-stones. The distinguishing mark of an oha is that it should be round and smooth, and be found resting on the ground in a little nest it has made for itself.[48] Anyone finding such a stone brings it home, and then notices whether his family increases quickly, or he has good crops, or is particularly successful in trade. He thus finds out what particular form of good luck is attached to the stone in question. Bad oha are not unknown. One kind called ekyulung (“coughing-stones”) causes the owner to fall ill. Yet to throw them away would mean certain death. The possessor of an oha which brings luck in trade keeps it with his money. Similarly a rice oha is kept in the granary. A famous oha is the Phi-tsong-lung (“drying-increasing-stone”), which is in the possession of a member of the Othui clan at Pangti. It is said to be a portion of the famous stone at Kezakenoma,[49] called by the Lhotas Ketsarhontsü, which miraculously increased rice dried on it, and was broken off by Rangti, grandson of Longchentang, who according to one tradition came out of the earth and founded the Mipongsandri phratry. This was before the Angamis, Semas, Rengmas and Lhotas split up and became separate tribes. Formerly the Othui clan used to provide one of the Puthis at Pangti, and the Puthi of the Othui clan always used the Phi-tsong-lung as a pounder for husking the rice at the ceremony of eating the first-fruits (mshe etak). There are only a few broken fragments of the stone left now, which are kept with other oha in the possessor’s granary. Oha are treated with great respect. The ceremony connected with them at the Oyantsoa “genna” has already been described. Before [[168]]doing the Liritang ceremony at the beginning of harvest a man must make a small offering of meat to his oha.[50] At the time of the Pikuchak “genna,” too, all possessors of rice oha must inspect them, taking care to wash their hands both before and after. It is curious that the reason given why the Nyimshamo kindred of the Othui clan in Yekhum cannot set up stones after doing the mithan sacrifice, is that they have never been allowed to touch the village oha, when they had to be carried on migration, or indeed to have had anything to do with oha. What the connection is, however, between the two kinds of stone is not precisely stated.
Charms. Love potions are commonest in the villages near the plains. I remember a youthful widow of Sanis who was so indiscreet as to get engaged to two men in two different villages at the same time. When the tangle was brought to me to unravel she said she really had only meant to get engaged to one, but the other one had rubbed a love charm on her neck—at least she thought that was what he must have done, though she had not actually noticed him do so.
Certain old women are supposed to possess the knowledge of these charms, which is handed down from mother to daughter. One Amhono of Pyangsa is said to retail a root called loha, which has to be ground up and given to the shy loved one with cooked fish.[51] If the suit is hopeless the recipient of the root removes all doubt by being sick on the spot. My informant had never seen the root; he had only heard of it. Another charm is a feather of a bird called tsentsü—probably mythical, at least I could never find out what it was. If a man can once touch a woman’s hand with this she is his for life.
Witchcraft, in the evil sense of the word, was probably never common among the Lhotas, though the practice used to exist of making a straw image of an enemy in another village, and after addressing it by name spearing it. This, however, could never be done by one Lhota to another. [[169]]It is believed to be possible, too, to bewitch a man by calling a stone or bit of wood by his name and cursing it. This belief in the power given by knowledge of a man’s name is of course world-wide, and among the Lhotas gives rise to the custom of giving a false name at birth in order that the lurking evil spirits may go away thinking they have the real name. Besides their ordinary name most, if not all, Lhotas have a private name which is never revealed to any but relations or intimate friends. If two men bear the same name they regard themselves as bound together by a particularly close tie and address each other as akam. Similarly Lhotas are particular that no enemy should get hold of bits of their hair or clippings from their finger or toe nails. While the Naga Labour Corps were on their way back from France some Lhotas planned to offer to cut some Semas’ hair for them, and do “genna” with the clippings when they got home.[52] The plan was only just vetoed in time by one of their own headmen. The commonest charm against evil spirits is a kind of wild mint called rarakham (Ocimum basilicum).[53] At all “gennas,” or when going to a place supposed to be haunted by evil spirits, a Lhota wears a sprig in the lobe of his ear and rubs some in his hair. A small onion (sandhra) or a cowrie carried on the person is also considered to be effective.
Apparently the only charm used to make crops grow is a piece of rhinoceros (molung) bone hidden near the field.[54] It must be many, many years since any Lhota has killed one of these animals, but I am assured that pieces of bone are still carefully treasured, though they are never shown to strangers.
Ghosts. Ghost stories abound. The following one, which was told me by a man from Rephyim, is typical: “One day I [[170]]was coming up from the fields with others when I saw my elder brother’s wife coming down to meet us. We called out to her, but she did not answer, only coughed and spat and turned aside into the jungle. When I got up to the village I found she had died in her husband’s house while we were down at the fields.” Another one, also from Rephyim, runs as follows: “When my brother and I were children we met our uncle on our way up from the fields, but when he got near us he disappeared up into the sky and threw down a big stick and a stone. The stick just missed us, but the stone fell into my brother’s basket.” A very common story is that of hearing someone cutting jungle near the path, and on going there finding nothing. It is very unlucky to be touched by a ghost (omon). A man called Mhomo is said to have been caught by the leg by a ghost and died as a result. If the sound of cutting is heard from a bamboo clump, and it is found that there is no one there, the owner of the bamboos will die in the course of the year. To hear at night the sound of someone stamping down the earth on a grave means that there will be a death in the village shortly. The only ghostly animal I have heard of is a serow said to exist near Okotso. One man’s gun is said to have missed fire ten times while the animal stood and looked at him, while another man threw his spear clean through it, and instead of killing the serow was ill himself for a year.[55]