XVI MAGIC, SPELLS, AND CHARMS 135 



men carrying spears. When the god arrives, seven people 

 carry the umbrella over his head. If everything is not 

 perfectly satisfactory in his judgment, he demands through 

 the medicine woman whose body he has occupied some 

 expensive gift, and if this is refused she may fall in a dead 

 faint. Rice is thrown on her and she is fanned with the 

 pinang blossoms, but the women who attend to her only 

 share her fate and also become senseless. Eventually they 

 recover, but there is now but little hope for the patient, 

 for Gemilang is angry. In a despairing mood the bayok 

 women then seek help from lesser powers. 



Needless to say, the women bear out their part of the 

 pantomime with great skill, becoming "possessed" at the 

 proper time, snatching at the sick person's head as though 

 to catch the evil spirit, and so forth. It is probable that 

 in some cases the ceremony works a cure by suggestion. 

 In any case the villagers have not too many occasions for 

 social gatherings and feasts, and since those who hold 

 bayohs must offer a good deal of hospitality to their neigh« 

 hours, such meetings in a village are exceedingly popular 

 with all except those who wish to go to sleep. 



VOL. II 



