82 PRIMITIVE PATERNITY 



tree. It is believed that after such a ceremony the 

 well runs dry and the tree withers. 1 In other words, 

 the woman has succeeded in obtaining a transfer of 

 their life. In the Panjab there is still another way of 

 obtaining issue. On the night of the feast of Diwali 

 always a night in the moonless half of the month the 

 husband draws water at seven different wells in an 

 earthen pot, and places in the water leaves plucked 

 from seven trees. He brings the pot to his wife at a 

 spot where four cross-roads meet. She must bathe 

 herself with the water unseen by anybody, and then 

 put on new clothes, discarding her old ones. 2 Or else 

 the woman perfectly nude covers a space in the middle 

 of the crossway, and there lays leaves from the five 

 royal trees, the Ficus religiosa, Ficus indica, Acacia 

 speciosa, mango and Butea frondosa. On these she 

 places a black head representing the god Rama, 

 and sitting on it she washes her entire body with 

 water drawn in five pitchers from five wells, one situate 

 in each quarter of the town or village and one outside it 

 to the north-east. She pours the water from the 

 pitchers into a vessel whose bottom is pierced by a 

 hole whence the contents may flow over her body. 

 The ceremony must be accomplished in absolute 

 solitude, and all the utensils must be left on the spot. 3 

 Among the ancient Greeks and Latins various 



1 Ind. Cens. 1901, xvii. 164. 



2 Pan/. N. and Q. ii. 166 (par. 886). 



3 Ibid. iv. 88 (par. 346). " For the same reason," says 

 Mr. Crooke, " after childbirth the mother is taken to worship the 

 village well." He describes the ceremony, and adds others (F. L. N. 

 Ind. i. 51). "Bathing when standing or sitting on a dead male 

 buffalo's head " is also stated to be a method of obtaining children 

 (Panj. N. and Q. i. TOO, par. 770). Does this explain the " black 

 head " mentioned above ? 



