Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 57 



sequelae is completed by the symmetrical belief that the nonactuali- 

 zation of aggressivity or power results in a damming up of magical 

 energy, which causes the self-inhibiting person to become insane. A 

 related form of illness, caused by the damming up of the sexual im- 

 pulse is the atcoo : r hanyienk convulsive seizure, which the Mohave 

 themselves seem to consider as an orgasm-equivalent, or at least 

 as an orgasm-substitute. Due to the fact that in this illness it is 

 the sexual urge which is dammed up, this condition will be discussed 

 in the chapter devoted to disorders of the sexual impulse (pt. 2, 

 pp. 72-76). 



The two psychopathological conditions that properly belong under 

 the present heading are caused by (a) inhibited jealousy (hi : wa itck) , 

 and (h) by the inliibition of shamanistic powers that, even in 

 their therapeutic manifestations, are essentially defensive reaction 

 formations against aggressive impulses. However, since the Mohave 

 view hi : wa itck as a mood disturbance, it will be discussed in connec- 

 tion with certain other disturbances of mood which the Mohave also 

 connect with the heart (pt. 3). Nonetheless, in order to conform to 

 the outline given in the introductory section of this chapter, hi : wa 

 itck, too, will be characterized here, at least in a few sentences. 



Hi:WAITCK (heaetbbeak) 



Older men, who are deserted by yoimg wives for other men, are 

 prevented by social regulations from seeking to win them back or 

 to fight with their rivals. Hence, they develop a transitory agitated 

 depression, presumably caused by the inhibition of their jealous 

 vengefulness. This illness is described in detail in part 3, pages 91- 

 106. 



PSYCHOSES KESXJLTINQ FROM THE INHIBITION OF MAGICAL POWERS 



The Mohave define shamanistic and other magical power as an 

 impersonal, self-actuating, and ethically neutral energy, which can 

 manifest itself in two radically different ways : 



(a) Controlled by its owner, power can be directed at a given 

 object with either good or evil intent. Indeed, strictly speaking, a 

 shaman does not obtain the power to cure a given illness ; he simply 

 acquires an ethically neutral power over a given illness, so that he 

 can both cause and cure it.^^ 



(6) Acting on its own, power is inherently dangerous. Its harm- 

 ful effects on the unauthorized dabbler ("apprentice sorcerer") with 

 the supernatural manifest themselves almost immediately, while in 

 the case of a legitimate shaman and of the owner of lucky charms 



*' A radiologist Is, likewise, free to decide whether he will cause or cure certain neo- 

 plastic growths in experimental animals. 



