86 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 175 



warned me not to talk that way : "He is a shaman. He might bewitch you, so 

 that you will fall in love with him." 



Comment 



Tentative diagnosis. — M. A. I. Nettle, M. D., stated that this woman was 

 either a hypochondriac, or else had a toxic psychosis caused by some kind of 

 gall-bladder condition. She was never properly diagnosed, because she left the 

 hospital before all diagnostic tests were completed. 



It is not easy to decide why the interpreter felt impelled to interrupt the in- 

 formant at a certain point of his narrative. The most plausible explanation 

 is that she told this story in order to show that she, herself, had once incurred 

 the risk of being subjected to love magic. This explanation is, of course, based 

 upon the assumption that the conscious climax of the story is the threat that 

 she, too, may be betwitched by a shaman. It is, however, also possible to suggest 

 that the real, though unconscious, climax of the story is the cousin's illness. 

 If that is so, then Hama : Utce : 's story, especially when viewed against the 

 background of that portion of Hivsu : Tupo : ma's statement which immediately 

 preceded her interruption, seems to hint at the existence of a latent belief 

 that a woman's constant association with her shamanistic husband may affect 

 her adversely, exactly the way close association with aliens may cause a 

 Mohave to contract the ahwe : hahnok or ahwe : nyevedhi : ailments (pt. 4, 

 pp. 128-150). This, partly speculative, inference is indirectly supported by two 

 facts: On the one hand, the man in question, though reputed to be a shaman, 

 never admitted publicly that he possessed shamanistic powers and did not use 

 these alleged powers openly, although, according to Mohave belief, such self- 

 restraint would predispose him to attacks of insanity and to complex psy- 

 chosomatic illnesses (pt. 2, pp. 57-71). On the other hand, the Mohave believe 

 that witches are especially prone to start their career of evildoing by first 

 bewitching members of their own families, since, except for a fee (Devereux, 

 1948 h), shamans usually bewitch only those whom they both love and hate 

 (Devereux, 1937 c). 



The illness just described was, as we saw, thought to be a result of magical 

 courtship, which seems to create a state of mind sometimes designated by the 

 technical term "sexual thralldom," or, more colloquially, by the expression 

 "being madly and helplessly in love." The fact that the case history suggests 

 an altogether different kind of diagnosis even in terms of Mohave thought — 

 i. e., the possibility that a shaman's wife may be adversely affected by his 

 power — simply shows the diflSculties and confusions that may arise in the 

 study of unsystematic "primitive science." Be that as it may, the fact that 

 the Mohave consider excessive emotional involvements a form of madness, 

 fully accords with their reaction to the stories of Tristan and Isolde and of 

 Romeo and Juliet. The audience seemed disgusted by these extreme manifesta- 

 tions of love, and Hama : Utce : remarked : "If a Mohave were running around 

 in the bushes acting that way, someone might knock him on the head." Indeed, 

 the Mohave are more inclined to be genuinely and lastingly fond of many people, 

 than to "go overboard" for a single person, be he lover, husband, relative, or 

 friend. This relatively homogeneous diffusion of the libido over a number 

 of persons appears to be a general characteristic of many primitive groups 

 (Devereux, 1939 a, 1942 d). 



The warning issued to Hama : Utce : that, as a result of her challenging 

 remarks, she could become the object of an irresistible magical courtship, may 



