14 S. C. Das — Marriage Custom!? of Tibet. [No. 1, 



four against each other by the throw of the back and white balls on the 

 chart. The good and evil of life, and the wind-horse of the male's year 

 being calculated, are set against those obtained from the female's year. 

 Again the body and power of the female's year are set against those 

 calculated from the male's year. If in the throw of the globules the 

 white ones turn up in favour of the parties to be married, good luck is 

 prognosticated, and the thun-tsi is ascertained. 



If the good and evil of the life of the male harmonize in the 

 calculation with those of the life of the female, longevity is counted 

 upon. If not, the happiness of the couple will be short-lived. 



If in the calculation the accidents to the body of the male agree 

 with those of the female, the astrologer declares that the marriage will 

 be happy in respect of issue. Want of harmony in the persons of the 

 parties indicates barrenness. 



If the ivang-thang (power) of the male corresponds with that of the 

 female, the astrologer declares that the parties will be prosperous in 

 reference to wealth. Want of harmony in wang-thang in the parties 

 indicates poverty and waste of wealth. 



If the wind-horse (fortune) of the male agrees with that of the 

 female, the marriage is predicted to be a very happy one, as love and 

 concord are sure to attend them, and to be the guiding principles of 

 their life. If the loind-horse of the one run counter to that of the other, 

 the marriage is pronounced to be unlucky and unhappy, as the parties 

 would then constantly fall out. 



When parties are anxious to be married in spite of adverse astro- 

 logical results standing against the union, the astrologer ascertains 

 how many of the circumstances are favourable to the parties, and 

 how many against them. If they agree in three-fourths of the circum- 

 stances, religious observances are necessary to avert the dangers con- 

 sequent on the disagreement in the remaining one-fourth ; but when at 

 least one-half of the circumstances stand against the parties, no reli- 

 gious observance is supposed to be of sufficient efficacy to avert the 

 dangers of an inauspicious union. The proposal is then dropped, and 

 another maiden is sought. 



The Tibetans use different kinds of astrological charts and calculations 

 which are based on Indian and Chinese methods. The astrologer failing 

 one kind of calculation tries another. When astrology fails, divination, 

 by deciphering the mystic marks on the back of the fabulous golden 

 tortoise is resorted to. In this manner the astrologer of Tibet makes a 

 busy trade of his craft, the like of which is seldom seen either in India 

 or China. Among the priestly crafts of Tibet none is considered so 

 lucrative as that of the astrologer. 



