CH. X MYTHOLOGY OF THE MINAHAS8EBS 259 



gible even to the direct descendants of those who originally 

 spoke it. Now, we find it mentioned that amongst many of 

 the Malay races the language used by the Shamans or 

 mediums is quite uninteUigible to their audiences. We find 

 this to be the case amongst the Bataks, the Olo-Ngadjus, 

 the Bugiaese, and the Malays of Malaka (92) . Amongst the 

 Minahassers I was told by several authorities that the lan- 

 guage used by the wahans was frequently not completely 

 understood by the people, owing to the use of many words 

 which are now no longer spoken. 



This is quite consistent with the view that the utter- 

 ances of the priest, when supposed to be possessed of the god- 

 spirit, are merely repetitions of phrases used by the older 

 priests, and in no way, either consciously or unconsciously, 

 the real thoughts or opinions of the man who utters them. 

 The wild and senseless antics of the Shaman during the 

 utterances have frequently been compared to the tricks of a 

 limatic. How is it that such grotesque performances should 

 be regarded as a part of a solemn religious ceremony ? 

 The reason for this can only be discovered by a comparative 

 study of the various forms of Shamanism found throughout 

 the world, and this leads us to beheve that the antics of 

 the waHan are really derived from the antics of real 

 lunatics. Among the ancient Egyptians, many Arab 

 tribes, the ancient Greeks and Eussians, and many savage 

 races of the present day (92) , lunatics and idiots are held in 

 high honour, as being specially favoured by the gods ; and 

 those who suffer from the many forms of hysteria and 

 epilepsy are believed to possess the gift of prophecy. We 

 can readily understand, then, why it is that the Shamans, 

 when they wish to be possessed of the spirit of the god, 

 work themselves up into a hypnotic state resembling 

 epilepsy or the different phases of lunacy. It may be 

 going too far to say that the office of the priest was origin- 



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