IN GENERAL. 



howls likf* the roaring of thunder. All this the demons are said to 

 do, in order to prevent the success of the charm: for if the virtues 

 of the charm were to be perfected by the Jeewama, the demons 

 would be spell-bound to act like slaves in effecting that, which the 

 charm is intended for. Hence their anxiety and efforts to frustrate 

 its success. These efforts, it is said, have generally been success- 

 ful, and many a story is related of men found lying dead on the 

 scene of a Jeewama, and of others, who lived raving maniacs for 

 the rest of their lives, or who died a few days after their attempt 

 to perform the ceremonies, from a delirious fever which no medicine 

 or demon ceremony could cure. 



Charms, it is said, do not retain their virtues beyond a certain 

 period; some retaining them only 50 years, while others retain 

 them 100, 300, 700, 900, 100!), 1900, 2700, or 3300 years. Those 

 few alone, of which Brahma himself was the au thor, retain their 

 efficacy for ever. Besides, the loss of a single letter which belongs 

 to a charm, or the addition of one which does not, or any other 

 alteration, though the smallest possible, is supposed to affect it 

 equally; in this latter case, however, there is said to be a certain 

 method of revising the charm and of restoring its original reading 

 by means of a certain magic table called Siddhi Chakhray. 



The principal works on the subject of charms are Narayena, 

 Mayrutantria, Mantra c hint a Mania, and Mantra Kakse, which 

 are all in Sanscrit. Less important works treatiug both of Demon 

 ceremonies and of charms in general, are 31 antra Mala Teeka, 

 Sanka pala Widia, Cola Widia, Bahirawa Widia, Bahirawa 

 Calpe, Cuhara Widia, Sagal Asna, Cumara Widia, and Asura 

 Widia, which are partly in Singhalese and partly in Sanscrit. 

 There are many Cattadiyas now living, who have more or less 

 studied these works, and are celebrated among their countrymen 

 for their professional attainments, among others Caduru Pokuna, 

 and Dandawe Ganitaya and Ratuwatte Cattadiya in the district 

 of .Suffragam. 



We have translated a few charms for the amusement of the 

 reader; and in doing so, we have selected those, w T hich would be 



