BLACK ABT IN MALAY MEDICINE 88 



out of the sick man's body by the pSnggawa spirit or, as 

 the case may be, if the diseaae has been cast out ; and 

 the pStiri repHes in the affirmative. The jin, if it be a 

 jm, that has been causing all tliis trouble is now supposed 

 to be in the body of the hoimr peteriy who is again made 

 to shake his head as described above until he falls into 

 a fresh trance. He now has to cast the jin out of his 

 own body by the aid of the pStiggawa or helping spirit, 

 Wlxen the pMiri can assure the To' Mitidok that all the 

 spirits have left him, the To* Mindok says that the 

 performance may stop for the present, and the To' 

 Bomor PStiri is himself again. 



The To' Mhidok is the right-hand man of the To' 

 Bovwr Pet^, and if any hitch should occur in choosing 

 the correct p^ggawa or lielping spirit the hotmr might 

 have to go on shaking his head indefinitely ! At an all- 

 night performance that I w^itnessed at Kampong Kota 

 in 1918 a Malay woman officiated as the To' Bomor 

 PStirL Gravity and decorum prevailed tln^oughout on 

 that occasion ; but occasionally the male bomor calls 

 up either Peteri Mayang Mas (the prmcess of the golden 

 palm blossom) or any of the other female control 

 spirits* He then impersonates a woman in his gait, and 

 by arranging his dress to suit the part, etc., is said to 

 cause amusement to the spectators. 



Sometimes when the botnor piteri is dealing with evil 

 spirits an extra turn, as it were, is given in the per- 

 formance of main peUri ; he may mform the To' 

 Mindok that the mi.schief is not the work of one jin, and 

 say of his own accord that Nemk Jin Hitam (the grand- 

 father of all the black jin) must be called up to give an 

 explanation. This being decided, the To' Mifidok sings 

 and fiddles, the band plays, the bonwr shakes his head, 

 and again goes into a trance. Now, for the time being, 

 the pStiri is Nenek Jin Hitam, and as be can represent 



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