SPELLS AND SOOTHSAYING 108 



be infallible, for if he predicts contrary to the event, 

 it is said that he is sometimes punished with death for 

 his want of skill,*' 



A simpler method obtained in Perak : *' Take a deep 

 breath, and expel the breath through the nostrils. If 

 the current by the right nostril is the stronger, success is 

 certain." This Perak device is parallel to a method 

 of divhiation which forms the most interesting part 

 of Nik Ismail's book. It, again, is attributable to 

 the crude pantheism common among the Malays of 

 the Archipelago, especially in the sixteenth century. 

 Briefly the idea is this : Certain celestial powers dwell 

 in every human body, viz., Muhammad the Prophet, 

 with his favourite daughter Fatimah and his son-m-law 

 Ali, his followers Abubakar, Omar and Osman, and the 

 four Archangels Gabriel, Michael, Azrael and Azraiil 

 (see pp. 81 , 82) . Each has his or her seat in the body and 

 egress to the outer world through the nostrils. To call 

 up one or other of them the soothsayer draws m breath 

 thi'ough his nose and expels it in the* same way ; the 

 answer comes as the breath leaves his nostrils. It is, 

 of course, quite easy to feel whether the main current 

 of air follows one nostril or the other ; but it requires an 

 expert to say whether it clings to the outer or imier side 

 of the nostril. After the soothsayer has leamt the exact 

 location of the issuing spirit, he has fui-ther to distin- 

 guish the manner of its going — for example, whether 

 it goes out ** hke a needle " or hke a strmg of beads." 

 It follows, naturally, that only a few people can be 

 endowed with such power ! 



The manuscript then goes on to explain the portent 

 of certain signs given by the answering spirit. At fii-st 

 sight the information to be obtained seems quite 

 innocent; but much might be turned to bad ends. If 

 your fi'iend is out fishing, and you want to know before 



