DEATH AND THE DEVIL.

Dozerdust, Volume 1, Issue 24, 27 November 1943, Page 5

DEATH AND THE DEVIL.

IK his book,” A Doctor In Paradiso ’• Dr. Sa IL Lambert devotes a chapter to primitive witchcraft, a subject vhich hie experience aa a medical gracticioner in the Sbuth Seas brough him in close contact* :$• THS witch doctor, he points out must not be pushed aside as a buffoon or treated as an ogno ramus;: of the native background he is a Vital part. The practices Of the witch doctor, his place in the native community and his influence is interwoven with the pattern of the daily life of the natives to a greater degree than Christianity is dn our social order*. In thus past sorcery was tho prerogative of the chief; a hereditary right that carried clearly defined privileges. His job was” to sustain all those subtle influences that go to form ths social cement that marks the difference between a community and a horde of men? || DURING the years ho worked among the natives in the Pacific, states Dr. Lambert, ho was received not as a medical practitioner, but as a “ novel sort of witch doctor who had come among them with a stronger magic tian the old " Vitim D Company, makers of DUI®A . DINAHITB has gone out of production for the duration as a result of an explosion. tails-security* POST forms of witchcraft follow the same design and is illustrated by the most, potent form of tho \ old magic which is wo 11 known in Fiji and which is known as Ndrau-ni-kau, meaning ” magic leaves tt . ‘ Tho professional making of this is as complicated a process as that used by the demonologists of medieval Europe which space doss i .not permit us to describe. Briefly,, the process consists of obtaining pieces of hair, paring of toe nails, parts of clothing, or faeces from the victimb person. These arc mixed with leaves to the accompaniment of elaborate ritual and finally enclosed in a strip of bamboo* A’’curse “ is then put on the victim. There are at least seven ways of " cursing H the one you designate for the dose.:: OKS method is to obtain the leabes of a plant,Uthi, which grows among graves in the' ccmetry. The potency is wrapped in the leaves and roasted on hit stones. The witch doctor calls out that the ” curse M is being applied and that the victim must die; out

of the smoking loaves the voice of the victim cries aloud* The ndraunikau is buried and the victom will die in four days 0 This is known as Tava Vatu and ranks high*::: Another variat** ion is is Kena Balavu; on this occasion you heat the - or rather the vi toh doctor does « the mixture and the victim becomes ill, and recovers as the heat cools* A Solomon Island variation consists of dipping your finger in the magi concoction and touching the object of your wrath.: That does the trick. The high class medicine man has only to paint in the direction of the victim to achieve the effect deal rod, ; : : OUR reaction to witchcraft is to,, lock upon it as a hocus, poouu‘of J knavery and play upon native , fears; so accustomed are we to a slightly mere scientific attidue disease which implies that every disease has a rational cause which • If. traced to its cause »• can bo remedied. There are , however, witch doctors in our ” advanced."/communities; the popularity of astrology, numerology, fortune tolling and the Aspr® Book arc all forms of slick witchcraft, And the absurd extent to which people swallow vitamin jfrijbls to rejuvenatsex activity, youthful vitality, pep and. punch is but another indication that nostrums as crude as the rubbish of the native medicine man are the privilege of the chosen® The importance of the witch doctor to us is that may ba used as a guage t to guide us when we have to help administer native life.

niiniiitit ii ii ii it» ii it it A newcomer to the Bldg Section A® Plumber C.McKenzie**®*’ happy plumbing C.J. THIS IS NOT A HOMI3 ISSUE.