Page 210 - Malay sketches

MALAY SKETCHES

how the exorcist seeks by a judicious blending of
tradition with his latter-day Faith to get the better
of the tormentor.
A very widespread superstition is that certain
have familiar the
persons spirits who will, at
instance of their owners, enter into and plague any
one whom it may be desired to injure. These evil
are known as
spirits Bdjang, Polong, Pflsit, and
Langsuior, the last being a female spirit, T*hey are
either inherited or acquired by the practice of witch-
and the in which their is
craft, way possession
brought home to any member of the community is
"
as little reasonable as the proof" of the exercise
of similar powers in the Western witch not so many
centuries ago.
Some one in a village falls ill of a complaint, the
symptoms of which are unusual; there may be
convulsions, unconsciousness, or delirium, possibly
for some days together or with intervals between
the attacks. The relatives will call in a native
doctor, and at her (she is usually an ancient female)
suggestion, or without it, an impression will arise
that the patient is the victim of a bdjang. Such an
impression quickly develops into certainty and any
trifle will suggest the owner of the evil spirit. One
method of verifying this suspicion is to wait till the
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