Cakra-s as known outside of India (viz., in China, in Peru`, and in Melanesia ) -- quoted with weblink references

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Energy http://ezinearticles.com/?Energy---What-is-Human-Energy-Field-and-What-is-Universal-Energy?&id=1322267

subtle bodies corresponding to the cakra-s

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Inca Shamanism http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-162234809/inca-shamanism-and-energy.html [based on Alberto Villoldo of Sacred Mysteries http://www.sacredmysteries.com]

“Shamans in the Americas recognize nine chakras: seven in the body, one in the energy field (the soul connected to the personal experience of God), and one in the center of the universe, which is linked to Spirit. Chakras are the organs of the luminous energy field. They are funnel-shaped vortexes of energy that extend two-three inches from the body. The narrow end {of each} connects to the spinal cord.”

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http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-17109012/shamanism-sorcery-and-cannibalism.html

(New Guinean highlands shamanism)

(initiation of one candidate ) “During the night I was first visited by a man who was 'bon nating' [usually means thin but in this context it means skeleton], who did not have any skin or flesh. This was meant as my first test to see if I was afraid. I just lay on the bed, as if I were asleep. The second test was a python, which also came while I was lying on the bed. The python smelt my leg and then started to slither onto my body. It felt very cold. Although I was quite afraid I did not call out and kept my fear concealed. As the snake continued to move on my body, I very nearly called out in fright as it slithered onto my stomach. I merely lay there with my eyes closed, as it moved up my body. The snake slithered up to my mouth, poking its tongue out and touching my lips. At this stage, I opened my mouth and the python vomited into my mouth a substance which tasted similar to PK.(15) I swallowed this substance and the python left. Approximately five minutes later, Sakuse came and called out to see if I was still there. On hearing that I was, he said 'Oh, you are a good child, you have succeeded, there is nothing else. This thing that will come up in you, you will 'grow' it in your village, for me there is not anything else, you have taken it' [meaning the Buai]. ... The power was revealed or transferred to him by the loroang of the master Tena Buai which, upon leaving the confines of the body, had entered the body of a python. The master magician, incarnate in the python, transferred these powers by vomiting into the initiate's mouth (see also Stephen 1982:115). The regurgitation, here, involves the bringing up of substances embodying knowledge that have previously been hidden in the innermost recesses of the body, a process of revelation.”

(of another candidate) “During the night the spirit of the Tena Buai entered the corporeal form of a python, which in this case had the distinctive feature of a beard. As in the narrative recounted above, the snake wrapped itself around the body of the initiate and vomited a substance into his mouth, which was swallowed by the initiate. The snake, belonging to the Tena Buai, utilized the power of the masalai to facilitate the transfer of the Tena Buai's power”

(another mode of initiation by a spirit) “When the tambaran finally comes, my informant said, you feel its presence. If the initiate is feigning sleep, it keeps the initiate's eyes closed, but nonetheless allows him to 'see' the tambaran in revelatory visions, in which the power, mysteries, knowledge and secrets of Buai are disclosed. The tambaran who carries a basket which is full of small packages, asks the man what he wishes to have. Holding up a parcel, it asks, 'do you wish to have sorcery?' or 'do you wish to have love magic (malira)?' If the initiate desires only to have the power to 'see songs and dances (lukim singsing)', the tambaran gives the initiate the relevant package and explains the necessary procedure for achieving the powers.”

(another method) “As the initiate sleeps, he is shown the power of Buai by the masalai. In this case this is the power to 'see' (through relevatory dreams) songs and dances, the power to treat illness with plant material, the power to cure sorcery and the power to use ginger.”

(sorcery) “This skull is placed inside the lamangadin (M), a drum-like structure that acts like a 'magnet', drawing the loroang of the Iniet Man's victims into it, so that they can be used by the sorcerer. These spirits give 'power' to the lamangadin.

The lamangadin is made either from strong cane or bamboo, wound to form a drum. Inside this are placed various powerful plant and tree materials which have 'fight', and a skull”

(nnother sorcery method) “Commonly, the loroang of the sorcerer is said to enter the moiety eagle manigulai, although it can also enter sharks, wild pigs, stingrays, snakes, blowflies and even butterflies. The life force of the Tena Inlet leaves this temporary vehicle to enter the body of the victim, whose liver, the seat of the emotions, is eaten by the shaman's life force.”

(trance) “the shaman's body does not feel or hear anything, and neither does he have the capacity of thought. This death-like state is an essential requirement for the life force to become disincarnate, for if this state is not reached it cannot take flight.”

(bibliography) EVES, R. 1994. Seating the Place: Magic and Embodiment on the Lelet Plateau, New Ireland (Papua New Guinea). Ph.D. Thesis, The Australian National University.

GEORGE, M. 1988. 'A Wosak Maraluon!' The Barok Pidik of Hidden Power, and the Ritual Imagining of Intent and Meaning. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Virginia.

SCHIEFFELIN, E.L. 1979. The Unseen Influence: Tranced Mediums as Historical Innovators. Journal de la Societe de Oceanistes 56-57:169-78.

STEPHEN, M. 1979. Sorcery, Magic and the Mekeo Word View. In N.C. Habel (ed.), Powers, Plumes and Piglets, pp. 149-60. Bedford Park: Australian Association Study of Religions, Flinders University.

1983. Magicians of Manumanua: Living Myth in Kalauna. Berkeley: University of California Press.

(from same article)

Shamanism, sorcery and cannibalism: the incorporation of power in the magical cult of Buai.

Oceania | March 01, 1995 | Eves, Richard

Among the Maenge of New Britain, narratives record that in the primordial time there existed a mythological people called the Vagakusime who, unlike people today, did not have a digestive system. Food, such as whole taro or coconuts, was thrown into the fontanelle at the top of the skull and rejected again undigested, causing these primordial beings, who were not mobile but lived sitting down to be surrounded by their own excrement of taro tubers and coconuts (Panoff 1970:244). All people originally existed in this state until a mythological figure called Malila, who, in competition with another mythological figure named Nutu, covered the hole in the skull and opened a mouth in the face, giving people a proper digestive system and real food (244).

This form of flight is particularly common during sleep, and people's dreams are an indication of where the life force has travelled. The travel of the loroang from its body is also common to the forms of shamanism associated with the Buai cult ...

(Buai of the Lelet) When I went to the Duke of York Islands, my friend's father, Sakuse, referred to me as 'child' because I had looked after his son while we were working together. He took me to his taraiu [the Tena Buai's secret hiding place where all his paraphernalia of power is kept] deep in the forest. It consisted of a cave surrounded by a fence. Inside the taraiu there were several skulls. Sakuse said to me 'Now my son I shall give you Buai'. I was a little afraid because earlier I had been told; 'Either you yourself or all of your clan will die'. At the start of the week - early on Monday morning I was given some ku and two bananas which comprised my daily diet until Friday.(14) Friday was a particularly difficult time, as I did not receive any food. At seven that night Sakuse told me that I was to sleep alone in the taraiu that evening which made me a little afraid, as I had seen all kinds of things in his taraiu, including a huge python of which I was very afraid. When I became aware that I was to sleep there alone I was very uncertain about what was going to happen. Before going to sleep I was given some plants to eat, followed by some ku which contained various plants, gorgor and kauwawar (ginger). During the night I was first visited by a man who was 'bon nating' [usually means thin but in this context it means skeleton], who did not have any skin or flesh. This was meant as my first test to see if I was afraid. I just lay on the bed, as if I were asleep. The second test was a python, which also came while I was lying on the bed. The python smelt my leg and then started to slither onto my body. It felt very cold. Although I was quite afraid I did not call out and kept my fear concealed. As the snake continued to move on my body, I very nearly called out in fright as it slithered onto my stomach. I merely lay there with my eyes closed, as it moved up my body. The snake slithered up to my mouth, poking its tongue out and touching my lips. At this stage, I opened my mouth and the python vomited into my mouth a substance which tasted similar to PK.(15) I swallowed this substance and the python left. Approximately five minutes later, Sakuse came and called out to see if I was still there. On hearing that I was, he said 'Oh, you are a good child, you have succeeded, there is nothing else. This thing that will come up in you, you will 'grow' it in your village, for me there is not anything else, you have taken it' [meaning the Buai].(16) In the following week a large feast was held, a likun, at which a type of ku also called likun was consumed. Several other Tena Buai were invited to this feast and became aware that another person had been initiated into Buai. All sat down together to eat the likun, after which all the Tena Buai came and shook my hand and presented me with some tambu.(17)

Initially the initiate was shown various types of magic and was given a type of fragrant plant called gorgor, commonly used to occasion visions of songs and dances (singsing), and other forms of magic, which ultimately supplement the more basic power which is transferred from the Tena Buai to the initiate in the initiation process. When the initiate was left alone to receive the Buai, he did not sleep but merely lay in a relaxed state that he compared to the condition felt after the consumption of two or three bottles of beer, when your 'skin' is 'half dead'. The power was revealed or transferred to him by the loroang of the master Tena Buai which, upon leaving the confines of the body, had entered the body of a python. The master magician, incarnate in the python, transferred these powers by vomiting into the initiate's mouth (see also Stephen 1982:115). The regurgitation, here, involves the bringing up of substances embodying knowledge that have previously been hidden in the innermost recesses of the body, a process of revelation. Vomit, here, is more than just a metaphor for knowledge; it is a concrete embodiment of the master magician's power.

By swallowing the vomit from the python the initiate incorporates the power and knowledge of that master within the confines of his own body, thus empowering it. The type of power transferred to the Tena Buai in the above narrative was the power of inlet, a form of sorcery I discuss later.(18)

A second ritual expert who was also initiated into the cult on the Duke of York Islands underwent a similar ritual ordeal. In this case the initiate was given ginger and the leaves of various plants to eat. He then slept in a shelter in close proximity to the abode of a masalai (ples masalai), Korroboiroy, while the Tena Buai slept in his taraiu or secret place.(19) During the night the spirit of the Tena Buai entered the corporeal form of a python, which in this case had the distinctive feature of a beard. As in the narrative recounted above, the snake wrapped itself around the body of the initiate and vomited a substance into his mouth, which was swallowed by the initiate. The snake, belonging to the Tena Buai, utilized the power of the masalai to facilitate the transfer of the Tena Buai's power.

Another way to acquire Buai which also involves utilising and harnessing the power of the masalai, is done by the building of a table at its abode. Coconut oil (ku) and various plant materials are placed on this table - leaves, barks and fruits, which the initiate eats. This method enables him to 'see' or 'dream' certain powers, for example, to produce songs and dances. The magical power can also be harnessed by spitting the masticated matter and juice of the gorgor plant at the ples masalai.

One way to receive the power from the non-human bush beings, tambaran, also involved use of a table, from which the initiate had to consume plant materials placed inside a number of leaf packages. Many of these packages when ingested caused the throat to burn. Some of the parcels were said to taste good, while others contained materials that made the initiate vomit and become unable to incorporate the power. If this occurred, he would leave the table for that day and try again the next. After completing the consumption of the packages, the initiate began a regime of abstinence and fasting, sometimes in a cave or other secluded place. At night, prior to sleep, the initiate was visited by a 'man'. This was not the man who gave the initiate the packages to consume from the table but a tambaran who only comes to find the initiate if he has maintained a strict regime of abstinence and fasting, these being the only conditions under which a person can usually see a tambaran. When the tambaran finally comes, my informant said, you feel its presence. If the initiate is feigning sleep, it keeps the initiate's eyes closed, but nonetheless allows him to 'see' the tambaran in revelatory visions, in which the power, mysteries, knowledge and secrets of Buai are disclosed. The tambaran who carries a basket which is full of small packages, asks the man what he wishes to have. Holding up a parcel, it asks, 'do you wish to have sorcery?' or 'do you wish to have love magic (malira)?' If the initiate desires only to have the power to 'see songs and dances (lukim singsing)', the tambaran gives the initiate the relevant package and explains the necessary procedure for achieving the powers.

Yet another way of being initiated into Buai involves the consumption of a small fruit that is placed inside a wild betelnut which has been painted red with ochre. The betelnut is then placed on top of a grave directly above the place where the skull of the corpse would lie. The initiate, after having practised ritual abstinence, consumes the fruit at dusk at the abode of a masalai. As the initiate sleeps, he is shown the power of Buai by the masalai. In this case this is the power to 'see' (through relevatory dreams) songs and dances, the power to treat illness with plant material, the power to cure sorcery and the power to use ginger. When the man, who initially received Buai by this method just after the Second World War, died, there grew from his chest a ginger plant which he had told his son to plant in the bush. If the son wished, he could learn the powers of Buai by placing the ginger under his pillow. Then, as he slept, he would have visions revealing the magical powers.

These forms of initiation into the realm and powers of Buai involve the incorporation of magical power into the interior spaces of the body. This magical power allows the ritual adept to transcend and rupture the boundaries of the normal visible and phenomenal world, a power that is not available under normal circumstances to ordinary people. By incorporating the powerful substances of Buai, the normal body is refigured, allowing the loroang to transcend it and to gain access to powerful invisible worlds and powers. Through the act of consumption of the substances of Buai, the power of Buai is made available, but only to those who have exercised sufficient control over their body and its boundaries. The regulation of the body's boundaries, in lengthy abstinence from pork and sexual intercourse, allows the power of Buai to become consubstantial with the magician's body. To control one's body is both an act of power and enables power to be attained.

III.

SORCERY AND THE SORCERER'S PARAPHERNALIA

In the previous examples, the phenomenon of incorporation was of a benign and constructive kind - merely the consumption of magical substances for the enhancement and achievement of power. Now I will examine the more destructive aspects of incorporation that exist in sorcery practices. This type of sorcery is concerned with eating and incorporation as an enactment of power over another, rather than the acquisition of power from another. The three forms of this type of sorcery originating in the cult of Buai are called iniet, komkom and lusuwo. These forms of sorcery are referred to as the 'hard stuff' of Buai, meaning they are considered the pinnacle of the Tena Buai's powers. Descriptions of them often employ very graphic images of cannibalism, which involve the consumption of the visceral organs of the victims (see also Strathem 1982 and 1994).

Some Tena Buai have greater magical powers than others. Those conversant with the forms of sorcery iniet and komkom are sometimes referred to as Tena Iniet or Iniet Man. For the rest of this paper I will use these terms because they enable the Tena Buai who knows sorcery powers to be distinguished from the other Tena Buai who are familiar only with less destructive magical powers. Often the Tena Iniet will have a secret abode, called a taraiu, from whence he practises sorcery.(20) This generally consists of a shelter, a small hut or possibly a cave, that is surrounded by a border of colourful and fragrant plants. Many different kinds of cordyline, dracena and ginger plants are used in this border, and the taraiu, in appearance at least, bears similarities to the men's houses which also have these species planted within and around them. These plants, though used in magic, are planted also for aesthetic reasons. It is hoped that numerous colourful, attractive and fragrant plants will attract tambaran.

Inside the taraiu are kept all the important and powerful paraphernalia of Buai magic; plants, various powerful lime powders, red ochre paint, fragments of bone or even whole skulls, as well as the various materials for counter-sorcery that protect the taraiu from unwanted visitors by rendering them ill. For the ritual expert conversant in the sorcery iniet, a taraiu should contain the skull of the sorcerer's first victim, who, in illustration of his transgressive powers, must be a member of the Tena Iniet's own clan. This skull is placed inside the lamangadin (M), a drum-like structure that acts like a 'magnet', drawing the loroang of the Iniet Man's victims into it, so that they can be used by the sorcerer. These spirits give 'power' to the lamangadin.

The lamangadin is made either from strong cane or bamboo, wound to form a drum. Inside this are placed various powerful plant and tree materials which have 'fight', and a skull.(21) Cordyline leaves or ginger can be hung on the outside of the lamangadin and its mouth must be circled by the Tolai shell necklace, tambu, which acts as a form of protective magic (babart). If this is absent the Tena Iniet is vulnerable to sorcery attack from other sorcerers. The drum also contains a 'picture' of a shark (something that bears a resemblance to a shark) or a shark fin or some shark's teeth may be used. The lamangadin can also contain an item, such as a feather, representing the eagle, manigulai, a common vehicle of iniet attack, or an item representing the pig. Ideally the lamangadin should contain some element or representation of all the vehicles the Iniet Man uses for his magical travels.

INIET SORCERY ATTACK AND THE CANNIBALISING OF THE INSIDE

Iniet, komkom and the third, least common sorcery, lusuwo, utilise the life forces or spirits that can be sent forth from the lamangadin and taraiu to kill the victim. These can be the loroang of the sorcerer or of previous victims or even of people who have died an unnatural death (birua), such as by sorcery, accident or murder. Iniet is a form of sorcery that involves the Tena Iniet, in the confines of his taraiu or hidden in the forest, consuming magical substances and performing spells that send him into a trance-like state. The Tena Iniet's life force then becomes disincarnate and enters the corporeal form of another being which is used as the vehicle for attack.

Commonly, the loroang of the sorcerer is said to enter the moiety eagle manigulai, although it can also enter sharks, wild pigs, stingrays, snakes, blowflies and even butterflies. The life force of the Tena Inlet leaves this temporary vehicle to enter the body of the victim, whose liver, the seat of the emotions, is eaten by the shaman's life force. The victim vomits blood, a clear sign that this form of sorcery has been used.

Iniet is only occasionally performed from the secret abode of the Tena Iniet, and must be done at times when it is exceedingly quiet. Usually this form of sorcery is performed in thick forest or some other inaccessible place where people will not venture so that the shaman will not be disturbed while his loroang is separated from his body in magical flight. To interrupt a Tena Iniet at this stage causes his death, as his life force will not return to his body, leaving merely the shell.

The practitioner of iniet utilises items or objects that 'picture' the vehicle - the animal, fish or bird form into which the life force of the shaman wishes to go - in much the same way as described above for the lamangadin. In one form of this sorcery described to me, the Tena Iniet utilises sand from the littoral zone of the beach where the receding tide has formed 'pictures' that bear resemblance to a shark. When performing iniet the shaman must also take a fragment of bone from his taraiu so that the life force (of someone who has died an unnatural death) residing in his taraiu will accompany him. He must also take the shell necklace he has been given as payment, and this is placed together with the bone fragment. Commonly the sorcerer will have in his possession various weapons. One Tena Iniet said he took with him ginger, a knife, a spear and an axe when he went to the bush to practice iniet. Another Tena Iniet said that if he wishes to enter an eagle he may take as a weapon a claw from manigulai; if he wishes to enter a pig he may take a tusk from a pig.

To enter the trance state facilitating flight, the shaman may need to consume various barks, leaves or ginger. One shaman ate a particular vine, the leaves of which, when touched, close up as if the vine were dead, while another ate ginger to bring on the state of trance. It is said that the consumption of these powerful things brings on a state of bodily torpor that is similar to being drunk. Another sorcerer said the state was like being dead except that the heart continued to beat. The experience undergone, I was told, was not a dream but was like undergoing the exact experiences of the being into whose body the Iniet Man's life force had entered. Meanwhile, the shaman's body does not feel or hear anything, and neither does he have the capacity of thought. This death-like state is an essential requirement for the life force to become disincarnate, for if this state is not reached it cannot take flight.

The power of flight is further facilitated by a regimen of fasting and abstinence, carried out for one month prior to the journey. Immediately before the shaman's life force journeys, he must abstain from eating for a whole day. By controlling the ingestion of external elements, the shaman's body is protected from intrusion by contaminating and debilitating substances. The act of power of controlling the boundaries of the body, as I have argued above, produces a particularly powerful body which allows the boundaries of the experiential world to be redefined. The everyday boundaries between the living and dead, invisible and visible are refigured by the transcendental power inaugurated when the life force separates from the body.

In one form of inlet described to me, the sorcerer looks toward the sun as he says his incantation over the various paraphernalia he has brought with him. One Tena Iniet cast his spells over a piece of (birua) bone that has some Tolai shell necklace (tambu) wrapped around and a feather from the eagle manigulai placed in it. The incantation consists of three separate parts. The first summons the eagle to the shaman. The second part uses the metaphor of the fire as it burns and the flames shoot up into the air. This part calls on the shaman's tongue to dart as the flames of a fire do and then the eagle to dart like this as well. The third part of the spell uses the metaphor of water, calling on the eagle and the shaman to move fast, as flowing water does.

After the appropriate magical incantation, the Tena Iniet must exercise extreme caution and observe a number of rules, the purpose of which is to prevent the magic that the shaman has performed from turning back on him, and killing him. For example, the shaman cannot swallow his sputum as this would be coterminous with swallowing the spell, thus turning the spell back on himself. To swallow one's sputum is to swallow the power of the words, to incorporate the magical spell within the confines of the shaman's body as opposed to projecting the power from his body into the body of the victim. In addition, the shaman cannot scratch himself, which is said to be like cutting himself. Lastly, it is said that the Tena Iniet cannot defecate, the reason being that he would be likely to look away from his faeces. To look away from something you have done, I was told, is to deny its efficacy.

When the shaman's life force comes back from its journey and he revives from his trance state, the shaman's breath will smell bad and there will be flies hovering near his mouth. Sometimes the shaman's face will be bloodied or the heart of his victim will be there, impaled on his knife or spear. After reviving from the trance, the Tena Iniet must wash himself. If near the sea, for example, he takes some leaves and goes into the water where the waves are breaking. He must wring the fluid in these leaves over his head and then dive under the water to complete the washing of his body. When ashore again, he must wash with hot water. The washing is said to remove the 'fight' of the leaves and bone fragments that have been used and is akin to the magical skin washing I described above. Failure to wash means that any people the sorcerer comes into contact with are liable to be made ill, having been affected by the powerful substances that he has been using and which remain on his body. To complete the washing process and to render powerless the remaining 'fight' in his stomach, the Tena Inlet must consume some ginger root which he gets from his taraiu.

DEATH BY INLET

I will now give a narrative of this form of sorcery attack, as it was related to me by a Tena Iniet.

During 1986 I was living on the coast. A man from the Duke of York Islands was angry with me. This man, a big Tena Buai who knew iniet, became angry because I had used some magic, a babart, to protect a kandere [mother's brother or sister's son] of mine who had a conflict with a Tolai man over the running of a business they had together. This Tolai man wanted to hire a Tena Iniet to kill my kandere. The Tolai man hired a man from the Duke of York Islands to do this but he was not able to get past my protective magic [babart] and became angry with me as a result. The Duke of York man then tried to kill me to enable him to get around the protective magic. All the things that I had as babart became ineffectual; all the plants I had planted as a babart suddenly died. And during the night I suddenly became unconscious ['died'] for no apparent reason. ... The libines are useful for those attacks where the victim has employed powerful forms of counter sorcery or protective magic (babart). The libines use the bodies of reptiles, animals or birds as their vehicles. Komkom can use a single form, such as a lizard, to eat out the insides of the victim, or it can use a whole group. Libines can take the form of a seething mass of snakes or a flock of birds. Commonly it is said that the libines can consist of up to seventy crows. They travel in search of the victim and, when in bird form, hover above while the life forces of the sorcerer's previous victim enter the victim to eat or tear out the liver. Following death, the victim's life force is said to be incorporated into the libines with those of past victims. I was told by one sorcerer that if these life forces succeed in killing a victim for the sorcerer, they cut off the head to draw the victim's life force to the taraiu.

Lusuwo or suwo, which derives from the island of Lihir, is another form of sorcery practised by some Tena Iniet and is similar to iniet. Like komkom, lusuwo is very useful against those people that have strong protective magic and also utilises the libines. This form uses snakes and lizards (or other familiars) that are said to enter a person's anus and cannibalise the liver and internal organs, causing death. Following a person's death, it is said that the sorcerer's vehicle goes on to kill each member of that person's clan until there are none left.

Like the sorcerer who practices iniet, the practitioner of lusuwo must perform a regimen of ritual abstinence and fasting to heighten his powers. This sorcery is similar to other forms of assault sorcery such as sanguma, where the victim is initially assaulted and then sent on his or her way unaware that organs have been taken from his or her body or lethal objects inserted into it. In lusuwo, however, it is the victim's life force that is initially attacked and destroyed. Following the destruction of the loroang, the body is attacked by the sorcerer's adepts, the libines.

This form of sorcery uses a fire, for which the sorcerer must cut ample firewood, to make it large and hot. There must also be many vines, which represent the snakes that do the final killing. Initially, the sorcerer must dig a hole into which the vines are placed along with some exuviae of the intended victim. The firewood is placed over these and, after the incantation of a spell, the fire is started using kerosene to ensure a particularly quick and ferocious blaze.

Unlike iniet, in lusuwo the loroang of the sorcerer does not become disincarnate and take flight from his body. This sorcery uses the libines to draw the life force of the victim to the place where the fire is. The victim's loroang approaches the fire from a direction going towards the sun. This, it is said, means the life force of the victim is blinded by the sun, enabling the sorcerer waiting near the fire to dispatch it into the fire. This is done, I was told, by the sorcerer hitting the life force with a large piece of wood so that it stumbles into the fire. Immediately the life force of the man is consumed by the flames, the snakes enter and attack his body, which has remained behind. In the form described to me, the sorcery employed the highly poisonous banded sea snake, lisikiang (M), which enters the victim by the anus to devour the liver and insides. The attack by snakes could be followed by an attack by lizards and then an attack by pythons who complete the task of eating the victim's internal organs. As a result of this succession of cannibalistic attacks the victim vomits and passes blood before finally dying.

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