[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
¢ 686 ' MALEKULA but the prohibition on eating coco-nuts sometimes lasts for six months, and that on pig for as long as a year. The general attitude towards these abstentions seems to be that they are observed in order to make the magical rites efficacious. Thus, according to one note the power of a Seniang rain~maker resides in his belly and gullet, of which it is said niparasien ito Zen nevemn (meaning “ power is in the belly â€ù), and it is of the utmost importance that when he is working magic to prevent or to put a stop to rain, no water should come in contact with these parts. But it is said, too, that failure to observe the tabus will turn the magic against the practitioner instead of against the intended victim. They are thus in the nature of negative rites of protection. In Lambumbu there is a word mm which is used for the condition of any object which has been charmed. For instance, the dead man's bone used in the magic called mbolanggon Mmur is tum after the spell has been recited over it. A magician who has observed all the prescribed tabus is also mm and while he is in this condition, magic cannot harm him. There is some reason to believe that in Seniang the practice of niuelian is primarily for the purpose of giving power to the magical act, whereas in Lamburnbu a sorcerer will vilval primarily for his own safety. Whether this be so or not, both customs are fundamentally the same ; they are. the means whereby the sorcerer marks himself off from the rest of the cornmunity—removes himself from the " secular " or “ profane â€ù world and acquires a certain spiritual force. This segregation from his fellows is emphasized in other ways as well. In Seniang, before performing death-magic, a man keeps away from his companions. He seeks out a gloomy spot in the bush where the sun does not penetrate, and sleeps there during the day. At night, when no one is about, he creeps forth to take his food. In Lamburnbu the severance is not quite so complete as this, but here the sorcerer will not cook and eat with his fellows in the club-house, but will pretend that he is sick and does not want food. This he does to allay suspicion. When they have gone, then he cooks and eats by himself. The ostensible reason for doing this is lest any of the foods which are tabued to him should, through accident or malice, be slipped into his dish. It is clear, however, that this aloofness from a sociable meal also has the effect of segregating hirn from other men. M1 it .,§ ll‘ oz A 9 is
