INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

as they are believed to be unsatisfied with the disposal of their bodies through burial
and are constantly dwelling in graveyards. Generally a bhutpret haunts a person
when being abused, disturbed or in some other way bothered by unaware or careless
humans.
Thirdly, there are spirits evoked by jadutona, or magic. Out of envy, hate, or
some other malicious motive people engage sorcerers to deliberately cause spirit
trouble to people by use of mantras and ritual objects. The effects of jadutona can be
deliberately directed to a chosen recipient or just fall upon an unlucky person. Spirits
that are exorcised from possessed humans can be transferred to different objects, like
pots, cords, cloths, and the like that are placed in private houses or in public spaces.
Whoever will touch the material object containing the spirit runs the risk of being
afflicted. Another oft-mentioned method to cause spirit troubles is when a sorcerer
mixes human ashes from the cremation ground (masan) or remains from animals with
drinkable or edible substances and entice a victim to ingest it. Depending on which
remnants are used, the person consuming the substance will be possessed by the
spirit of the dead human or animal and unconsciously adopt its behavioural characteristics.
Possessions of spirits evoked by jadutona or masan are considered extremely
problem-ridden.
Another troublesome power is buri nazar, the evil eye, which can be evoked by
speech, a look, or sometimes only by a thought. 691 Some people are considered to
possess a malevolent eye and may, by a mere look, ruin a business, cause an illness,
or in some other way create troubles. The evil eye can be compared with a kind of
jealousy, but the cause of its devastating effects still extend far beyond an emotional
state and may not be intentionally triggered. As a male interlocutor said: “Sometimes
children get the evil eye from their own parents, because they think their child is very
beautiful. ‘What a beautiful son he is’, and he gets the evil eye.” Well-intentioned
compliments, especially to children, may arouse suspicions and fear of the evil eye.
At the entrance of almost every shop or business run by Sikhs and Hindus in Varanasi
one finds threaded pieces of a cactus or lime surrounded by green chili pepper
hanging to protect from the evil eye.
THE HEALING PRACTICE AT PAHARIA
It is the month of April in 2001 and I am sitting in the living room at the house of
Kuku ji at Paharia a few miles north of Varanasi. Kuku ji is a Sikh, originally from
Andhra Pradesh, and runs a business selling parts for tractors and minibuses. He
lives with his wife and children in the upper apartment of a two-storied house with a
large terrace on the first floor. Every Sunday and on every full-moon day Kuku ji and
his family temporarily transform their home into a healing practice at which they
admit patients suffering from physical diseases and mental, social or financial troubles
that have been caused by magic, spirits or the evil eye.
691
For an introduction to Indian beliefs in the evil eye, consult Maloney 1976, Troisi 2000.
433
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008