Oracle
Before our trek, we went to see an oracle. Oracles are women who are possessed by certain deities for periods of time. During this time people will come to see the oracles for life advice and to cure sicknesses. When we reached the oracles house it was just an ordinary village house in Ladakh. When we walked into the house we entered this dark hallway and all these people were crowding around a door at the end. As we walked closer to the door we could hear music. We walked into this small smoke filled room full of people. We squeezed ourselves in and sat on the floor. The oracle was sitting on a mattress at the edge of the room. She was holding a bell in one hand and a small chod drum in the other. She waved the two objects wildly as she sang towards a shrine in the corner of the room. Sometimes she would pause and snort and make weird animal noises. After she was done singing she started helping people. They were all speaking in Ladakhi so we didn't understand. When people asked questions she would throw these seeds that were scattered around her onto her drum and inspect them and then answer the question. At one point she started helping this one girl by singing a song and holding the girl's face into smoke. After she was done singing the girl was whimpering and crying. The oracle started yelling at her and threatened to cut off her hair. She was hitting the girl and stabbing her back with a dull dagger. It was really disturbing and we didn't know what was happening. Peter later told us that the lady had gotten in a fight with another lady about their kids, the other lady then had bad thoughts for this one lady and the oracle was trying to get her to say the other lady's name. She wouldn't say her name so the oracle made her promise to never come back again. After that, the oracle started helping sick people. She started sucking this white pus stuff out of this mans leg through a golden straw. After that she started sucking it out with her mouth to his leg. Then she started sucking this dark chunky fluid out of people's heads. At one point, she put her face up to this lady's stomach and sucked and sucked until she came up with a chunk in her teeth the size of a walnut. Each time she would suck stuff out of people she would go around blessing us with bells and swords. It was to make sure the bad spirits she sucked out of people wouldn't enter us. If she found a bad spirit inside the people she blessed or any problems in their lives she would hit them really hard. When we left the oracle we were all completely shocked to what we had just witnessed. India is a crazy place.
-Haley
Comments
woooooooooooooooooooooow! I really wish I was with you. Shamanism is so fascinating!
Posted by: ZOYA (haley'sbestfriendbahahha) | May 11, 2010 3:27 AM
This does seem weird to us Americans. It reminds me of some circus tent shows where a lady turns into a Gorilla right in front of your eyes. The first time I saw it, and the gorilla busted out of the cage and attacked the crowd, I ran and dove under the tent wall to escape. I was out of there in no time flat. About a minute or two later my friend, who was watching with me and had seen it before, laughed and laughed at me. Because he knew how the show was put on and how it ended. Still, it may also be fair to say that this Oracle thing has a relation with standard religious practices. Many people pray and chant in groups, raise their hands to the sky, petition God for mercy, or other favors. To a person who is convinced that God is an imaginary invention of man, this would seem like pretty crazy behavior. Then, there are common human themes that also reflect closely on this behavior which have nothing to do with God or religion, like dancing. Every culture seems to value forms of display (like dancing) which don't seem to make any practical sense. Except to say, "people enjoy it", "it helps people to loosen up", "it allows people to get outside their normal self"
Anyway, that sounds like one funky thing to have experienced... thanks for sharing...
Love D2
Posted by: Bill St Pierre | May 8, 2010 8:38 PM
Sounds like Man on the Moon - when you reflect on it, what do you think and feel? The Oracles behaviour sounds almost aggressive. Do you know what she eats and how she sleeps? Is it different? Did you have to do anything special to be able to be with the Oracle? Do people protect her? Can anyone see her? Will she try to help everyone that comes? Do people pay money or in kind to see the Oracle? Is there any religion specifically associated with being an Oracle? What happens when your time as an Oracle comes to an end - how do you know it is ending and do you go back to life as it was before? Do Oracles have family? So many questions... I cant imagine what it would be like to have this experience.
Posted by: Diya | May 5, 2010 5:14 AM