(Shorea robusta) marked with the names of all the females of the village, whether married or unmarried, who had…
- Date of account
- Second edition published 1896
- Source
- The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 2 (of 2)
- Reference
- The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 2 (of 2) · selected passage 157
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-25
Record summary
(Shorea robusta) marked with the names of all the females of the village, whether married or unmarried, who had attained the age of twelve years, were planted in the morning in water for the space of four and a half hours; and the withering of any of these branches was proof of witchcraft against the person whose name …
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention only(Shorea robusta) marked with the names of all the females of the village, whether married or unmarried, who had attained the age of twelve years, were planted in the morning in water for the space of four and a half hours; and the withering of any of these branches was proof of witchcraft against the person whose name was attached to it. Small portions of rice enveloped in pieces of cloth marked as before, were placed in a nest of white ants; the consumption of the rice in any of the bags was proof of witchcraft against the woman whose name it bore. Lamps were lighted at night; water was placed in cups made of leaves, and mustard oil was poured drop by drop into the water, while the name of each woman in the village was pronounced. The appearance of the shadow of any woman in the water during the ceremony proved her to be a witch.
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.
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