Scales from the person of God’s Apostle^18 were your Origin.
May you fumigate the Seven Tiers of the Earth,
May you fumigate the Seven Tiers of the Sky,
And serve as a summons to all Spirits, to those which have magic powers, and
those which have become Saints of God,
The Spirits of God’s elect, who dwell in the Halo of the Sun,
And whose resort is the “Kaʿbah” of God,
At even and morn, by night and day;
And serve as a summons to the Elect of God,
Who dwell at the Gate of the Spaces of Heaven,
And whose resort is the White Diamond
In the Interior of Egypt, at morn and eve,
Who know (how) to make the dead branch live,
And the withered blossom unfold its petals,
And to perform the word of God;
By the grace of (the creed) “There is no god but God,” etc.
The direction taken by the fumes of the incense is observed and noted for the
purpose of divination; this feature of the rite will be noticed under the heading of
Medicine.^19
Another form of sacrifice consists in the scattering of rice. The sacrificial rice
(Oryza sativa) used in the ceremonies is always of the following kinds: firstly,
parched rice (b’ras bĕrtih); secondly, washed rice (b’ras basoh); thirdly, saffron-
stained rice (b’ras kunyit, i.e. rice stained with turmeric);^20 and, finally, a special
kind of glutinous rice called pulut (Oryza glutinosa), which is also very
generally used for sacrificial banquets.
Of these, the parched rice is generally used for strewing the bottom of the
sacrificial tray (anchak) when the framework has been covered with banana
leaves, but the offerings have not yet been deposited within it.
The washed and saffron rice are generally used for scattering either over the
persons to be benefited by the ceremony, or else upon the ground or house-floor.
With reference to the selection of rice for this purpose, it has been suggested that
the rice is intended to attract what may be called the “bird-soul” (i.e. the soul of
man conceived as a bird) to the spot, or to keep it from straying at a particularly