And restore So-and-So.
But if you do not restore him
I shall curse you with the saying,
‘There is no god but God,’” etc.The above ceremony is generally used in the case of fever complaint.
Counter-charms for “neutralising” the active principle of poisons form, as a rule,
one of the most important branches of the pharmacopœic system among the less
civilised Malay tribes. A settled form of government and the softening of
manners due to contact with European civilisation has, however, diminished the
importance (I speak, of course, from the Malay point of view) of this branch of
the subject in the Western Malay States of the Peninsula, where poisoning cases
are very rarely heard of. Malay women have always possessed the reputation of
being especially proficient in the use of poison; ground glass and the furry
spicules obtained from the leaf-cases of some kinds of bamboo being their
favourite weapons.
This idea (of using a charm to “neutralise” the active principle of poison) has
been extended by Malay medicine-men to cover all cases where any evil
principle (even, for instance, a familiar spirit) is believed to have entered the sick
person’s system. All such charms are piously regarded by devout Muhammadans
as gifts due to the mercy of God, who is believed to have sent them down to the
Prophet Muhammad by the hand of his servant Gabriel. This doctrine we find
clearly stated in the charms themselves, e.g. (somewhat tautologically):—
“Neutralising charms sprang from God,
Neutralising charms were created by God,
Neutralising charms were a boon from God,
Who commanded Prince Gabriel
To bring them unto Muhammad.”The ceremony of applying such charms generally takes the form of grating a
bezoar-stone^129 (batu guliga), mixing the result with water, and drinking it after
repeating the charm.
Thus in one of the charms quoted in the Appendix we read:—