 |
|
Oracles & Astrologers
The
Ladakhis believe implicitly in the influence of gods and spirits on the
material world, and undertake no major enterprise without taking this
influence into consideration. The lamas are the vital intermediaries between
the human and the spirit worlds. Not only do they perform the rites
necessary topropitiate the gods - in private houses as well as in the gompa
temples ; they also often take on the role of astrologers and oracles who
can predict the auspicious time for starting any enterprise, whether
ploughing the fields, or taking in the harves, arranging a marriage or going
on a journey- and advise as to the auspicious way of going about it.
The
most famous monk-oracles are those of Matho Gompa. Chosen every three years
by a traditional procedure, two monks spend several months in a rigorous
regimen of prayer and fasting to prepare and purify themselves for their
arduous role. When the time comes they are possessed by the deity, whose
spirit enables them to perform feats that would be impossible to anyone in a
normal state such as cutting themselves with knives, or sprinting along the
gompa's topmost parapet. In this condition, they will answer questions put
to them concerning individual and public welfare. However, the spirit is
said to be able to detect questions asked by sceptical observers with the
intention of testing him, and to react with frenzied anger.
There
are also in some villages lay people, men and women, who have special powers
as oracles and healers. Some of them belong to families in which there have
been several such receptacles of spirit forces. Others are diagnosed as such
without any hereditary back ground. The spirits possessing these lay persons
are believed to be capricious, and not always entirely benevolent, and some
people resist being possessed by them. Once they have accepted, however,
they undergo a process of initiation and training by monks and senior
oracles, and only after this is completed may they start practising. The
effectiveness of their spirit- healing is an article of faith with the
Ladakhis.
