Indian Antiquary Vol 54

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 67

MAROK, 1026) REMARKS ON THE ANDAMAN ÍSLANDERS AND THEIR COUNTRY
"The near relatives of the deceased, being bound to him by close ties, are influenced by everything that happens to him, and share in his good and evil fortune .... (p. 299). The feelings of the living towards the spirits of the dead are therefore ambivalent, compounded of affection and fear, and this must be clearly recognized if we are to understand all the Andamanese beliefs and customs."
Nevertheless (p. 300) Mr. Brown holds that there is a hostility between the society and the world of spirits, which induces him once in a way to make a comparison with other peoples. And then he proceeds (p. 301) to say " that the Andamanese do not regard the power that is possessed by the Spirits as being essentially evil." This brings him to the consideration of the medicine-man (p. 301 ff.).
Medicine-men and Dreamers. A man can become a medicine-man in three ways :(1) by dying and coming to life again. (2) by straying into the jungle and being affronted by the Spirits. (3) by having intercourse with the Spirits in dreams.
The difference between a medicine-man and an ordinary man is the possession of the same power as the Spirits : i.e., he can cause and cure sickness, and can arouse and dispel a storm. He produces his effects by communicating with the Spirits in his dreams.
Sleep is "& condition of diminished social activity” and therefore dangerous. All such conditions (e.g., sickness) are dangerous, when (p. 303) “it is necessary to take ritual or magical precautions." Sleep is visited by dreams, “by which the nature of the spirit world may be represented by the imagination," and (p. 304) the Andamanese "regards the dream-world as a world of shadows and reflections. In his dreams he acts as his double and it is his double that becomes his spirit. “To summarize the argument, the belief in the world of spirits rests on the actual fact that & dead person continues to affect the society."
The Principles underlying the ceremonial These considerations bring Mr. Brown to his 'Principles,' which he states thus (p. 306) :"(1) There is a power or force in all objects or beings that in any way affect social life (2) It is by virtue of this power that such things are able to aid or harm the society. (3) the power, no matter what may be the object or being in which it is present, is never either essentially good or essentially evil, but is able to produce both good and bad results. (4) Any contact with the power is dangerous, but the danger is avoided by ritual precautions. (5) the degree of power possessed by anything is directly proportioned to the im. portance of the effects that it has on the social life. (6) The power in one thing may be used to counteract the danger due to contact with the power in some other thing.
7) If an individual comes into contact with the power in anything and successfully avoids the danger of such contaot, he becomes himself endowed with power of the same kind as that with which he is in contact."
Here Mr. Brown adds a caution (p. 306): "remembering always that the Andamanese Islanders themselves are quite incapable of expressing their beliefs in words and are prob ably only vaguely conscious of them.”
The Social Lite. Mr. Brown now becomes more difficult to follow (p. 307): "It has been held in this obapter that the society or the social life is the chief source of protection against danger for the individual." That is to say on the whole argument that the society is both the danger and the proteotion of the individual.