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 irtes 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.
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