indeed, singing to himself in the woods, but woe betide the human eye that falls on him."

The close connection between the Galla country and Oman since the Zanzibar Sultanate and the days of the Arab slavetraders make it probable that the Zar came to Muscat very early, if it was an imported superstition. Here the blood sacrifice is the main thing in exorcism.

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They have their houses of sorcery," writes Miss Fanny Lutton of the American Mission, "which have different names, and have different ceremonies in each one. The largest and most expensive one is called 'Bait-e-Zaar.' If one is afflicted with madness, or it may be some serious or incurable disease, she is taken to this house and the professionals are called; and the treatments sometimes last for days. The money extorted from the patient is exorbitant, and so, as a rule, it is only the rich who can afford to undergo this treatment. The poor are branded with a hot iron or suffer cupping (blood letting), which does not cost so very much. In these houses animals are slain and the sufferer is drenched with the blood and must drink the hot blood as it is taken from the animal. And then the devil dancing is performed by black slave women, and the patient is whirled around with them until she sinks exhausted."

In Egypt, the preparation for the sacrifice is closely related to one part of the ecstatic Zar dance. The sick person is dressed in white and ornamented with special charms, while the room is also prettily decorated. The kursi (chair) in the middle of the room is in fact an altar, which has been decorated with flowers, burning candles and various sweets, as a mark of honor for the spirits. These gifts and the burning incense are supposed to attract the spirit and cause him to appear; or drive away other demons.

8"Travels in Abyssinia and the Galla Country," quoted by Paul Kahle.

The animal sacrifice consists of sheep or fowls; sometimes a fowl is sacrificed in the beginning, and afterwards a sheep. Kahle is of the opinion that in former times only fowls were sacrificed, the sheep sacrifice being introduced later on, without, however, displacing the sacrifice of the fowl. According to Borelli, a black fowl is sacrificed in Abyssinia. In Luxor a brown or white cock is offered, and in Cairo one cock and two hens, which may be black or white. In Abyssinia the contact between the spirit and the sacrifice is performed by swinging the fowl several times around the head of the patient. Afterwards it is thrown on the floor, and if it does not die very soon, the sacrifice is considered to have been in vain. In Cairo, according to one report by Kahle, the animal is killed by the sheikha above the head of the Zar bride, who must open her mouth and drink the warm blood, the remainder running down her white garment. The theory is that it is not she who drinks, but the spirit in her. In Luxor one drop of the blood is placed on the forehead, the cheeks, the chin, the palms of the hands and on the soles of the feet. Probably the blood has to be drunk also. The claws and feathers of the fowl are laid aside carefully as a special gift to the spirit.

Of course the sacrifice must be an excellent animal. The possessed person is seated on its back and rides seven times around the kursi. If a sheikh leads the performance, he kills the beast immediately afterwards: if a sheikha is in charge, another person must do it instead, because it is unusual for women to kill sheep. The animal is slaughtered according to Moslem ritual, with its head toward Mecca, while the onlookers say the "Bismillah." Then the sick person is addressed as follows: "May God comfort you in this which has come upon you.' 99 If he is a man he stands near by and catches the warm blood in his mouth. In the case of a woman, the blood is poured into a bowl and given

her to drink. With the remainder of the blood the hands and feet of the patient are stained. Almost the same ceremonies are observed at the sacrifice of both a fowl and a sheep, and so separate mention is unnecessary.

While the meat is being prepared, parts of the exorcism are repeated, the meal forming the closing act of the whole festival. The Zar bride, the sheikha, and her servants may eat only the inner parts (heart, stomach, etc.) of the animal and its head.

The charms which are given to the Zar bride during the performances must never be removed, or the spirit will return at once. These charms consist of silver ornaments and coins, worn on the breast beneath the dress, a ring with special inscriptions, or some other article. I have in my possession the following ornaments worn at the time of exorcism by the sheikh: First, a head-dress made of beads and cowrie shells with a fringe six inches wide, and a three-fold tassel. It is called takiet kharz. A belt of the same beadwork, green and white beads mounted on a red girdle with border of cowrie shells. In addition to these, two small amulets are worn of the same material; one square and containing Koran passages and the other circular of the same character with other potent material against demons.

The sheep or goat which is the sacrifice also has a special ornament on its head similar to those worn by brides in the villages. It consists of two palm twigs, two feet long, bound together in the shape of a T cross. Each twig is covered with colored paper and tinsel ornaments, and the whole is so adjusted that it can be tied to the head of the sacrifice.

Finally the woman who rides on the sacrificial sheep is armed with a cane forty-two inches in length. This is entirely covered with beadwork, brown, white, green, red, and has three chaplets of cowrie shells at equal distances from the top of the handle.

In Morocco, when a man or woman is possessed with the "devil" or jinn the people, including men and women, gather in a zeriba or mat hut where the proceedings are commenced by dances, chants, etc. Some chickens, or else a goat, are strangled and are afterwards boiled without salt. Some of the water that the animal has been boiled in is smeared all over the walls and floor by way of exorcism while the meat is eaten by those present, including the “ possessed ("Villes et Tribus du Maroc," Casablanca, vol. I, p. 64; Paris 1915.)

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A fuller account of this sacrifice to demons as practiced in Arabia, "the Cradle of Islam," is given by Mrs. D. Dijkstra, as follows:

"The great feast ordered by the zeeraan is called 'kabsh,' meaning ram, and is so called because a sacrifice must be offered and this sacrifice is always a ram. The room for the kabsh is always a very large room. The meeting begins in the evening with a general dinner, but which is as a rule not an elaborate one. After the dinner the leader begins to chant, La illaha illa allah wa Mohammed rasul allah,' all the others joining in chorus, and this exercise is kept up for about an hour, and all the while their bodies are swaying back and forth in rhythm to the chant. After this is ended the whole company get down on their knees and go through a crawling, grunting exercise which is kept up until they are exhausted. After a little rest the musicians begin their playing and do not stop until the next feature in the program, which is riding the ram by the party who is visited by the zar. Sometimes this is done at midnight if, as they say, the zar is not a very proud one, but if he considers himself very important this exercise takes place at dawn. The ram to be ridden is decorated with mash

9 Neglected Arabia, a quarterly published by the Arabian Mission, New York, January, 1918. Mrs. Dijkstra uses the word zar for the victim as well as for the ceremony.

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moum (green twigs) and the rider is the one in whom the zar is. The rider goes around the circle three or four times. This is seldom accomplished except with great cruelty to the poor beast, which is pulled and prodded in a most unmerciful way, and it is a mercy that it is killed later, for it is usually injured in this exercise.

After this first riding the company all take some rest until an hour or two after daybreak, when the second riding takes place, in the same way as the first. Immediately after this the ram is killed. This is done by the abu' or 'um,' as the case may be, assisted by the zar, as the possessed one is called, and a third party. The head of the ram is held over a large tray or dish, for not a drop of blood must be spilled or wasted. When the beast is killed, a glass is filled with the blood and into it is put some saffron and some sugar and the zar drinks while the blood is warm. Three or four others of the company then strip the zar and give her the 'blood bath.' The zar is then dressed and put to sleep for an hour and after that is bathed to remove the blood and dressed in new clothes and new ornaments or decorations. In the meantime the sacrifice has been preparing. As with the blood so with the body; not a hair or bone or any of the entrails must be spilled or thrown away. The entrails and feet are boiled separately, but the skin, turned inside out and tied, is cooked with the rest of the body, including the head. When all is cooked, a portion is brought to each table (the table is a large mat spread on the floor), and all the rest of the food is placed around the central dish. A stick, which has been bathed in the blood of the animal, is placed before the zar. When all is in readiness, the leader asks the zar, 'Is everything here that you want? Are all the bones here of your sacrifice? Tell us now if there is anything amiss and don't say later that this or that was not done right and that, therefore, you will take revenge on us