Shamanism, sorcery and cannibalism: the incorporation of power in the magical cult of Buai.

Shamanism, sorcery and cannibalism: the incorporation of power in the magical cult of Buai. INTRODUCTIONThe distinctive character of this body is its open unfinished nature,its interaction with the world. These traits are most fully andconcretely revealed in the act of eating; the body transgresses here itsown limits: it swallows, devours, rends the world apart, is enriched andgrows at the world's expense. The encounter of men with the world,which takes place inside the open, biting, rending rend?v. rent or rend��ed, rend��ing, rendsv.tr.1. To tear or split apart or into pieces violently. See Synonyms at tear1.2. , chewing mouth, isone of the most ancient, and most important objects of human thought andimagery. Here man tastes the world, introduces it into his body, makesit part of himself. Man's awakening consciousness could not butconcentrate on this moment, could not help borrowing from it a number ofsubstantial images determining its interrelation with the world.Man's encounter with the world in the act of eating is joyful,triumphant; he triumphs over the world, devours it without beingdevoured himself. The limits between man and the world are erased toman's advantage.(Bakhtin 1984:281).Here Bakhtin points to the central and powerful role played byincorporation in the body's encounter with the world. This ringstrue for Melanesian culture, where many acts of power are reflectedthrough conceptions connected to eating. But, while Bakhtin is correctin his assessment of the act of eating as one way in which thebody's boundaries are transgressed and which facilitates aperson's interaction with the world, I argue that the process healludes to is not necessarily one of unequivocal triumph. Thebody's boundaries are also sites at which the world can endangerthe body. The boundaries of the body, the skin, the orifices, not onlyreflect the autonomy of the body and its encounter with the world, theyalso represent the violable vi��o��la��ble?adj.That can be violated: a violable rule; a violable contract.vi and vulnerable nature of the body inrelation to that exterior world.In this paper I explore the acts of incorporation that occur in Leletsociety generally and in the forms of shumanism associated with theimported magical cult named Buai.(2) My starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting pointterminus a quocommencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the is the body whichis a crucial site of power, both for the appropriation of powers fromothers, and as the target of acts of power by others. Central to theseacts of power is incorporation, the act of taking inside the self thatwhich is external and other. The incorporative act is predicated on thedistinction between the inside and outside, which in the process ofembodiment is dissolved, temporarily. The body as a consuming objectincorporates objects into its interior spaces that were previouslyoutside. Food in Melanesia has importance far beyond its nutritive nutritive/nu��tri��tive/ (noo��tri-tiv) nutritional. nu��tri��tiveadj.1. Of or relating to nutrition.2. Nutritious; nourishing. function, being exceedingly important on a symbolic level. Intransgressing the boundaries of the body, food is one mediator of thatdistinction between the inside and the outside. After a discussion ofeating, food and bodies, I will discuss the magical cult of Buai and themodes of initiation into that cult, in which incorporation of substancesthat give power and knowledge is a dominant theme.(3) Finally I willdiscuss methods of sorcery sorcery:see incantation; magic; spell; witchcraft. SorcerySorrow (See GRIEF.)sorcerer’s apprenticefinds a spell that makes objects do the cleanup work. [Fr. associated with this cult which are alsoladen with acts and images of incorporation, particularly cannibalistic can��ni��bal?n.1. A person who eats the flesh of other humans.2. An animal that feeds on others of its own kind.[From Spanish Can��balis, ones.I.FOOD, EATING AND THE BODY IN MELANESIAThe importance of food on the symbolic, cultural and political planehas been widely discussed in the literature on Melanesia. As Young says,it is a truism that Melanesian peoples in general value food in wayswhich go beyond its intrinsic value Intrinsic Value1. The value of a company or an asset based on an underlying perception of the value.2. For call options, this is the difference between the underlying stock's price and the strike price. for them as a necessity of life(1971:146). Rather, 'it is of utmost cultural concern' (Kahnand Sexton 1988:1). Food is widely used to create, maintain andmanipulate social relationships or, as Fajans argues, 'Foodembodies social relationships' (1988:161). It is the foremostcultural medium of sociality and functions as a means of communicatingcustom, wealth, political power and status (Kahn and Sexton 1988:6).Among the Kalauna of the Massim, food is an expression of the'culture's concern with orality: ingestion ingestion/in��ges��tion/ (-chun) the taking of food, drugs, etc., into the body by mouth. in��ges��tionn.1. The act of taking food and drink into the body by the mouth.2. as the center ofexperience' (Young 1983:47-8). This concern with orality expressesitself in some parts of Melanesia in myths and narratives that posit aprimordial-cosmogonic time where prehuman beings do not have mouths orgenital orifices as humans do, nor do they eat, or tend or plant gardens(see Panoff 1970:244 and Godelier 1986:66).Among the Maenge of New Britain New Britain, city, United StatesNew Britain,industrial city (1990 pop. 75,491), Hartford co., central Conn.; settled c.1686, inc. 1871. The tin shops and brassworks in the city were established in the 18th cent. , narratives record that in theprimordial time there existed a mythological people called theVagakusime who, unlike people today, did not have a digestive system.Food, such as whole taro taro:see arum. taroHerbaceous plant (Colocasia esculenta) of the arum family, probably native to Southeast Asia and taken to the Pacific islands. or coconuts, was thrown into the fontanelle fontanelle/fon��ta��nelle/ (fon?tah-nel��) a soft spot, such as one of the membrane-covered spaces remaining at the junction of the sutures in the incompletely ossified skull of the fetus or infant. atthe top of the skull and rejected again undigested, causing theseprimordial beings, who were not mobile but lived sitting down to besurrounded by their own excrement excrement/ex��cre��ment/ (eks��kri-mint)1. feces.2. excretion (2).ex��cre��mentn.Waste matter or any excretion cast out of the body, especially feces. of taro tubers and coconuts (Panoff1970:244). All people originally existed in this state until amythological figure called Malila, who, in competition with anothermythological figure named Nutu, covered the hole in the skull and openeda mouth in the face, giving people a proper digestive system and realfood (244). Mouths, digestive systems or orality in general are seen todefine people as people - thus the Wamiran refer to people, in general,as 'having mouths' (Kahn 1986:151).Commonly in Melanesia food is seen as an idiom of sociality and itssharing is given the highest social value (see Kahn 1980:102). Knaufthas argued that the linkage between food and exchange informs Melanesianimages of the body in various ways. At its most basic level, he says,'those whose food you consume are those whose labour, land andessence constitute your own being' (1989:223). The act of eating,through the consumption of food (as in eating and feasting) or bodies(as in cannibalism cannibalism(kăn`ĭbəlĭzəm)[Span. caníbal, referring to the Carib], eating of human flesh by other humans. ), involves the incorporation of the substance, thelabour, and ultimately the power of others by the self.While such approaches point to the significance of food as a culturalsymbol, little of the discussion adequately takes into account theambiguous nature of food and the act of eating. Food or other items thatare incorporated into the body are the means by which the body issustained or, when exchanged, social relationships are sustained. Foodand eating, as a form of incorporation in which things that are other oralterior are taken inside the body, can undermine that body - somethingI take up in more detail below.THEORISING THE BODY AND ITS BOUNDARIESIn the work of Mary Douglas Dame Mary Douglas, DBE FBA, (March 25 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism.Her area was social anthropology; she was considered a follower of Durkheim and a proponent of structuralist analysis, with a we find the rudiments of a theory of thebody and, in this, the importance of the boundaries of the body in thesymbolic structures of society. She argues that the system of thebounded body and the functioning of its various parts are the source ofsymbols for other complex structures (1984[1966]:115 and see1978[1970]). Douglas suggests that society constrains and constructs thephysical body in particular ways, through cultural discourses, andargues that the ways in which the boundaries of the body are policed arean indication and reflection of the way the society polices itsboundaries.The significance of Douglas' work is the focus on the boundariesof the body, although these tend to be conceived in too rigid a mannerand do not capture the ambiguity and fluidity of the Lelet case.Nonetheless, the work of Douglas can be used as a point of departure,since it echoes more recent work on the body. Grosz grosz?n. pl. gro��szySee Table at currency.[Polish, from Czech gro , for example, inmuch the same way as Douglas, argues that the body is 'conceived inavowedly social terms' (1987:8). She argues that the body is like atext which can be inscribed by the cultural, social and politicaldiscourses of the society within which it is located (1987 and 1990).The corporeal Possessing a physical nature; having an objective, tangible existence; being capable of perception by touch and sight.Under Common Law, corporeal hereditaments are physical objects encompassed in land, including the land itself and any tangible object on it, that can be body, if seen through this metaphor, becomes thetextualised body, a body on which messages can be inscribed, analogousto the way one inscribes a piece of paper with a pen (1990:62).Deploying a mixed metaphor that betrays a confused theory, the body isnot envisaged as merely a blank page but constitutes an active andproductive 'bedrock' onto which other discourses of power arelaid or inscribed (1990:72).I do not intend to follow the metaphor of body as text which Groszuses, because this approach is not borne out by the Lelet case and tendsto ignore other processes by which power is manifest in and through thebody. Such metaphors fail to recognise that acts of power go far beyondbeing written on the body but cut to its very core and constitute it. Inshort, acts of power are not simply surface orientated but arecorporeally cor��po��re��al?adj.1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the body. See Synonyms at bodily.2. Of a material nature; tangible. ingrained, something which the body as text metaphorelides.(4)Nevertheless, Grosz's work contributes helpful insights. Shemakes a point that seems particularly useful in comprehending bodilybelief among the Lelet and possibly in wider Melanesia. The body shouldnot be seen as a blank page or as a mere container where the interior isirrelevant. 'Rather, the inscription of its 'external'surface is directed towards the acquisition of appropriate culturalattitudes, beliefs, and values' (1987:10). The Lelet believe thatthe external surface of the body displays interior aspects of it,particularly the innermost in��ner��most?adj.1. Situated or occurring farthest within: the innermost chamber.2. Most intimate: one's innermost feelings.n. emotions, and that actions directed at theexternal surface of the body can reciprocally alter the interior.However, what I wish to highlight is their active process of embodiment,which occurs through actions that impinge on the body's outer-mostsurface or through actions that involve incorporating things that areexternal to the body.MAPPING THE LELET BODYAs is common in Melanesia, the Lelet have no generic term for thebody as such and use instead the term for skin, labantuxu (M) (seefootnote 2). This does not mean that there is no conceptualisation (artificial intelligence) conceptualisation - The collection of objects, concepts and other entities that are assumed to exist in some area of interest and the relationships that hold among them. ofthe body, rather that the skin comes to stand for the body as a whole.The Lelet divide the anatomical body into its constituent parts of skin,flesh, bones etc, but more pertinent for this paper, they make adistinction between the inside and outside of the body (see Biersack1983:93; Mosko 1985, 1991:138-40 and Iteanu 1990:41).The inside of the body - the flesh, muscles, fat and bones - arereferred to collectively as luut (M), a term which, to be accurate,refers to the flesh or meat of the body but comes to represent theinterior parts of the body. As in other parts of Melanesia, it is theinterior spaces of the body, particularly the internal organs, whichfunction as the seat of passion and which become targets of variousforms of sorcery.(5)Within the terms of the important distinction between the inside andoutside of the body, the outer surface, the skin, forms the interfacebetween the body and the world and constitutes the main locus of aperson's interaction with the world. Strictly speaking Adv. 1. strictly speaking - in actual fact; "properly speaking, they are not husband and wife"properly speaking, to be precise , the skinrefers to the covering of the spirit and consists of labantuxu, derivedfrom laban (M), a prefix applied to things that are flat or wide andwhich enclose or cover up other things. For example, labankabu (M) meanscloud and alternatively, a mat made from coconut leaves is calledlabanpotep (M). The second component of the word, tuxu (M), applies tothe 'spirit' aspect of a person, which is more commonly calledloroang (M), and consists of the life force or reflection of a body.(6)While being contained within the spaces of the body, this life force isnot irrevocably joined with the body but, as is common in Melanesia, canleave the body (loroang ira wasu (M)) and travel away from it for shortperiods of time (see also Kelly 1976:39; Schieffelin 1979:170; andStephen 1982:111).This form of flight is particularly common during sleep, andpeople's dreams are an indication of where the life force hastravelled. The travel of the loroang from its body is also common to theforms of shamanism shamanism/sha��man��ism/ (shah��-) (sha��mah-nizm?) a traditional system, occurring in tribal societies, in which certain individuals (shamans) are believed to be gifted with access to an invisible spiritual associated with the Buai cult which I examine in moredetail below. Control over the boundaries of the body by shamans allowsthem to send forth their life force on divination divination,practice of foreseeing future events or obtaining secret knowledge through communication with divine sources and through omens, oracles, signs, and portents. or sorcery journeys.It is an extremely powerful act to be able to control one's body insuch a way as to gain access to extra-territorial powers and spaces.Not only can the loroang leave the body during sleep or othercontrolled situations, it can temporarily depart from it when a personfaints (i met aro (M) - to die and get up again) or is startled, when ittakes flight through the fontanelle. Should a person fall from a tree,for example, and be knocked unconscious, people will quickly hold thefontanelle to prevent the life force from leaving the body, because itis from this site that it leaves the body permanently at death.THE SKIN AND THE REVELATION OF THE INSIDEFor the Lelet, the skin is seen as an outward materialization of aperson's interior emotional state. The skin takes on interiorstates of a person's being and displays these to the world, in aprocess of revelation whereby what is on the inside is made visible tothe outside (see O'Hanlon 1983:319). A common example, for theLelet and for wider Melanesia, is the notion of shame lying on the skinas an embodiment of socially unacceptable actions (see Strathern 1975).Similarly, if a person is weighed down by worries, this is referred toas being on his or her skin, which is said to be 'heavy'.(7)Not only does the skin come to manifest interior emotional states, italso displays a person's physical state. Thus someone with ahealthy skin, shiny and free from sores, is deemed to enjoy health andwell-being. A healthy shiny skin is highly desirable, not only becauseit is an indication of well-being but also because it is aestheticallypleasing and makes the owner a subject of others' desire. It isimportant to stress, however, that visible signs on the skin connote con��note?tr.v. con��not��ed, con��not��ing, con��notes1. To suggest or imply in addition to literal meaning: "The term 'liberal arts' connotes a certain elevation above utilitarian concerns"farmore than a person's state of health or desirability. People withsores and bodily deformity DeformitySee also Lameness.Calmady, Sir Richardborn without lower legs. [Br. Lit.: Sir Richard Calmady, Walsh Modern, 84]Carey, Philipembittered young man with club foot seeks fulfillment. [Br. Lit. are considered to be not only unhealthy andundesirable but also to embody some form of moral fallibility fal��li��ble?adj.1. Capable of making an error: Humans are only fallible.2. Tending or likely to be erroneous: fallible hypotheses. . In theimagery of body employed by the Lelet, physical health and well beingare not merely aesthetic states but are inextricably in��ex��tri��ca��ble?adj.1. a. So intricate or entangled as to make escape impossible: an inextricable maze; an inextricable web of deceit.b. intertwined withnotions of value and morality (see also Fortune 1963[1932]:136 andFrankel 1986:58). In short, moral personhood per��son��hood?n.The state or condition of being a person, especially having those qualities that confer distinct individuality: "finding her own personhood as a campus activist" is an embodied state whichis exhibited on the skin, as an outer site of a person's being.The forms of sorcery used to protect property from theft illustratethis clearly. In these types of sorcery, the skin and the body are thetarget of the sorcerer (tool) SORCERER - A simple tree parser generator by Terence Parr <parrt@s1.arc.umn.edu>.SORCERER is suitable for translation problems lying between those solved by code generator generators and by full source-to-source translator generators. , who causes monstrous deformity in the victim.People who transgress the warning signs and steal a person'sbetelnut or other prized property, are liable to incur such illnesses aselephantiasis. In this context, monstrous deformation of the skin,particularly on the legs or genitals is a clear and highly visible signof the thief's character. Not only is the transgression brought outinto the open by the thief literally wearing it on his or her skin butit is displayed in the very comportment com��port��ment?n.Bearing; deportment.Noun 1. comportment - dignified manner or conductmien, bearing, presencepersonal manner, manner - a way of acting or behaving of the body. All thethief's movements are framed and constrained by the limitationsimposed by the bodily deformities. People afflicted in this way cannotsit or walk without their body being a visual confirmation of theirmoral state. This is poignantly illustrated in the popular narrative ofLuanga, the giant cannibal pig who terrorises the population of NewIreland New Ireland,volcanic island (1990 pop. 64,615), c.3,340 sq mi (8,650 sq km), SW Pacific, in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of Papua New Guinea. New Ireland is largely mountainous, rising to c.4,000 ft (1,220 m). , forcing the population to take flight to off-shore islands. Inthis story, a woman with elephantiasis of the leg is left abandoned onthe beach by the people as they flee, because she has an embodied markof fallibility. Tragically, her desolation is reinforced even by herclose kin who make excuses to her, saying the canoes are full and thereis insufficient room for her, leaving her stranded (see also Powdermaker1933:34-5 and Wagner 1986:25).THE SKIN AS BOUNDARY AND SITE OF VULNERABILITYThe skin marks the boundary between body and world and defines theoutside of the body from the inside, distinctions which are importantfor any analysis of incorporation, whereby external things transgressthe boundaries and are taken into the interior spaces of the body. It isbecause the skin is the body's boundary that it is constructed as apoint of vulnerability for magicians, as well as being the target ofcertain forms of magic. To be able to perform magic, the skin of themagician must be devoid of the debilitating de��bil��i��tat��ingadj.Causing a loss of strength or energy.DebilitatingWeakening, or reducing the strength of.Mentioned in: Stress Reduction and destructive substancesderived from exposure to sexual fluids, primarily through sexualintercourse sexual intercourseor coitus or copulationAct in which the male reproductive organ enters the female reproductive tract (see reproductive system). . Neither must it be penetrated by weakening substances, suchas contaminated food.For the Lelet, the magician's skin can even be said to'die', in which case it loses all responsiveness to hismagical powers which are no longer effective. To retrieve this lostefficacy, the skin must undergo magical washing. One example, importedfrom the island of Lihir, is used on the Lelet if a man's effortsto use love magic fail to excite the appropriate desires in the woman:the man collects the leaves of a vine and goes to the sea, where hewashes his body with the leaves while standing in the water and lookingout to sea (see Ivens 1927:338-39; Munn 1983:285, 1986:99-100 and Roheim1948:281). When he has finished, he must throw the residual matterbetween his legs, being careful to not look in that direction whiledoing it, for if he does, the efficacy of the magic will fail. Theseforms of magic often employ plants with astringent astringent(əstrĭn`jənt), substance that shrinks body tissues. Astringent medicines cause shrinkage of mucous membranes or exposed tissues and are often used internally to check discharge of serum or mucous secretions in sore throat, and irritant ir��ri��tantadj.Causing irritation, especially physical irritation.n.A source of irritation.irritant,n 1. an agent that causes an irritation or stimulation.2. qualities which 'get up' the skin, removing propertiesantithetical an��ti��thet��i��cal? also an��ti��thet��icadj.1. Of, relating to, or marked by antithesis.2. Being in diametrical opposition. See Synonyms at opposite. to the magic. Similarly, waves are used for theirproperties of buoyancy and upward motion, which are reinstilled in thebody, again enabling it to exploit the power of magic.Certain forms of love magic (lupupulu (M) or malira) also focus onthe skin as the interface through which the interior of the body ismoved and altered. One widely known form, called lowosigin (M) after aplant with a strong and pleasing smell, uses the spirits of twelve menwho in the past were renowned for their love magic. This magic also usesplants with irritant properties to affect the woman's skin, so asto cause her to think of the man performing the magic. During the nightthe magician places plant material on the fire near his bed, the'fight' or irritant properties of these plants causing thefire to smoke. While the fire is smoking, the man sings a song recitingthe names of spirits. Meanwhile, the sleeping woman's skin startsto itch, her thoughts 'get up', and she dreams of the man whois performing the magic. Once her thinking has been aroused, shestrongly desires the man and thinks of nothing else but him, finallysearching him out to reveal her love.EATING, INCORPORATION AND THE BODY'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE WORLDThe body, or more exactly the skin, the anatomical outer reaches ofthe body, is the means by which people assimilate and know the world(see Lattas 1993:62 and also Kilgour 1990). Highly significant for thisassimilation among the Lelet is the act of incorporation which involvesan external object being taken inside the body, and in the processdissolves the boundary between internal and external world.In the act of eating, the consumer incorporates the qualitativeproperties Qualitativ e properties are properties that are observed and can generally not be measured. It should be mentioned that qualitative properties are most of the time at least as important as quanti tative properties. of things which were previously outside. To illustrate this,I cite taro, the culturally important root crop which is highly valuedfor creating certain desirable bodily states in those that consume it,most notably for the 'strength' it imparts. One or two taro inthe morning are deemed sufficient to sustain a person for a day'shard work in the garden. Taro is also highly regarded for its ability tofill the stomach completely. Other foods such as greens or pork wheneaten on their own are not sufficient to fill the stomach and must beeaten with taro. Taro is said to make the stomach 'heavy' andis highly regarded for this reason (see Mitchell 1976:25). Thesecharacteristics of taro were the reason that very young children in thepast were given taro through a ritual feeding called i mom lamandak (M)(see also Panoff 1972:382 and Jolly 1991:55). This ritual was carriedout not only to accustom the new child to taro but also to incorporateits strength-giving properties. A new born child fed only breast milk issaid to cry continuously and not to sleep well.Acts of incorporation, as the above example illustrates, areimportant in the embodiment of strength and power. But ingestion shouldnot only be seen as a beneficial encounter with the world, since thereare also risks in these acts. The sharing and exchange of food is usedto create, define and extend social relationships among friends, kin andaffines, partly because it involves a great deal of trust, particularlyon the part of the receivers who are in a vulnerable position becausefood can be adulterated a��dul��ter��ate?tr.v. a��dul��ter��at��ed, a��dul��ter��at��ing, a��dul��ter��atesTo make impure by adding extraneous, improper, or inferior ingredients.adj.1. Spurious; adulterated.2. Adulterous. and used in sorcery to bring them under thecontrol of others.Lelet sorcery attacks the body of the victim through the use ofparticles of it, exuviae exuviaethe shed skin, e.g. of a snake or other reptile. , or by targeting its boundaries. The body canbe bespelled through substances being ingested via the mouth or throughpowerful noncorporeal beings entering it through the anus or mouth andcannibalising the interior organs.If the act of ingestion can be the means through which the body comesto incorporate the world, it can also be the means through which thebody loses control to the external world (see Lattas 1993). Many typesof love magic employ the imagery of incorporation, particularly theingestion of bodily substances and exuviae as the means of initiatingdesire. Lelet men believe that women possess the most powerful form oflove magic using their menstrual blood Noun 1. menstrual blood - flow of blood from the uterus; occurs at roughly monthly intervals during a woman's reproductive yearsmenorrhea, menstrual flowadult female body, woman's body - the body of an adult woman .(8) Although men say it is moreusual for them to use love magic to excite desire in women, theycommonly believe that some women have used their menstrual blood tocapture the hearts of men. Menstrual blood is also reputedly re��put��ed?adj.Generally supposed to be such. See Synonyms at supposed.re��puted��ly adv.Adv. 1. used bywomen wishing to maintain their husband's desire and keep themfaithful.II.THE CULT OF BUAI AND THE INCORPORATION OF POWERWhile eating, as one form of incorporative act, can be the meansthrough which a person is sorcerised or brought under the control ofanother, it can also be the means by which a body is empowered. This isparticularly so in the Buai cult in which men wishing to acquireshamanic powers and knowledge ingest substances which give themconsiderable magical powers. These powers include the more malign aspectof incorporation, cannibalism, and are an extreme form of powerexercised over another in which that other is destroyed. In thesecannibalistic sorcery encounters there is a body to body confrontationin which the vital organs of an enemy are consumed. To explore thisfurther I will examine firstly the processes of initiation into Buai andthen the powerful sorcery practices of this cult.On the Lelet there has been a general decline in indigenous forms ofmagic (such as gardening magic) and an increased use of imported magic,particularly from groups who are perceived to be more powerful. Thesenew forms of magic, which have been readily assimilated within theexisting magical belief system, have been imported from other parts ofthe Bismarck Archipelago Bismarck Archipelago,volcanic island group, 19,200 sq mi (49,730 sq km), SW Pacific, a part of Papua New Guinea. The group includes New Britain (the largest island), New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands, the Mussau Islands, New Hanover, the Vitu Islands, and the Duke , the Duke of York Islands Duke of York Islands,group of 13 coral islands, 23 sq mi (60 sq km), SW Pacific, in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of Papua New Guinea. There are several coconut plantations. Duke of York Island is the largest of the group, which was formerly called Neu Lauenburg. , the top end of EastNew Britain Coordinates: East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. and to a lesser extent from parts of southern New Ireland.These new magical powers and the forms of knowledge associated with themare collectively referred to as Buai, a term which refers also to thebetelnut or areca nut areca nut (·rēˑ·k , the stimulant stimulant,any substance that causes an increase in activity in various parts of the nervous system or directly increases muscle activity. Cerebral, or psychic, stimulants act on the central nervous system and provide a temporary sense of alertness and well-being as consumed in large quantities in NewIreland and Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea(păp`ə, –y .Why these new magical forms are called Buai was beyond myinformants' knowledge, although I was offered a few tentativesuggestions as to the significance of the name and why it has beenattached to such a diverse range of magical and cult-like phenomena. Onepossibility was that just as the areca palm's fruiting hand hasmany branches bearing many fruits, so does the Buai cult also have manydiverse and different strands. Another possible reason is that the arecanut is often an important adjunct to the magical practices.(9) It issometimes left at the base of a tree or rock in which resides a bushspirit whom the ritual expert seeks out for the purposes of acquiringmagic or songs. Impregnated im��preg��nate?tr.v. im��preg��nat��ed, im��preg��nat��ing, im��preg��nates1. To make pregnant; inseminate.2. To fertilize (an ovum, for example).3. with magical substances and bespelled, it issometimes consumed by initiates in the process of acquiring the powersof Buai.(10)The practitioners of this cult are predominantly the ritual expertsor Tena Buai who are conversant CONVERSANT. One who is in the habit of being in a particular place, is said to be conversant there. Barnes, 162. with one or more forms of the magic.These practitioners of Buai have a wide range of forms of magic andmagical powers at their disposal, such as the shamanic ability todisincarnate dis��in��car��nate?adj.Divested of bodily nature or form; disembodied: disincarnate spirits.tr.v. their life force from the body and to inhabit the corporealforms of animal beings for sorcery (iniet, komkom, lusuwo). Some TenaBuai have the ability to dream and thus create the songs and dancesperformed at mortuary feasts, forms of magic to enhance and protect theperformers from sorcery attack, and numerous other forms of magic.There are considerable dangers involved in the acquisition and use ofthese powers which are thus available only to those prepared to take therisk. In addition, the use of the powers of Buai is restricted to menand it is said that if a woman were to acquire them it would affect herability to reproduce. The destructive powers of sorcery are here sharplycounterposed against the reproductive and life-giving powers of woman.If a woman who had acquired Buai gave birth, she would produce ananatomically deformed monstrous being such as a head (without a body) ora torso (without a head) or even a snake. Furthermore, I was told thatwomen do not have the ability to maintain the stringent regimen offasting and sexual abstinence Sexual abstinence is the practice of voluntarily refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity. Common reasons to deliberately abstain from the physical expression of sexual desire include religious or philosophical reasons (e.g. (ailal) required for the magical powers tobecome bonded or consubstantial con��sub��stan��tial?adj.Of the same substance, nature, or essence.[Middle English consubstancial, from Late Latin c with the body of the magician. Norunlike men, are women capable of exercising the self-control of fasting,required to regulate the boundaries of the body. Such regimes strengthenand empower the body of the Tena Buai by closing off the body tosubstances that are debilitating, antithetical and dangerous. Thevulnerable body is thus secured by intentionally and carefullycontrolling the flow of things across its boundaries, allowing onlythose things to pass that are not detrimental.A strict requirement for the practitioners of this cult is theavoidance of the consumption of pork for at least five years. Pork isprobably the most highly prized and desired item of food on the Lelet.People often bemoaned to me the lack of meat and anxiously awaited thenext feast where they could again eat pork. One reason why women couldnot attain the power of Buai was their alleged inability to maintain therequired asceticism asceticism(əsĕt`ĭsĭzəm), rejection of bodily pleasures through sustained self-denial and self-mortification, with the objective of strengthening spiritual life. ; the boundaries of their bodies would thus beviolated and they could not embody the power. Women are here beingconstructed as more corruptible than men who construct themselves ashaving more discipline.Another reason given why women should not obtain Buai has to do withideas of sexuality and a form of antithetical power associated withit.(11) Part of the regimen of abstinence of the new initiate to Buai isthe avoidance of sexual relations sexual relationspl.n.1. Sexual intercourse.2. Sexual activity between individuals. with women, not merely while they areacquiring it but for several years afterwards. The Tena Buai whoexplained this to me said that for the ritual expert to have sexualrelations with a woman would bring about his premature and untimelydeath. The Tena Buai used the metaphor of the grave, telling me thatwhen one is to acquire Buai a woman's vagina is analogous to agrave and that to have sexual relations is like stepping into the grave('samthing bilong meri i olosem metmet'). Obviously, a womancannot avoid contact with the antithetical sexual substances of her ownbody.By controlling the flow of substances across the boundaries of thebody these ascetic regimes aim to produce bodies which are lightweightwith considerable strength and power. All of the most powerful forms ofmagic, and even some minor forms, require the magician to undergo aregime of fasting and sexual abstinence. While these regimes may differin length or the types of things avoided, they all work to produce aparticular type of mastered body that facilitates the use of magic. Notonly do these ascetic regimes produce a body that is invulnerable in��vul��ner��a��ble?adj.1. Immune to attack; impregnable.2. Impossible to damage, injure, or wound.[French invuln��rable, from Old French, from Latin , theyalso produce a body which can transcend the everyday world. Inparticular, these sorts of carefully regulated and closed bodies enableaccess to the previously inaccessible world of invisible spirit beings,which are dangerous to human beings in the everyday world.(12)INITIATION AND REVELATION: INCORPORATING BUAIA prospective Buai magician is not conventionally schooled by theritually adept and knowledgeable, as occurs in other forms of magic.(13)Buai is acquired through a form of revelatory experience, achieved byritual fasting and trial by ordeal. The rituals involve the consumptionand incorporation of magically powerful substances. These substances arederived from the Tena Buai's body or are produced by him and areembodiments of his power which can be transferred to the recipient. Whatis significantly different from the forms of incorporation discussedabove, where a body comes under the power of another, say through lovemagic, is that in these initiations the body of the recipient does sointentionally and in a controlled manner. Far from the power of the selfbeing controlled by another to fulfil that other's desires, thepower of the other is harnessed for the self's benefit.One Tena Buai, with whom I became familiar, was introduced into thesecret world of Buai through a friend from the Duke of York Islands. Thetwo friends had formed a close relationship while working together inthe Defence Forces. When he and his friend visited the Duke of YorkIslands, the friend's father initiated him into the secret world ofBuai. He recounted his initiation as follows:When I went to the Duke of York Islands, my friend's father,Sakuse, referred to me as 'child' because I had looked afterhis son while we were working together. He took me to his taraiu [theTena Buai's secret hiding place where all his paraphernalia ofpower is kept] deep in the forest. It consisted of a cave surrounded bya fence. Inside the taraiu there were several skulls. Sakuse said to me'Now my son I shall give you Buai'. I was a little afraidbecause earlier I had been told; 'Either you yourself or all ofyour clan will die'. At the start of the week - early on Mondaymorning I was given some ku and two bananas which comprised my dailydiet until Friday.(14) Friday was a particularly difficult time, as Idid not receive any food. At seven that night Sakuse told me that I wasto sleep alone in the taraiu that evening which made me a little afraid,as I had seen all kinds of things in his taraiu, including a huge pythonof which I was very afraid. When I became aware that I was to sleepthere alone I was very uncertain about what was going to happen. Beforegoing to sleep I was given some plants to eat, followed by some ku whichcontained various plants, gorgor and kauwawar (ginger). During the nightI was first visited by a man who was 'bon nating' [usuallymeans thin but in this context it means skeleton], who did not have anyskin or flesh. This was meant as my first test to see if I was afraid. Ijust lay on the bed, as if I were asleep. The second test was a python,which also came while I was lying on the bed. The python smelt my legand then started to slither onto my body. It felt very cold. Although Iwas quite afraid I did not call out and kept my fear concealed. As thesnake continued to move on my body, I very nearly called out in frightas it slithered onto my stomach. I merely lay there with my eyes closed,as it moved up my body. The snake slithered up to my mouth, poking itstongue out and touching my lips. At this stage, I opened my mouth andthe python vomited into my mouth a substance which tasted similar toPK.(15) I swallowed this substance and the python left. Approximatelyfive minutes later, Sakuse came and called out to see if I was stillthere. On hearing that I was, he said 'Oh, you are a good child,you have succeeded, there is nothing else. This thing that will come upin you, you will 'grow' it in your village, for me there isnot anything else, you have taken it' [meaning the Buai].(16) Inthe following week a large feast was held, a likun, at which a type ofku also called likun was consumed. Several other Tena Buai were invitedto this feast and became aware that another person had been initiatedinto Buai. All sat down together to eat the likun, after which all theTena Buai came and shook my hand and presented me with some tambu.(17)Initially the initiate was shown various types of magic and was givena type of fragrant plant called gorgor, commonly used to occasionvisions of songs and dances (singsing), and other forms of magic, whichultimately supplement the more basic power which is transferred from theTena Buai to the initiate in the initiation process. When the initiatewas left alone to receive the Buai, he did not sleep but merely lay in arelaxed state that he compared to the condition felt after theconsumption of two or three bottles of beer, when your 'skin'is 'half dead'. The power was revealed or transferred to himby the loroang of the master Tena Buai which, upon leaving the confinesof the body, had entered the body of a python. The master magician,incarnate in��car��nate?adj.1. a. Invested with bodily nature and form: an incarnate spirit.b. Embodied in human form; personified: a villain who is evil incarnate. in the python, transferred these powers by vomiting into theinitiate's mouth (see also Stephen 1982:115). The regurgitation regurgitation/re��gur��gi��ta��tion/ (re-ger?ji-ta��shun)1. flow in the opposite direction from normal.2. vomiting. ,here, involves the bringing up of substances embodying knowledge thathave previously been hidden in the innermost recesses of the body, aprocess of revelation. Vomit, here, is more than just a metaphor forknowledge; it is a concrete embodiment of the master magician'spower.By swallowing the vomit from the python the initiate incorporates thepower and knowledge of that master within the confines of his own body,thus empowering it. The type of power transferred to the Tena Buai inthe above narrative was the power of inlet, a form of sorcery I discusslater.(18)A second ritual expert who was also initiated into the cult on theDuke of York Islands underwent a similar ritual ordeal. In this case theinitiate was given ginger and the leaves of various plants to eat. Hethen slept in a shelter in close proximity to the abode One's home; habitation; place of dwelling; or residence. Ordinarily means "domicile." Living place impermanent in character. The place where a person dwells. Residence of a legal voter. Fixed place of residence for the time being. of a masalai(ples masalai), Korroboiroy, while the Tena Buai slept in his taraiu orsecret place.(19) During the night the spirit of the Tena Buai enteredthe corporeal form of a python, which in this case had the distinctivefeature of a beard. As in the narrative recounted above, the snakewrapped itself around the body of the initiate and vomited a substanceinto his mouth, which was swallowed by the initiate. The snake,belonging to the Tena Buai, utilized the power of the masalai tofacilitate the transfer of the Tena Buai's power.Another way to acquire Buai which also involves utilising andharnessing the power of the masalai, is done by the building of a tableat its abode. Coconut oil coconut oiln.A pale yellow to colorless oil or a white semisolid fat obtained from the flesh of the coconut, widely used in food products and in the production of cosmetics and soaps.Noun 1. (ku) and various plant materials are placed onthis table - leaves, barks and fruits, which the initiate eats. Thismethod enables him to 'see' or 'dream' certainpowers, for example, to produce songs and dances. The magical power canalso be harnessed by spitting the masticated matter and juice of thegorgor plant at the ples masalai.One way to receive the power from the non-human bush beings,tambaran, also involved use of a table, from which the initiate had toconsume plant materials placed inside a number of leaf packages. Many ofthese packages when ingested caused the throat to burn. Some of theparcels were said to taste good, while others contained materials thatmade the initiate vomit and become unable to incorporate the power. Ifthis occurred, he would leave the table for that day and try again thenext. After completing the consumption of the packages, the initiatebegan a regime of abstinence and fasting, sometimes in a cave or othersecluded place. At night, prior to sleep, the initiate was visited by a'man'. This was not the man who gave the initiate the packagesto consume from the table but a tambaran who only comes to find theinitiate if he has maintained a strict regime of abstinence and fasting,these being the only conditions under which a person can usually see atambaran. When the tambaran finally comes, my informant said, you feelits presence. If the initiate is feigning sleep, it keeps theinitiate's eyes closed, but nonetheless allows him to'see' the tambaran in revelatory visions, in which the power,mysteries, knowledge and secrets of Buai are disclosed. The tambaran whocarries a basket which is full of small packages, asks the man what hewishes to have. Holding up a parcel, it asks, 'do you wish to havesorcery?' or 'do you wish to have love magic (malira)?'If the initiate desires only to have the power to 'see songs anddances (lukim singsing)', the tambaran gives the initiate therelevant package and explains the necessary procedure for achieving thepowers.Yet another way of being initiated into Buai involves the consumptionof a small fruit that is placed inside a wild betelnut which has beenpainted red with ochre. The betelnut is then placed on top of a gravedirectly above the place where the skull of the corpse would lie. Theinitiate, after having practised ritual abstinence, consumes the fruitat dusk at the abode of a masalai. As the initiate sleeps, he is shownthe power of Buai by the masalai. In this case this is the power to'see' (through relevatory dreams) songs and dances, the powerto treat illness with plant material, the power to cure sorcery and thepower to use ginger. When the man, who initially received Buai by thismethod just after the Second World War, died, there grew from his chesta ginger plant which he had told his son to plant in the bush. If theson wished, he could learn the powers of Buai by placing the gingerunder his pillow. Then, as he slept, he would have visions revealing themagical powers.These forms of initiation into the realm and powers of Buai involvethe incorporation of magical power into the interior spaces of the body.This magical power allows the ritual adept to transcend and rupture theboundaries of the normal visible and phenomenal world, a power that isnot available under normal circumstances to ordinary people. Byincorporating the powerful substances of Buai, the normal body isrefigured, allowing the loroang to transcend it and to gain access topowerful invisible worlds and powers. Through the act of consumption ofthe substances of Buai, the power of Buai is made available, but only tothose who have exercised sufficient control over their body and itsboundaries. The regulation of the body's boundaries, in lengthyabstinence from pork and sexual intercourse, allows the power of Buai tobecome consubstantial with the magician's body. To controlone's body is both an act of power and enables power to beattained.III.SORCERY AND THE SORCERER'S PARAPHERNALIAIn the previous examples, the phenomenon of incorporation was of abenign and constructive kind - merely the consumption of magicalsubstances for the enhancement and achievement of power. Now I willexamine the more destructive aspects of incorporation that exist insorcery practices. This type of sorcery is concerned with eating andincorporation as an enactment of power over another, rather than theacquisition of power from another. The three forms of this type ofsorcery originating in the cult of Buai are called iniet, komkom andlusuwo. These forms of sorcery are referred to as the 'hardstuff' of Buai, meaning they are considered the pinnacle of theTena Buai's powers. Descriptions of them often employ very graphicimages of cannibalism, which involve the consumption of the visceralorgans of the victims (see also Strathem 1982 and 1994).Some Tena Buai have greater magical powers than others. Thoseconversant with the forms of sorcery iniet and komkom are sometimesreferred to as Tena Iniet or Iniet Man. For the rest of this paper Iwill use these terms because they enable the Tena Buai who knows sorcerypowers to be distinguished from the other Tena Buai who are familiaronly with less destructive magical powers. Often the Tena Iniet willhave a secret abode, called a taraiu, from whence he practisessorcery.(20) This generally consists of a shelter, a small hut orpossibly a cave, that is surrounded by a border of colourful andfragrant plants. Many different kinds of cordyline, dracena and gingerplants are used in this border, and the taraiu, in appearance at least,bears similarities to the men's houses which also have thesespecies planted within and around them. These plants, though used inmagic, are planted also for aesthetic reasons. It is hoped that numerouscolourful, attractive and fragrant plants will attract tambaran.Inside the taraiu are kept all the important and powerfulparaphernalia of Buai magic; plants, various powerful lime powders, redochre Red ochre and yellow ochre (pronounced /'əʊk.ə/, from the Greek ochros, yellow) are pigments made from naturally tinted clay. It has been used worldwide since prehistoric times. paint, fragments of bone or even whole skulls, as well as thevarious materials for counter-sorcery that protect the taraiu fromunwanted visitors by rendering them ill. For the ritual expertconversant in the sorcery iniet, a taraiu should contain the skull ofthe sorcerer's first victim, who, in illustration of histransgressive powers, must be a member of the Tena Iniet's ownclan. This skull is placed inside the lamangadin (M), a drum-likestructure that acts like a 'magnet', drawing the loroang ofthe Iniet Man's victims into it, so that they can be used by thesorcerer. These spirits give 'power' to the lamangadin.The lamangadin is made either from strong cane or bamboo, wound toform a drum. Inside this are placed various powerful plant and treematerials which have 'fight', and a skull.(21) Cordylineleaves or ginger can be hung on the outside of the lamangadin and itsmouth must be circled by the Tolai shell necklace, tambu, which acts asa form of protective magic (babart). If this is absent the Tena Iniet isvulnerable to sorcery attack from other sorcerers. The drum alsocontains a 'picture' of a shark (something that bears aresemblance to a shark) or a shark fin or some shark's teeth may beused. The lamangadin can also contain an item, such as a feather,representing the eagle, manigulai, a common vehicle of iniet attack, oran item representing the pig. Ideally the lamangadin should contain someelement or representation of all the vehicles the Iniet Man uses for hismagical travels.INIET SORCERY ATTACK AND THE CANNIBALISING OF THE INSIDEIniet, komkom and the third, least common sorcery, lusuwo, utilisethe life forces or spirits that can be sent forth from the lamangadinand taraiu to kill the victim. These can be the loroang of the sorcereror of previous victims or even of people who have died an unnaturaldeath unnatural deathForensic medicine A death that is '…caused by external causes–injury or poisoning… which includes death… due to intentional injury such as homicide or suicide, and death caused by unintentional injury in an (birua), such as by sorcery, accident or murder. Iniet is a formof sorcery that involves the Tena Iniet, in the confines of his taraiuor hidden in the forest, consuming magical substances and performingspells that send him into a trance-like state. The Tena Iniet'slife force then becomes disincarnate and enters the corporeal form ofanother being which is used as the vehicle for attack.Commonly, the loroang of the sorcerer is said to enter the moiety moiety:see clan. eagle manigulai, although it can also enter sharks, wild pigs,stingrays, snakes, blowflies and even butterflies. The life force of theTena Inlet leaves this temporary vehicle to enter the body of thevictim, whose liver, the seat of the emotions, is eaten by theshaman's life force. The victim vomits blood, a clear sign thatthis form of sorcery has been used.Iniet is only occasionally performed from the secret abode of theTena Iniet, and must be done at times when it is exceedingly quiet.Usually this form of sorcery is performed in thick forest or some otherinaccessible place where people will not venture so that the shaman willnot be disturbed while his loroang is separated from his body in magicalflight. To interrupt a Tena Iniet at this stage causes his death, as hislife force will not return to his body, leaving merely the shell.The practitioner of iniet utilises items or objects that'picture' the vehicle - the animal, fish or bird form intowhich the life force of the shaman wishes to go - in much the same wayas described above for the lamangadin. In one form of this sorcerydescribed to me, the Tena Iniet utilises sand from the littoral zone littoral zone:see ocean. ofthe beach where the receding tide has formed 'pictures' thatbear resemblance to a shark. When performing iniet the shaman must alsotake a fragment of bone from his taraiu so that the life force (ofsomeone who has died an unnatural death) residing in his taraiu willaccompany him. He must also take the shell necklace he has been given aspayment, and this is placed together with the bone fragment. Commonlythe sorcerer will have in his possession various weapons. One Tena Inietsaid he took with him ginger, a knife, a spear and an axe when he wentto the bush to practice iniet. Another Tena Iniet said that if he wishesto enter an eagle he may take as a weapon a claw from manigulai; if hewishes to enter a pig he may take a tusk from a pig.To enter the trance state facilitating flight, the shaman may need toconsume various barks, leaves or ginger. One shaman ate a particularvine, the leaves of which, when touched, close up as if the vine weredead, while another ate ginger to bring on the state of trance. It issaid that the consumption of these powerful things brings on a state ofbodily torpor torpor/tor��por/ (tor��per) [L.] sluggishness.tor��pidtorpor re��tinae? sluggish response of the retina to the stimulus of light.tor��porn.1. that is similar to being drunk. Another sorcerer said thestate was like being dead except that the heart continued to beat. Theexperience undergone, I was told, was not a dream but was likeundergoing the exact experiences of the being into whose body the InietMan's life force had entered. Meanwhile, the shaman's bodydoes not feel or hear anything, and neither does he have the capacity ofthought. This death-like state is an essential requirement for the lifeforce to become disincarnate, for if this state is not reached it cannottake flight.The power of flight is further facilitated by a regimen of fastingand abstinence, carried out for one month prior to the journey.Immediately before the shaman's life force journeys, he mustabstain from abstain fromverb refrain from, avoid, decline, give up, stop, refuse, cease, do without, shun, renounce, eschew, leave off, keep from, forgo, withhold from, forbear, desist from, deny yourself, kick ( eating for a whole day. By controlling the ingestion ofexternal elements, the shaman's body is protected from intrusion bycontaminating and debilitating substances. The act of power ofcontrolling the boundaries of the body, as I have argued above, producesa particularly powerful body which allows the boundaries of theexperiential world to be redefined. The everyday boundaries between theliving and dead, invisible and visible are refigured by thetranscendental power inaugurated when the life force separates from thebody.In one form of inlet described to me, the sorcerer looks toward thesun as he says his incantation incantation,set formula, spoken or sung, for the purpose of working magic. An incantation is normally an invocation to beneficent supernatural spirits for aid, protection, or inspiration. It may also serve as a charm or spell to ward off the effects of evil spirits. over the various paraphernalia he hasbrought with him. One Tena Iniet cast his spells over a piece of (birua)bone that has some Tolai shell necklace (tambu) wrapped around and afeather from the eagle manigulai placed in it. The incantation consistsof three separate parts. The first summons the eagle to the shaman. Thesecond part uses the metaphor of the fire as it burns and the flamesshoot up into the air. This part calls on the shaman's tongue todart as the flames of a fire do and then the eagle to dart like this aswell. The third part of the spell uses the metaphor of water, calling onthe eagle and the shaman to move fast, as flowing water does.After the appropriate magical incantation, the Tena Iniet mustexercise extreme caution and observe a number of rules, the purpose ofwhich is to prevent the magic that the shaman has performed from turningback on him, and killing him. For example, the shaman cannot swallow hissputum sputum/spu��tum/ (spu��tum) [L.] expectoration; matter ejected from the trachea, bronchi, and lungs through the mouth.sputum cruen��tum? bloody sputum. as this would be coterminous co��ter��mi��nous?adj.Variant of conterminous.Adj. 1. coterminous - being of equal extent or scope or durationcoextensive, conterminous with swallowing the spell, thusturning the spell back on himself. To swallow one's sputum is toswallow the power of the words, to incorporate the magical spell withinthe confines of the shaman's body as opposed to projecting thepower from his body into the body of the victim. In addition, the shamancannot scratch himself, which is said to be like cutting himself.Lastly, it is said that the Tena Iniet cannot defecate def��e��catev.To void feces from the bowels.defe��cation n. , the reason beingthat he would be likely to look away from his faeces. To look away fromsomething you have done, I was told, is to deny its efficacy.When the shaman's life force comes back from its journey and herevives from his trance state, the shaman's breath will smell badand there will be flies hovering near his mouth. Sometimes theshaman's face will be bloodied or the heart of his victim will bethere, impaled on his knife or spear. After reviving from the trance,the Tena Iniet must wash himself. If near the sea, for example, he takessome leaves and goes into the water where the waves are breaking. Hemust wring the fluid in these leaves over his head and then dive underthe water to complete the washing of his body. When ashore again, hemust wash with hot water. The washing is said to remove the'fight' of the leaves and bone fragments that have been usedand is akin to the magical skin washing I described above. Failure towash means that any people the sorcerer comes into contact with areliable to be made ill, having been affected by the powerful substancesthat he has been using and which remain on his body. To complete thewashing process and to render powerless the remaining 'fight'in his stomach, the Tena Inlet must consume some ginger root which hegets from his taraiu.DEATH BY INLETI will now give a narrative of this form of sorcery attack, as it wasrelated to me by a Tena Iniet.During 1986 I was living on the coast. A man from the Duke of YorkIslands was angry with me. This man, a big Tena Buai who knew iniet,became angry because I had used some magic, a babart, to protect akandere [mother's brother or sister's son] of mine who had aconflict with a Tolai man over the running of a business they hadtogether. This Tolai man wanted to hire a Tena Iniet to kill my kandere.The Tolai man hired a man from the Duke of York Islands to do this buthe was not able to get past my protective magic [babart] and becameangry with me as a result. The Duke of York For the nursery rhyme see The Grand Old Duke of York.The title Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, been usually given to the second son of the British monarch. man then tried to kill me toenable him to get around the protective magic. All the things that I hadas babart became ineffectual; all the plants I had planted as a babartsuddenly died. And during the night I suddenly became unconscious['died'] for no apparent reason. I was very lucky, for if Ihad not shown my wife something to revive me in such a situation I wouldhave died. As my mouth was locked shut, my wife put some of the kauwawar[ginger] into a spoon and placed it between my lips. The fluid of theginger trickled down my throat and I regained consciousness. I then toldmy wife to leave me alone while I went to sleep. I wanted to'see' this man. That same night, I collected my paraphernaliaand went to a secluded place on a small island. I told a tambu [affine af��fine?adj. Mathematics1. Of or relating to a transformation of coordinates that is equivalent to a linear transformation followed by a translation.2. Of or relating to the geometry of affine transformations. ]and a brother of mine to come and check on me at a particular time. Atsix o'clock I [meaning his life force or loroang] went out in theshark, holding two knives. I used some magic to make this man from Dukeof York go out onto the sea in a canoe. He had not been thinking ofgoing fishing but he got into a canoe and drifted out near a reef. Hewas surprised to see a shark come underneath his canoe. Of these twoknives I held, one went into one side of the man and another into theother side. I then took his liver and returned in the shark's bodyto the island. When I arrived at the breaking of the waves my two legsstarted to move. I got up, it was if I was drunk. My hands were coveredwith blood and there was blood dripping from my mouth. The liver of theman was impaled on the knife I was holding. I threw the two knives,including the one which had the liver impaled on it onto the ground.Blow flies started to sit on the blood on my hands. When I got up I saidto the people who had come to check on me, here's the liver of theman, I have killed him.This narrative illustrates the commonly held beliefs about iniet; themagical flight using a familiar's vehicle and cannibalising thevictim, particularly the liver, the seat of the emotions. A more commonform of attack utilises the eagle manigulai, which perches on a branchnear the victim. The life force of the shaman leaves the bird and entersthe victim's body via the orifices that render the body vulnerable,particularly the mouth and anus. Once inside the body, the liver iscannibalised. These acts of displacing the loroang from its body toother bodily forms are exceedingly powerful acts, mirroring thetransformative power possessed by other non-human beings like masalaiand tambaran, from which these powers are often obtained. Not only dothese shamanic sorcery travels involve the transgression of theboundaries of the shaman's body, they also transgress the limits ofnormal relationships. These types of cannibalistic attack targeting theinterior visceral organs of the body are also a notable feature of anumber of the other powerful forms of sorcery that are common to thecult of Buai, namely komkom and lusuwo, which I will now discuss.KOMKOM, LUSUWO AND THE CANNIBALISM OF THE INSIDEKomkom utilises the life forces of those that have been killed by thesorcerer and of people who in life were particularly aggressive. Thisgroup of life forces, used as a weapon by the sorcerer, is calledlibines, and is also used in the sorcery lusuwo, described below. Thelibines reside in the taraiu, in the lamangadin, or in the attractiveand colourful cordyline or dracena plants that practitioners of Buaihave planted in abundance around the taraiu. One Tena Iniet I visitedsaid his libines resided in a three metre high dracena plant growing inhis men's house yard. Here the libines can be used to guard thetaraiu against unwanted intruders. The libines are useful for thoseattacks where the victim has employed powerful forms of counter sorceryor protective magic (babart). The libines use the bodies of reptiles,animals or birds as their vehicles. Komkom can use a single form, suchas a lizard, to eat out the insides of the victim, or it can use a wholegroup. Libines can take the form of a seething seethe?intr.v. seethed, seeth��ing, seethes1. To churn and foam as if boiling.2. a. To be in a state of turmoil or ferment: mass of snakes or a flockof birds. Commonly it is said that the libines can consist of up toseventy crows. They travel in search of the victim and, when in birdform, hover above while the life forces of the sorcerer's previousvictim enter the victim to eat or tear out the liver. Following death,the victim's life force is said to be incorporated into the libineswith those of past victims. I was told by one sorcerer that if theselife forces succeed in killing a victim for the sorcerer, they cut offthe head to draw the victim's life force to the taraiu.Lusuwo or suwo, which derives from the island of Lihir, is anotherform of sorcery practised by some Tena Iniet and is similar to iniet.Like komkom, lusuwo is very useful against those people that have strongprotective magic and also utilises the libines. This form uses snakesand lizards (or other familiars) that are said to enter a person'sanus and cannibalise v. i. 1. to eat human flesh.v. t. 1. to use parts of (something, such as a machine), to repair something else.Verb 1. cannibalise - eat human fleshcannibalize the liver and internal organs, causing death.Following a person's death, it is said that the sorcerer'svehicle goes on to kill each member of that person's clan untilthere are none left.Like the sorcerer who practices iniet, the practitioner of lusuwomust perform a regimen of ritual abstinence and fasting to heighten hispowers. This sorcery is similar to other forms of assault sorcery suchas sanguma, where the victim is initially assaulted and then sent on hisor her way unaware that organs have been taken from his or her body orlethal objects inserted into it. In lusuwo, however, it is thevictim's life force that is initially attacked and destroyed.Following the destruction of the loroang, the body is attacked by thesorcerer's adepts, the libines.This form of sorcery uses a fire, for which the sorcerer must cutample firewood, to make it large and hot. There must also be many vines,which represent the snakes that do the final killing. Initially, thesorcerer must dig a hole into which the vines are placed along with someexuviae of the intended victim. The firewood is placed over these and,after the incantation of a spell, the fire is started using kerosene keroseneor kerosine,colorless, thin mineral oil whose density is between 0.75 and 0.85 grams per cubic centimeter. A mixture of hydrocarbons, it is commonly obtained in the fractional distillation of petroleum as the portion boiling off toensure a particularly quick and ferocious blaze.Unlike iniet, in lusuwo the loroang of the sorcerer does not becomedisincarnate and take flight from his body. This sorcery uses thelibines to draw the life force of the victim to the place where the fireis. The victim's loroang approaches the fire from a direction goingtowards the sun. This, it is said, means the life force of the victim isblinded by the sun, enabling the sorcerer waiting near the fire todispatch it into the fire. This is done, I was told, by the sorcererhitting the life force with a large piece of wood so that it stumblesinto the fire. Immediately the life force of the man is consumed by theflames, the snakes enter and attack his body, which has remained behind.In the form described to me, the sorcery employed the highly poisonousbanded sea snake, lisikiang (M), which enters the victim by the anus todevour de��vour?tr.v. de��voured, de��vour��ing, de��vours1. To eat up greedily. See Synonyms at eat.2. To destroy, consume, or waste: Flames devoured the structure in minutes. the liver and insides. The attack by snakes could be followed byan attack by lizards and then an attack by pythons who complete the taskof eating the victim's internal organs. As a result of thissuccession of cannibalistic attacks the victim vomits and passes bloodbefore finally dying.CONCLUSIONUnlike some recent work in which discussion of shamanism is focussedupon the debate inaugurated by Godelier about the nature and evolutionof particular types of political system in Melanesia, my concern herehas been with the central role of the body in the forms of power andknowledge associated with shamanism (Godelier 1986; see also Godelierand Strathern 1992 and particularly Strathern 1994).My effort has been towards distinguishing the detailed bodilypractices that form the basis of the material operations of power, inorder to begin to grasp the difference of this people's way ofunderstanding and acting within their world. For the Lelet,incorporation is the primary means through which the shamanic knowledgeand power is obtained and practised. The conceptualisation of the bodyas an external skin covering the internal body of flesh, bones andorgans results in a dichotomy of internal/external or inside/outside.However, this dichotomy is not to be seen as inflexible and immutablyfixed but, on the contrary, as undergoing constant renegotiation aspeople engage with the world and with other people. My discussion is oneindication of the extensive manner in which the Lelet focus upon thebody as a source and centre of power. Central to Lelet ideas of powerand its operation is control of the body's boundaries and thecrossing of those boundaries in incorporative acts, such as eating andingestion.It is at the margins or boundaries of the body, particularly at thosesites on the skin that open up into the interior spaces of the body,such as the mouth, that the body engages, assimilates and incorporatesthe world. Incorporative acts are part of the process by which theoutside is made inside, and the uncanny made canny. It is because suchincorporative acts comprise part of the process by which the selfassimilates that which is external and other to itself, that the act ofingestion, whether in relation to food, sexuality or knowledge, formssuch a pervasive and powerful image both for the Lelet and moregenerally in Melanesia.The boundaries of the body, the skin, the orifices, not only reflectthe autonomy of the body and its encounter with the world, but also itsvulnerability to that exterior world. The act of incorporation is, thus,an ambiguous act. This is where many studies which examine food and itsrole in the creation of social relationships fail because they focussolely on the acts of giving and consumption of food as processes bywhich people nurture one another. While I agree that food is employed toinitiate and sustain social relationships, such univocal positionsromanticise Verb 1. romanticise - interpret romantically; "Don't romanticize this uninteresting and hard work!"glamorize, glamourise, romanticizeidealise, idealize - consider or render as ideal; "She idealized her husband after his death"2. sociality and ignore the ambiguous and plural ways in whichacts of incorporation are conceived and deployed. Incorporation,including eating, involves the potential for danger as well as thepotential for nurturance. External objects, benign and beneficial orpowerful and dangerous, can enter or trangress the boundary between theperson's body and the world, particularly at the orifices. Theinsecurity involved in the body's boundaries is dramaticallyevident in the extreme acts of power associated with Buai, in which thebody's boundaries are the place of entry by familiars launched bythe sorcerer for attack of the visceral organs which are consumed.Just as weaknesses of the body's boundaries can permit the entryof detrimental forces, so too can they allow advantageous knowledge andpower to enter. This was shown particularly in the Buai cult, where theincorporation of substances from master shamans made available magicalpowers. The initiation into this cult is a dangerous and risky businessand involves the intentional opening up of the body to things normallyexcluded. Thus, while people usually carefully avoid contact with thepowerful non-human beings and magical substances associated with Buai,under the controlled circumstances of initiation, the opening of thebody's boundaries to danger becomes an empowering act. Suchinitiations speak clearly of the Lelet's understanding of power andknowledge as being embodied.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis paper has benefited greatly from the feedback and constructivecomments of Roe Sybylla, Andrew Lattas, Margaret Jolly and Nils Bubandt,as well as from helpful suggestions by Jeremy Beckett and an anonymousreviewer.NOTES1 This paper is based on fifteen months' fieldwork among theMandak-speaking people of the Lelet plateau in Central New Ireland(Papua New Guinea). The Lelet are the only remaining residents of themountainous backbone of New Ireland, having resisted colonial pressureto relocate on the coastal fringe as other inland populations have done.The population of approximately five hundred people live in widelydispersed hamlets centred around four main villages which form thenucleus of social and political life. The Lelet, like others in theMandak language area, are divided socially into two exogamous ex��og��a��my?n.1. The custom of marrying outside the tribe, family, clan, or other social unit.2. Biology The fusion of two gametes that are not closely related. matrilineal mat��ri��lin��e��aladj.Relating to, based on, or tracing ancestral descent through the maternal line. moieties, Bik Pisin or Manigulai and Liklik Pisin orTaragau. These moieties are further divided into matriclans andmatrilineages. Predominantly, the Lelet are swidden swid��den?n.An area cleared for temporary cultivation by cutting and burning the vegetation.[Dialectal alteration of obsolete swithen, from Old Norse svidhna, to be burned.] agriculturalistswhose main crops are taro and sweet potato sweet potato,trailing perennial plant (Ipomoea batatas) of the family Convolvulaceae (morning glory family), native to the New World tropics. Cultivated from ancient times by the Aztecs for its edible tubers, it was introduced into Europe in the 16th cent. . Due to the temperate climatethey successfully grow and market a variety of European and Asianvegetables which produces the main cash income.2 Italicized words designate both Tok Pisin Tok Pis��in?n.A pidgin based on English and spoken in Papua New Guinea.[Pidgin English, from Englishtalk + Englishpidgin.] and the vernacular Mandaklanguage. The latter are delineated from the Tok Pisin terms by an (M)when first used.3 The cult of Buai is discussed in a number of anthropologicalstudies of the New Ireland and New Britain area. Wagner (1986) isprobably the most detailed, analysing the notions of power and secrecy.Others have examined dance and sorcery (Nachman 1981) and theTubuan/Dukduk cult which has similarities to Buai (Albert 1987 andErrington 1974).4 Grosz does say that the body should be seen as a political object,in that it is not outside of power relations. Neither is it fixed orinert, but is constituted as a plastic material, which is 'capableof being formed and organised in quite different ways' (1987:3).However, as it stands this theory still constitutes the body as apassive object of power, paying insufficient attention to the activeagency of the body itself.5 This is represented widely in Tok Pisin by such notions as bel ihat, bel i hevi, bel nogut etc. Although these glosses do notnecessarily represent an accurate portrayal of the site from which theemotions are generated, they point to the importance of the insideorgans and interior spaces of the body in this role. For the interiorspaces of the body as a target of sorcerers, witches and spirits, seeKelly (1976:39); Roheim (1948:307) and Strathern (1982:113).6 In Christian discourse the loroang is associated with the spirit orsoul of a person. A more accurate designation for my purposes is lifeforce because this entity has corporeal components which glosses such asspirit tend to miss. Semantically, the stem for loroang - is life (loro(M)). The reflection of a person is also referred to as loroang whilethe shadow is referred to as lamau.7 The importance of the skin is a common theme in Melanesiancosmologies. The Kaimbi perform spirit ceremonies so the skin will behealthy (Nelson 1971:421) and among the Huli the 'shine of aperson's skin is synonymous with synonymous withadjective equivalent to, the same as, identical to, similar to, identified with, equal to, tantamount to, interchangeable with, one and the same as health' (Frankel 1986:107).See also Bell (1957:139 and 1938:410-11); Goodale (1980:127);Powdermaker (1933:229-31) and Roheim (1950:280).8 Women believe the opposite - that men possess the most powerfullove magic. Due to the potency of menstrual blood, only a small amountis used and should a man be given a large amount it would be detrimentalto his health.9 This is supported by a ritual adept named Turan interviewed by Enosin Gigibori (1977:1).10 A primary use of the betel nut is as a gift, iconic of sociality.It is ironic that an item of sociality is used to designate a cult thatis predominantly a sorcery cult, which undermines that idiom ofsociality.11 Sexuality is associated with an antithetical form of power calledlaram (M), which is sometimes referred to as female 'fight'.It would be erroneous to label this a form of pollution, as such formsof power are often glossed. Such a gloss may be appropriate in somecontexts, but in the Lelet case it tends to obscure the complex formthis power takes and its more general relationship to bodies and bodilystates. A similar argument is put by Faithorn who suggests thatsubstances (such as menstrual blood, the placenta, or semen) 'arenot inherently polluting, rather they are extremely powerful substancesthat may be dangerous if not carefully controlled' (1975:139). Seealso Keesing (1985 and 1989). I have explored some of these issues in mydoctoral thesis (Eves 1994).12 Of course closure of the body is never absolute and even the moststringent regimes involve the consumption of some food. Ideas aboutregulating the boundaries of the body are widespread throughoutMelanesia, although the substances avoided and the reasoning involvedvary. See Bowden (1987:189); Gell (1979:146); Hayano (1973:184);Lawrence (1987:26); Mosko (1983:26 and 1985) and Stephen (1979:154-5,1982:110, 1987:43, 57, 60-1).13 I say predominantly because people who are not ritual experts mayknow some of the lesser forms of magic. Young men, for example, willoften know forms of love magic which have come from the Buai cult.14 Ku is made by placing heated stones in coconut milk until it isreduced to a thick oily cream. Ku and bananas are a common diet forthose undergoing fasting for magical purposes.15 PK is a brand of chewing gum chewing gum,confection consisting usually of chicle, flavorings, and corn syrup and sugar (or artificial sweeteners). Prehistoric people are believed to have chewed resins. . The use of the mouth inincorporating the shamanic power into the body is common in other partsof Melanesia. It has been reported among the Marind Anim that shamanicpowers were acquired by the drinking of cadaveric ca��dav��er?n.A dead body, especially one intended for dissection.[Middle English, from Latin cad fluid (Van Baal1966:888). Eliade, in his wide study of shamanism, gives an example fromamong the Yakut where the shamanic initiation is carried out by themaster spitting his own saliva into the mouth of the initiate who mustswallow it (1964:114).16 Robert Foster Robert Foster can refer to: Robert "Bob" Foster, current Mayor of Long Beach, CA Robert Sidney Foster, former governor-general of Fiji Robert Foster, Jamaican track and field athlete Robert Foster, the Lord Chief Justice of England , a colleague who also worked in New Ireland on theisland of Tanga Tanga(täng`gə, –gä), city (1994 est. pop. 190,000), capital of Tanga prov., NE Tanzania, a port on the Indian Ocean. It is a commercial, industrial, and transportation center, connected by rail with the interior of Tanzania. , generously allowed me to hear a taped interview of adiscussion with a man initiated into Buai on Tanga. In this case theinitiate consumed an areca nut, which was also said to grow inside hisstomach over time.17 Tambu is a form of shell necklace or valuable used by the Tolaipeople and has wide currency in the Duke of York of Islands and theGazelle Peninsula Gazelle PeninsulaPeninsula, extending northeast from the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Located in the South Pacific Ocean, the Gazelle Peninsula is about 50 mi (80 km) wide but tapers to 20 mi (32 km) where it joins the mainland. of East New Britain.18 The python that transferred this power to my informant is now usedby him, along with a second snake, as a guard in his trade store.19 Masalai or larada (M) are a class of non-human bush being that areincarnate in various (often unusual) forms of animal (pigs, sharks,possums, snakes, dogs), humans (white people) or natural phenomena(water pools, large trees, or rock outcrops). This type of being is seenas extremely powerful and has the power to transform itself into, and beincarnate in, other body forms. Resident on matri-clan lands, masalaioccupy an important role in land tenure land tenure:see tenure, in law. and are considered as kin by thematri-clan members. These beings have the ability to cause illness anddeath in certain categories of affines who have married into the Clanand who transgress the masalai abodes. Sometimes this involves thesebeings, incarnate as snakes, entering the body via the orifices andresiding there until death results. I have explored this more fullyelsewhere. See Eves (1994). Beliefs in masalai have widespread currencyin New Ireland. See Albert (1987:91-9); Clay (1977:37-8 and 1986:50-6);George (1988:50-104); Jessep (1980); Wagner (1986:99-120). Therelationship between masalai and another bush being, commonly calledtambaran or lagas (M), is a complex one, but for simplicity it can besaid that all tambaran that are resident in close proximity to the abodeof a masalai (ples masalai or lubungtada (M)) are considered to beincarnations of the masalai, whereas those tambaran that live far fromthe abode of the masalai are considered to be only tambaran.20 Taraiu is a Duke of York Islands term for men's house. SeeErrington (1974:62-3 and 252).21 I was told that there are two kinds of payment for iniet, thefirst being money and/or shell necklaces, and the second being thekilling by the Tena Inlet of a person from his own clan. If the sorcererdoes not kill a clan member it is said that the magical power will not'adhere' to him. If he kills a mother, brother, sister oranother member of his own clan, he will be able to use the Buai, as ithas adhered properly. 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