By FabianLyngdoh

The kur (clan) was an institution around which the Khasi thought revolves. Therefore, understanding of the individual life and collective life of the Khasis can only be understood in the context of the kur. This article is in continuation of my article, ‘Psychology of ‘ka rngiew’ in Khasi thought.’ According to the principles of Khasi thought, the rngiew (spirit) of a departed member of the kur can be transferred to the new born members in the kur. This can be found out through divination or through some signs in the child which reveal the personality of the deceased kur member. For example, if there was a maternal uncle in the kur who has lost his finger in an accident, or who has been murdered by strangulation, such facts would be recorded in the memory of the kur from generation to generation. If in a later generation, a child is born in the kur with a particular finger missing, or with black spots around the neck, that child would be ‘pynkam-kyrteng’ (declared as a replica) of the ancestor who had met with such a fate in his life time because he is considered to have replaced of filled up the position or rngiew of the deceased maternal uncle of the kur and in society.

This is called ‘ban mih-kyrteng’ or ‘mihsalan.’

 A girl child can also take the rngiew of one of the departed mothers in the clan. This concept of ‘kamih-kyrteng’ among the Khasis is different from the doctrine of transmigration of souls in Hinduism. U kyrteng (ancestor) whose rngiew is temporarily transferred to a boy is considered a guardian angel or caretaker of the boy until he attains adulthood when he has acquired his own ka rngiew. The boy on the other hand is considered ‘u mihsalan’ or u ‘kyrteng’ which means one who takes the place or fills the gap in the kur left by the departed maternal uncle. In the transmigration of souls of the Hindus, the rngiew and soul can immigrate from man to man or from man to animal. In the mih-kyrteng of the Khasis the rngiew can shift only from one human being to another but not to animals. In the transmigration of souls, the soul of a dead man can be reborn in another man, but in ka mih-kyrteng the soul of the dead person is not reborn. The soul of the departed uncle has a separate spiritual existence, and the boy on whom the uncle’s rngiew is transferred has his own separate soul given by God. The boy as u mihsalan simply takes over the footsteps, the position and status of the deceased uncle temporarily for as long as he does attain adulthood and build a rngiew of his own. The Khasi elders believe that when a child is sick, it is not due to his/her sin or fault because he/she has not attained the age of discernment. Therefore they appeal to his/her u/ka kyrteng not to be disappointed on account of any reason, and to intercede with God for the health of the child. But when a person attains adulthood and has built up his/her own ka rngiew, his sickness is attributed to his/her own faults and failings which caused him/her to meet the condition of ka jem rngiew (imbalance).

We can observe man’s physical form by the eyes; we can gauge his mentality through knowledge of psychology, but to know or see his spiritual personality we have to be able to stand from the spiritual realm. All beings in the cosmos, except man, can clearly see their own spiritual status and the status of others. Even a tiger, a bear or an elephant can see ka rngiew of every man and woman, and they can see among men and women who are ba la jem rngiew(deranged spiritual personality) or whose spirituality is intact (ba dang eh rngiew). Among the living humans, only those persons who have been ordained with spiritual authority as priests of the kur can stand from the spiritual realm and see the spiritual personality not only of their own clan members, but of every human being.   

 As in any other tribe, the Khasis too believe that diseases are caused by the hostile spirits, the ghosts, and even by the spirits of dead clan members, as a punishment for some commissions or omissions which displeased them. They also believe that such spiritually caused diseases must be cured spiritually. There is something among the Khasis called ‘ka stad’, or ‘ka slu-ka pyrsad’ or the mysterious spiritual power which enables the jha (practitioner) to heal people from sickness. In the original traditional belief and practices of the Khasis, the chief maternal uncle was the closest in lineage to ka ïawbei (ancestral mother) who was the chief guru or jha of the clan.

The chief maternal uncle of each kur keeps a memory of everything about the kur together with the names of ka ïawbei, u suidnia and other departed members of the kur of many generations in his heart, which are unknown to the other members of the kur. The Khasis believe that people would not get sick if there is no reason which displeases the spirits of ancestors, or other gods and goddesses or the demons of the hills and valleys. There must have been some lapses on the part of the sick person or his other kur members that weakens his ka rngiew and opens an opportunity for the evil spirits to attack. To heal him the kur has to submit before God the creator through the intercession of ka ïawbei and suidnia, by calling upon their personal names. If the sick person is a child, it is sufficient to call upon the spirits of u kyrteng or ka kyrteng of the child. When the kur religion is well instituted and powerful, all religious rites necessary for the healing are done by the chief maternal uncle of the kur itself, and not by any jha from east or west, from left or right. Ki nongshat-nongkheiñ (priests and diviners) of the true religion of the Khasis are the uncles of the kurs in each and every kur religion who invoked the spirits of ka ïawbei, u suidnia and other ancestors of his own kurs, and not the spirits of gurus from the east and the west. Ki nongshat-nongkheiñ in the community religions are those who are appointed by the particular kurs who hold religious offices as lyngdoh and sohblei or any other religious position in the raid and the hima. No individual man can without the authority of ka sad ka sunon (rituals) of his own kur appoint himself as a u nongshat-nongkheiñ (priest and diviner) either in the kur religion or in the religion of the raid or hima.

Today, many of the so called nongshat- nongkheiñ and nongkñia- nongkhriam no longer stand on the holy cult of the kur-religion. It was discovered that most of the important secrets of all the present spiritual practices are no longer reckoned to the spirits of ka ïawbei and suidnia of the clans but to the spirits of the dead gurus by calling upon their personal names, which the practitioner has to secretly and reverently invoke during his ritual. Some examples of spiritual mantras are: :-“Sngin la pa snginsngan la pa sngan, u Lak u Shing…”; “koLuhko Duh, Biskorom…”; “ko san guru man guru…”; “heiko Bari bhai Sari bhai…”; “lekthiallengshunaiibormanigunmathakhabi…”; “O Ramphukamar, BamonKamar” The dots after the mantras indicate the names of the gurus to be called upon from their spiritual realm or om-shanti. It is in such cases that many of the writers on the subject of the Khasis’ religious rites have to simply write that the lyngdoh (priest) recites something only to himself, or they just indicate by writing (. . . . . .) for the mantras and the names of dead persons or gods or demons whatever they might be. One elder who was involved in this kind of practice told this writer that he starts with a prayer to God: “O God Lord, Master, and Creator,” for establishing the legitimacy of his practice. Then he continues by invoking the names of his gurus, whether three-gurus, nine-gurus or twelve-gurus according to the need of the case at hand. His report clearly indicates that his practice has nothing to do with the names of the ïawbei and suidnia of his clan but to spirits of gurus who constitute the line of spiritual practices which mostly come from tantric Hinduism and other occult practices from neighbouring tribes. So, there are many questions still to be answered with the issues of conserving and protecting traditional healing among the Khasis.