Raphael Warjri

By Raphael Warjri

When the sound of wealth is heard, the human ear can not resist listening to it again and again. The old lady was about to throw it on fire, but hesitated and decided to keep it properly, without anybody’s knowledge. That was the onset of the Thlen sorcery cult in Khasi society. As it grows, the  reptile demands a secluded habitat in precious articles, like gold and coral ornaments or Paila Ksiar and exquisite silk garments or Dhara and Muka. Initially, the old lady was not aware of its prerequisites and complied with everything that it demanded and experienced gradual material opulence.

When the creature comes of age and becomes a full-grown serpent demon, it asks for a ‘Langthohkhlieh’, which literally means a marked head of a goat. The lady would bring a white marked head goat to the mammon-serpent, but it reacted with fury and dire hysteria. The old lady may not comprehend the analogy, but be reminded of the opulence and tolerates his dreadful reaction, and humbly urges him for clarity. To her astonishment, the mammon serpent gave a direct reference to human beings that he would savour human blood perpetually. The old lady is all set to engage as a sorcerer and ensure that the demand of the mammon-serpent demon is fulfilled. The rituals of sorcery involve a ‘Yiadtangsnem’ or seasoned distilled alcohol, a fresh fowl’s egg, rice grains, gold and coral ornaments, exquisite Dhara and Muka garments silver piercing implements, brass or copper plate and cup and a ‘Japung’, a specific species of bamboo cylinder. The sanctity of the cult requires the lady to be thoroughly bathed before the commencement of the ceremony and should enter barefoot at the altar of the ritual, designated in the central chamber of the house, cordoned off by a concealed wall. It is said that alcohol and rice grains meant for the rituals are diluted with the potion of sweat of the mammon-serpent collected during the ceremony. The hereditary of the practice passes to the kinfolk of the old lady with concurrence to abide by the cult and all the precious articles are embedded with the elixir potion of the mammon-serpent demon. The lady sorcerer acquires the aptitude to enchant the victims with rice grains mixed with elixir potion to captivate the people with a weak aura that are more vulnerable to the practice of witchcraft.

Another version of the resurgence of the mammon-serpent is that the old lady throws away a portion of the python meat into the outskirt of her homestead and another lady comes across the moving piece of meat that gradually germinates into a reptilian larvae. The new lady also wanted to kill the creature, but it pleaded again with the same promise of wealth and prosperity. Although she was reluctant to catch the weird creature, the lady sought an alternative option to carry the horrific creature home. Before she could find any solution, the crow caught it in her beak and flew away. The lady tried to chase after the flying crow, treading through the bushes and jungle pathways until it rested on one of the branches of a tree. The lady halted beneath the tree, held her hands on both sides of her striped apron or ‘Jaiñkyrshah’ and patiently waited for the awfully precious serpent. After a while, the crow squeaks and the piece falls into the apron of the lady as anticipated. She hurriedly grabbed the eerie creature and took it home, and was tantalised by the whimsical intonation of its demand for an epicurean abode. Nevertheless, she becomes another sorcerer and resorts to the same fate of practising witchcraft. The Sorcerers may lead a normal lifestyle in society, but their role of a witch is confined to their personal routine of discrete  cult of feeding the mammon serpent with human blood. The sorcerers would always carry the rice grains or ‘Khaw Tyndep’ to cast away some kind of hypnotic trance on their victims before they attempt to obtain any of their belongings, like a strand of hair, gold ornaments or a cut piece of garments. However, the hired manslaughter were hallucinated with the alcohol of an elixir potion and sighted an illusion on the victims like moths and butterflies. Then they would attack the victim face-on by strangulation and pierce the silver pincer from the nostril or from the finger nail groove to collect the spilling blood on the Japung bamboo cylinder.

Thlen or mammon-serpent is one mythical creature that could transformed into several features of malevolent identities and the common occurrences are a black cat without tail on rooftop, a scaleless fish in the fireplace, an ugly toad in the courtyard and a perspiring python during the ceremonial cult. Thlen sorcery is usually kept in the custody of an old lady who tends and provides with the desire of the mammon-serpent demon for human blood and menfolk are hallucinated manslaughter or ‘Menshohnoh’ who commit murder with specific instructions and weapons provided by the lady keeper of the cult. The professional manslaughter  would be assigned by the lady sorcerer to the task of collecting blood of human beings, and when they deliver the Japung bamboo cylinders to the lady sorcerer, she would keep them in the secluded location in the outskirt of the village around the periphery. All the articles for the ceremony are kept in a special chest meant for the purpose, which is devoid of any iron nails or hinges, because the mammon-serpent decries any iron implements since his tragic death by molten iron and that is substantiated with the customary utility of silver pincers and brass and copper utensils in the sorcery.

During the performance of the witchcraft, the virtual image of the victims appears on the brass or copper plate for the mammon-serpent to devour it. When the mammon-serpent swallows the delusive image on the plate, the victim will experience severe suffering and swelling on their faces. The common symptoms are bulging eyelids and cheeks with lethargy and the ideal remedy is to seek the intervention of shamans or preferably the spiritual healers of royal descent. Usually the queen-mother or any old lady of the royal clan are legitimate healers by tradition, including their male counterparts. The method of healing is to singe a strand of hair of the victim with an iron bar and provide them with pure sacred water. If the virtual image of the victim is not yet swallowed by the mammon serpent, then it could be saved, otherwise the victim might succumb to the demonic spell.