Malay Magic by Walter William Skeat
8. MEDICINE
276 words | Chapter 76
"The successful practice of (Malay) medicine must be based on the
fundamental principle of 'preserving the balance of power' among the
four elements. This is chiefly to be effected by constant attention to,
and moderation in, diet. To enforce these golden precepts, passages
from the Koran are plentifully quoted against excess in eating or
drinking. Air, they say, is the cause of heat and moisture, and earth
of cold and dryness. They assimilate the constitution and passions
of man to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and the seven planets, etc."
"The mysterious sympathy between man and external nature ... was the
basis of that system of supernatural magic which prevailed in Europe
during the Middle Ages." [651]
The foregoing quotation shows that the distinctive features of the
Aristotelian hygienic theory, as borrowed by the Arabs, did eventually
filter through (in some cases) until they reached the Malays. Such
direct references, however, to Greek theories are of the rarest
character, and can hardly be considered typical.
Most of the more important rites practised by the Malay medicine-men
(Bomor [652]) may be divided into two well-defined parts. Commencing
with a ceremonial "inspection" (the counterpart of our modern
"diagnosis"), the Bomor proceeds to carry out a therapeutic ceremony,
the nature of which is decided by the results of the "inspection." For
the purposes of the diagnosis he resorts to divination, by means of
omens taken from the smoke of the burning censer, from the position of
coins thrown into water-jars (batu buyong), and parched rice floating
upon the water's surface.
The therapeutic rites, on the other hand, may be roughly classified
as follows according to their types: [653]--
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