In my continuing research to understand a way of life I was told is nameless, I have stumbled across a term which in Indian culture, clearly depicts my Mama’s practices. The term Ojha is used in many modern Indian languages for an upper class Brahmin. This term has been derived from Sanskrit over time. Literal translations vary, but one such example is “[s]he who controls the spirits on Earth”. It is also the name given to the profession of an exorcist. These individuals are healers and diviners and are usually responsible for folk and spiritual medical practices, although modern medicine is used as a backup on occasion. The term is used by Hindu speaking populis in India, and the Santal’s, a nomadic tribal people of India.Knowing that my family is of mixed heritage, and our Indian heritage resided in North India, and includes Nepal and Tibet, it is possible that part of Mama’s heritage may stem from the Santal’s, based on her spiritual practices.The Santal believe in supernatural beings and ancestral spirits. Santali rituals are mainly comprised of sacrificial offerings and invocations to the spirits, or bongas. Hindu specialists tattoo the girls at age fourteen, following the first menstruation ceremony. My Mama and her sisters, who also carry the gift, all have tattoos on their hands at the junction between their thumb and index finger. Mama’s in a crescent moon and she received it as a teenager.
As you may have previously read on my site, Mama’s spirit, Devi Mata, instructed her to stop performing blood sacrifice of chickens, and gave her other instructions, some of which were passed on to me. But as my search to continue my family research and my own spirituality continues, I feel if not a blood relation (there will be no way to know for sure), at least a kinship to this nomadic tribe.
The following was extracted from the article:
Five Elements in Santhal Healing, by: N. Patnaik
http://www.ignca.nic.in/ps_01016.htm
(Edited for size, only sections relating to Ojha have been included.)
The Santhals believe that as long as the balance between human beings and nature and supernatural beings is maintained there would be harmony, peace, health and happiness in life. It is their belief that any sinful act, incest and infringement of social customs makes anyone who commits such an offence suffer from illness. Otherwise a human being has a natural right to live up to old age in good health and die a natural death.The evil spirits, whose number is legion in the Santhal world, are enemies of men and bent upon harassing them and eating up their vitality and causing illness and death. There are priests in every Santhal village to propitiate the deities and there are medicine-men and magicians to neutralize the effects of sorcery, evil eye and witchcraft. The institution of ojha-ship and training given on herbal medicine and healing practices is very elaborate and well-established. The ojha is a diviner, sooth-sayer, sorcerer, exorcist and magician and an expert in herbal medicine. He knows all the methods of home remedies, like sekao (fomentation), iskir (massage), soso (marking with the juice of marking nut) and tobak (marking the affected part with a pointed sickle made red hot). He also knows the divinations of purging the evil spirit out of the body of ailing persons.The herbs and ingredients used in medicine are available in the locality. The Santhals can identify many medicinal herbs and are able to use them without consulting the ojha. But the ojha and other practitioners keep stock of these medicines and supply them to the patients whenever needed. However, the common people have no knowledge of the invocations, incantations, spells and magical formulae which are the prerogative of the ojha. Only he knows how and on what occasion such mantras and jharnis can be used for remedial measures.
