4. MINERALS AND MINING CHARMS
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Skeat, Walter William
At the first it was dew that turned into water,
And water that turned into foam,
And foam that turned into rock,
And rock that turned into tin-ore;
Do you, O Tin-Ore, lying in a matrix of solid rock,
Come forth from this matrix of solid rock;
If you do not come forth
You shall be a rebel in the sight of God.
Ho, Tin-Ore, Sir ‘Floating Islet,’
‘Flotsam-at-sea,’ and ‘Flotsam-on-land,’
Do you float up to the surface of this my tank,260
Or you shall be a rebel to God,” etc.
Sometimes each grain of ore appears to be considered as endowed with a separate entity or individuality. Thus we find in another invocation the following passage, where the wizard is addressing the grains of ore:—
“Do You (Grains of Ore) that are on the Hills descend to the Plains,
You that are at the Head-waters descend to Mid-stream,
You that are at the Estuary ascend to Mid-stream.
And assemble yourselves together in this spot.
Assemble yourselves together, ‘Rice-grains’ and ‘Spinach-seed,’
‘Tobacco-seed,’ ‘Millet,’ and ‘Wild Ginger-Seed,’
Assemble ye together in this spot.
I am desirous of excavating this spot,
And of making a mine here;
If ye do not assemble yourselves together
I shall curse you;
You shall be turned into dust, and turned into air,
And you shall also be turned into water.”
The separate personality of each individual grain is remarkably clear in the above passage. The names of the different kinds of seed are in allusion to the various shapes and sizes of the grains of ore.
Yet in the very same charm various kinds of lizards and centipedes are begged to “bring the tin-ore with them, some of them a grain or two, some of them a fistful or two, some of them a gallon or two, some of them a load or two,” and so on. No doubt the wizard was determined to allow the grains no loophole for escape.
The objects of the charms employed by the mining wizards are the following:—
(1) To clear the jungle of evil spirits (and propitiate the good ones?) before starting to fell, as is shown by the following passage:—
“O Grandfather King Solomon, Black King Solomon,
I desire to fell these woods,
But it is not I who am in charge of these woods,
It is Yellow King Solomon who is in charge of them,
And Red King Solomon who is in charge of them.
It is I who fell the jungle,
But only with the permission of those two persons.
Rise, rise, O Ye who watch it (the tin?),
[Here are] three ‘chews’ of betel for you, and three cigarettes,
O Maimurup, O Maimerah, O Gadek Hitam,