Online edition of Sunday Observer

Hex. jinx, whammy... call it what you may, but for those with a superstitious bent, a belief in spooks and sorcery, and a fascination with all things esoteric and obscure, nothing sounds better than the familiar term voodoo. Especially when life gets a tad too tough and everything goes awry......the television goes bust, the dog gets knocked down by a car, your best friend becomes your worst enemy, you become allergic to your favourtie food, you get copped for jay walking, you break a leg , end up spotty .... Rational thoughts have no place in the scheme of misfortunes.

Jinxed is the word that comes to mind. But this is the 21st century where, one would assume, superstitions have been firmly laid to rest. So where does one go to... well jinx a jinx? At an unremarkable turn off to an equally unremarkable by-road, in Maharagama, we discover a place where the voodoo culture holds sway and charms and curses are commonplace. Andrea Boekel reports ....

Maharagama - 20 km from downtown Colombo is a bustling township with a melange of shops straddling its main street. At any given time of the day the town entertains a mass of humanity all going somewhere. A smaller road branching off the main street leads to a most interesting area.

Here, tiny, makeshift wooden shops sell the most extraordinary and peculiar of items. To curious, urban-bred passers by, the somewhat bizarre items displayed from the shabby eaves of the shops might warrant a second glance. but for the diehard followers of voodoo rituals in Sri Lanka, this is the place where everything concerning the occult can be found.

Advertising the merchandise.

It is a well-known fact that Sri Lankans are generally people, who are so superstitious that often, they become slaves to their beliefs. The occult, charms, voodoo, exorcism and many other rituals are commonplace. Whereas there was a belief that such practices were mainly confined to the villages, talking to H. Karunasena, 60, put that myth to rest.

Karunasena is the owner of one of the shops selling accessories for voodoo and charms and has been in the business for 12 years. The exterior of his shop was a trifle shabby, but the weird, almost bizarre merchandise within made up for the absence of lofty trappings. In a dusty showcase were many varieties of incense sticks and camphor cubes. Hanging from the rafters were a whole heap of crude torches, wooden stick swathed in tightly wrapped cotton lint. Displayed at the entrance of the shop were stacks of limes, strange looking tubers, odd shaped fruit, berries, yams and roots and heaps of ash gourds (Puhul).

Entrepreneur extraordinary
- H. Karunasena

In effect, this was a shop that anyone who believed in the occult, patronised. And his patrons were many. Jilted and desperate lovers, cuckolded husbands, deceived wives, ambitious businessmen, the desperately sick, infertile women, people who sought revenge, retribution and curses upon their enemies, people who wished to secure the love of someone or likewise destroy a love that was thriving, there was never a shortage of customers.

Karunasena, a helpful and kindly man, went on to explain the significance of his strange merchandise. "This is a branch from a lime tree that has three limes clustered together, these limes are used by people who wish to dispel the evil eye cast upon them." So how do they do it?

"Many people have many different ways of doing it, but often, the reason for cutting the limes would be to break some evil spell", Karunasena explained. A person who believed that he or she was under an evil spell cast by an enemy or a rival, would seek the help of a soothsayer. The soothsayer would then look at their horoscopes and suggest that they cut a few limes and perhaps, thereafter protect themselves with a certain talisman. An exorcist (Kattadiya) is then mobilised to perform this ritual.

Entrance to the devala &&&&& Special offerings

The exorcist would get into a trance-like state perform many incantations to different deities and then keeping the limes on some part of the body, slice it with a nut cutter (giraya). The limes would then be cast into an earthenware pot of water and the severity of the evil spell would be determined in the manner which the limes floated, whether face up or down.

According to Karunasena, many urban businessmen performed this ritual on a regular basis, to keep themselves 'free of evil spells'.

The Ahu, a conical scaly-looking nut, is also another 'must have' in these rituals. Equally bizarre-looking was the Kaduru fruit, which is traditionally found on seashores and near mangrove swamps. This fruit which looks like a pinched peach, and can range in colour from pale green to bright orange, is also another vital ingredient for performing exorcism rituals.

More macabre, were the rest of the items. I could not shudder when he pointed out the Attana, a pale green, prickly nut. It looked like an acorn, but with menacing looking thorns that thrust upward. "This can kill" said Karunasena grimly. questioned how so, he answered that not only was the nut possessed of narcotic ingredients that could cause hallucinations if ingested, but exorcists used it in their rituals when they wanted to cast evil spells that killed someone. Moving on to the rest of the items displayed, I was fascinated by large mounds of what looked like earth.

The spell caster or Kapu Mahattaya

"These are the roots of the Ash Plantain (alu kehel) and Crimson Banana (rath kehel) which are also necessary for a Thovil (exorcism) ceremony. Generally, these large tubers are sliced with a sword in the frenzy of the exorcism dance to banish all evil spirits forthwith.The ash gourds are used at the entrance of new buildings and new houses because ash gourd comprise 90 per cent water and therefore able to absorb any evil eye cast by jealous spectators. The demand for these gourds was plenty - a medium sized gourd sold for Rs. 100.

Displayed on another rack was a motley bunch of pristine looking palm flowers. "This is the Arecanut (Puwak) flower" he said pointing out to a pearly white shower of blooms, "and this is the coconut flower."

These items are used in 'good' rituals, at weddings, at coming of age ceremonies and other happy occasions, to sprinkle Pirith (holy) water.

Most daunting and unnerving to witness was the Hondala - a thick branch of a jungle creeper. It had a tapering shape to it, and was woody and fibrous. Most of the branches were about 2 feet in length, but Karunasena said all that was needed was 6" of this deadly branch. "Exorcists draw a picture of a devil on 6 inches of this branch, and in doing so, they can cause many things to happen." This creeper is found on the border of the Sinharajah Rain Forest, at the foot of Adam's Peak and in far off places like Mullaitivu, so it is a difficult item to source.

Displayed on the mud floor were also piles of tiny pineapples (Gal Annasi) and hanks of natural hemp fibre.

The 'rope' is important in the construction of the 'Gotta' the little cage like construction made of young coconut leaves ( Gokkola), at the start of any auspicious event.

There were also ready-prepared packs of the eight items necessary to 'incinerate the evil eye'. This is a belief followed by many, where small quantities of mustard seeds, paddy, sesame seeds, bean seeds, alfalfa seeds, salt crystals, chillies and Epsom salt crystals are burned in a coconut shell.

At the sound of the sputtering of all these seeds, the evil eye is supposed to pick up and beat a hasty retreat.

Karunasena said he had made a comfortable living from running this kind of shop. He had agents in different parts of the country who sourced these rare items, and people who followed the dictates of the occult, knew where to head for when they wanted a one-stop shop. "Its amazing how belief in the occult is increasing" he said, shaking his head.

"For years, the desperation, the struggle to exist and its resulting tensions on family life, relationships and business matters has made people turn to some means of redress, the occult being one of them. I have customers who follow all religions, people from all walks of life - the mega-rich, and the desperately poor. When it comes to seeking solace, I guess this is perhaps the great leveller," he was fatalistic.

Charms and their significance

In Sri Lanka, a large percentage of the population believes that 'charming' can attain the impossible. This phrase 'charming' must not be confused with enchanting or captivating a person - on the contrary, it is supposed to be detrimental to a person's well-being Charms or evil spells are cast using eggs, red thread and many of the implements described. D.W. Samarasekera, 72, is a well-known charmer.

His rituals are carried out in a cavern-like devala in the vicinity of Maharagama. Samarasekera was of the view that the largest number of people seeking solace through his spells, were young married couples having problems with their in-laws. "The ritual of casting spells is steeped in folklore, although now it has also absorbed religious connotations," he explained. According to him, every segment of society patronises his services.

Filled with queer and almost bizarre merchandise the shop is patronised by those who believe in the occult.