ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter, I not only discussed sorcery accusations and the observation that diagnosticians may sometimes initiate or generate them, but supernatural affliction was further explored in terms of the three major themes introduced in chapter 2, namely, causation, attribution and vulnerability. Some of the strategies for coping with illness and misfortune were also examined in chapters 2 and 3, and in the former I stressed that these are often pluralistic, as many of the case studies cited show. In other words, those who are suffering from illness or disease frequently try a number of approaches in order to regain their health, involving experts in the field of traditional and Western medicine as well as those who are adept in occult science (tantra-mantra vijnan). However, when illness is viewed as having a mystical or supernatural cause, I indicated that a special ritual is usually required, either to counteract the malevolent force responsible for this, or, in the case of possession, to remove the offending spirit. Indeed, because possession is often thought to occur when spirits attack a person capriciously, as well as when a person is harmed by other supernatural agents or forces (cf. Henry 1977; Opler 1958), such as sorcery, exorcism is frequently performed.
