ABSTRACT
Once a Santal has a wife and children, his main ambition is to be happy in his family. Such a state depends on numerous factors - on mutual consideration by husband and wife, on willing co-operation in the day’s work, on filial affection and respect, on non-intervention by bongas, on kindliness within the tribe. Free from sickness, Santals have poise, buoyancy, and a quite extraordinary zest for life. When a person falls ill, conceptions such as these determine his treatment. If the illness persists and the herbs achieve little, the suspicion grows that other forces are at work and the guru makes way for the ojha or medicine-man. This healer differs from a guru in that besides knowing medicines, he is also on special terms with bongas. This view of sickness as in some way connected both with conflicts in the family and with the mysteries of sex is illustrated in the various customs which surround a witch’s training.
