“Lady, Poya night, Devil dance, Lady like see?”
It was our appoo (house servant) who spoke, I had commissioned him to a acquire all information concerning the holding of such rites, made up of barbarism, superstition and genuine Oriental occultism.
Yes, “Lady” would “like see.”
-A Devil Dance in Ceylon – New-York tribune, December 03, 1899
Sri Lankan Devil Dancer
Cannabis Dances with the Devil
Few have heard of, fewer still have witnessed, Cannabis Dancing with the Devil…
For thousands of years a dance rooted from sacred rites has been performed to fight off demons and even the Devil himself…
Cannabis’s role in the Devils Dance? Only to help communicate to different worlds/realities, compelling the Demon…
Performed by a Kattadiya (Ceylon Priest) dawning a ornate devilish mask, the dance of the devil begins…
Devil Dancers, Sri Lanka 1910
In ancient Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka), the Kattadiya appears as the pulse of drums begin the Devils Dance…
Like a being possessed, the Kattadiya dances around flailing in his quick movements to the rhythmic beating of the drums. The Kattadiya is joined by more devil dancers dawning mask’s of evil looking intent…
Sometimes lasting more then 12 hours, the beating drums and dancing intensifies only stopping for the Kattadiya to perform his ritual’s.
New-York tribune., December 03, 1899
Hooniyan Kerema (notice the plumes of narcotic smoke) “a pumpkin was cut in halves, the Kattadiya meanwhile commanding the last departing demon to enter therein and take up his abode…. After a few minutes the pumpkin was flung into the sea.”
“Dummala, a species of very inflammable rosin, the gum of the Sal tree, Gungah, Indain hemp, and other drugs and narcotics best not to mention, in chetties were placed around the patient, who presently became wellnigh obscured by their fumes.”
-A Devil Dance in Ceylon – New-York tribune, December 03, 1899
Sanni Yakun Neteena aka Sanni Yakuma or “woman made sick by an obsessing demon”
When a person is possessed by a Demon, a Sanni Yakuma is performed in the Devil Dance.
The Sanni Yakuma starts late into the night at the frenzy of the Devils Dance…
Wrapping a thread blessed by a virgin around the person, a concoction of narcotics (whose main ingredient is Cannabis) are lit around the patient laying on their back, engulfing the room in fumes.
As a curtain of cannabis infused fumes rise around the patient, both the Kattadiya and possessing Demon can now communicate…
Tibetan Devil Dancer
“The patient was certainly changed- a different being apparently. All that defiant, evil glare was gone from her eyes… Her first expression was one of astonishment, bewilderment indeed for a second or two, then her impulse was to go and seek seclusion. But to this the Kattadiya objected. She must remain in a humble, suppliant posture until the following was intoned in a jargon half Tamil, Half Singhalese:”
“O Brahma, Siva, Vishnu, O Walia, come! Come, Hanumantu: Come, all ye gods. Ye demons, be bound, be confined, be conquered. Be subservient to our will. By the power of Vishnu I compel ye: I and the higher gods (devas) are one. O Demon Reeri Yakseya, be bound by this charm: by our will I command.”
-A Devil Dance in Ceylon – New-York tribune, December 03, 1899
Devil Dance, yakun natima of Sri Lanka (notice the smoking ‘incense’ the devil is offered and takes a big inhale of at 2:19…
temple devil dancer. BALI, INDONESIA 1930
The Dance of the Devil can be found in cultures spanning around the world cut off from each other for thousands of years…
High up in Tibet the practice has some of its oldest roots. The Ancient Aztec would Dance with the Devil in the Oaxaca mountains in Mexico. And even the Native American Apache’s dare to Dance with the Devil in the Arizona desert…
With so many beliefs, customs and practices around the world, Cannabis again connects us all…
Characters in Tibetan dance drama ‘Milarepa’ or ‘devil dance’ at Labrang Monastery 1932/1933