009 | On Sri Lankan Demons & Witchcraft...
This content is a preview of episode 9 of Myths & Samsara coming June 17.
Where did it all begin?
Ancient Ceylon's relationship with the Indian Subcontinent
As recorded in the ancient chronicles, Sri Lankan kings have a long history of negotiating trade deals and marrying Indian princesses and welcoming migrants from the Indian Subcontinent. Later kings, unable to bring the local population to war, would import armies of mercenaries to do their dirty work. Then, with no community to fall back on, these immigrants were subjugated and mistreated—their presence resented by the local populace. Towns and cities arose with a Tamil half and a Sinhalese half. Variations of this persisted throughout the colonization years.
That these migrations happened confuses demon worship as a foreign import and propagates a myth that tamils originated as the naga people on the island. Putting all that aside, there has been considerable influence from these migrants bringing with them their demons, superstitions, and charms.
As of 1866, more than 7/8ths of the charms or spells belonging to sinhalese necromancy were in the Tamil language. The last kings of Sri Lanka were Buddhist of Tamil origin. There is much overlap between these two cultures, erased by the propaganda on both sides following Sri Lanka's most recent civil war.
The Yaksha History of Ceylon
The chronicles of Lanka speak of the Buddha visiting Sri Lanka three times. One of those times was to dispel or evict the yaksha population. Perhaps he was giving them notice. Because the Buddha’s teachings didn’t officially arrive in Sri Lanka until the reign of King Dewanan Piyatissa who reigned in 307 BCE a full 236 years after the Buddha’s death.
When Buddhism did arrive to the island, it was said to have been embraced by its people who were most likely already under Buddhist cultural and societal influence.
Historical Records from the 1600s and 1800s
Author and Captain Robert Knox was held captive in uncolonized parts of Sri Lanka against his will in the late 1600s. From his writings, he illustrates portuguese and some christian cultural influence on the island despite only the coastal areas being exposed to foreigners.
On escaping, he wrote ‘An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, in the East-Indies’ and his ‘Account of the Capitivity of Capt. Robert Knox and Other Englishmen in the Island of Ceylon’. One served as a dossier helping the later British invasion of Sri Lanka while the other served to inspire Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.
Knox’ description of demonism in Ceylon is cited as being no different from De Silva's description 200 years later in ‘On Demonology and Witchcraft of Ceylon’ published in 1866. Looking at recent research papers on demonism in Sri Lanka, demonology and witchcraft continues as a fixed component of society.
To which my mother would say, ‘we do not worship demons!’ True we do not.
Demons are Spirits
Demons from a christian perspective are not the same as the supernatural spirits from a buddhist perspective. These are spirits can be malicious or good depending on circumstance. These spirits are also subject to a higher authority giving them rules to follow and permission to wreak havoc on the humans.
The term witchcraft in the west is unrecognized in Sri Lankan circles. Instead, we know of Demonism and the more recent hooniyam, Capuism, and Grahaism.
Not every Buddhist can follow the 8-fold path and live a virtuous and fruitful life. Humans are, human. Life is messy. Not everyone can be a billionaire.
The scholars who write about Sri Lankan demonology and witchcraft describe these three sub-religions as a buddhist’s means of affecting their health, prosperity, and relationships.
More recent studies find that practice of these sub-relitions is not limited to Buddhists. All Sri Lankans whether Christians, Muslims, and Hindus may dip their fingers here.
