Talo Spell

“Red paint, red paint of the udawada fish! Red paint, red paint, of the mwaylili fish! At the one end of the aromatic pandanus flower-petal; at the other end of the Duwaku flower. There are two red paints of mine, they flare up, they flash.”

“My head, it flares up, it flashes; my red paint, it flares up, it flashes,

My facial blacking, it flares up, it flashes;

My aromatic paint, it flares up, it flashes;

My little basket, it flares up, it flashes;

My lime spoon, it flares up, it flashes;

My lime pot, it flares up, it flashes;

My comb, it flares up, it flashes.”

And so on, enumerating the various personal appurtenances, such as the mat, the stock-in-trade, the big basket, the charmed bundle (lilava) and then again the various parts of his head, that is his nose, his occiput, his tongue, his throat, his larynx, his eyes, and his mouth. The whole series of words is again repeated with another leading word instead of “it flares up, it flashes.” The new word, ‘mitapwaypwa’i’ is a compound, expressing a desire, a coveting, nascent in the eyes. The eyes are, according to native psycho-physical theories, the seat of admiration, wish and appetite in matters of sex, of greed for food, and for material possessions. Here, this expression conveys that the Dobuan partner, will, on beholding his visitor, desire to make Kula with him.

The spell ends: “My head is made bright, my face flashes. I have acquired a beautiful shape, like that of a chief; I have acquired a shape that is good. I am the only one; my renown stands alone.”

At the beginning we have again the mention of two fishes; evidently the redness of the fish is the right redness for the Kula! I am unable to explain the meaning of the second sentence, except that the petals of the pandanus flower are slightly coloured at one end, and that they are considered as one of the finest and most attractive ornaments. The middle part and the end of this spell need no commentary.

These two spells will be sufficient to indicate the general character of the beauty magic of the Kula. One more spell must be adduced here, that of the conch shell. This shell is as a rule medicated at this stage of the Kula proceedings. Sometimes, however, the toliwaga would, before departure from home, utter the formula into the opening of the conch shell, and close this up carefully, so that the virtue might not evaporate. The conch shell is made of a big specimen of the Cassis cornuta shell, at the broad end of which the apex of the spiral windings is knocked out, so as to form a mouth-piece. The spell is not uttered into the mouthpiece, but into the broad opening between the lips, both orifices being afterwards closed with coco-nut husk fibre until the shell has actually to be blown.