Cambodia
The Cambodia of to-day is bounded by French Cochin-China, Annam, Siam and the Gulf of Siam. Of its population of 1,500,000 inhabitants, the main part is composed of the Khmer people, and Chinese, Annamese Malays and aboriginal elements are also represented. Magic. Magic is mixed up to a surprising degree with the daily life of this people. They consult sorcerers upon the most trivial matters, and are constantly at great pains to discover whether any small venture is likely to prove lucky or unlucky. There are two kinds of sorcerers (or sorceresses), the soothsayers (àp thmop) and the medicinesorcerers (kru). Of these the latter enjoy the highest reputation as healers and exorcists, while the former are less respected, dealing, as they do in charms and philtres Cambodia for the sake of gain, or in evil incantations and spells to indulge their spite and hatred. The outcast kru, however, can be ministers of destruction as well as of healing. One of the means used to take the life of an enemy is the old device favoured by witches. They make a wax figure of the victim, prick it at the spot where they wish to harm him, and thus bring disease and death upon him. Another plan is to take two skulls from which the tops have been removed, place them against each other, and convey them secretly under the bed of a healthy man where they have very evil results. Sometimes by means of spells they transform wood-shavings or grains of rice into a large beetle, or into worms, which enter the body of their victim and cause his illness, and, perhaps his death. If the man thus attacked happens to possess the friendship of a more powerful sorcerer, however, the latter may afford him his protection, and thus undo the mischief,. The more harmless occupations of the wizards consist in making philtres and amulets to insure the admiration of women, the favour of the king, and success at play.
Evil Spirits. The evil spirits, to whom they ascribe the most malicious intent, are called pray. Of these the most fearsome variety is the "wicked dead" (khmoc pray), which includes the spirits of women who have died in childbed. From their hiding-place in the trees these spirits torment inoffensive passers-by with their hideous laughter, and shower down stones upon them. These practices are, of course, calculated either to kill or to drive the unfortunate recipients of their attentions insane. Among the trees there are also concealed mischievous demons who inflict terrible and incurable diseases upon mankind.
Those who have suffered a violent death are also greatly to be feared. From the nethermost regions they return, wan and terrible, to demand food from human beings, who dare not deny it to them. Their name beisac signifies "goblin," and they have the power to inflict all manner of evil on those who refuse their request. So the good Cambodian, to avert such happenings, puts his offering of rice or other food in the brushwood to appease the goblins. The pray, it may be said, require to have their offerings laid on the winnowing fan that enters so largely into Cambodian superstition.
Were-wolves, both male and female, strike terror into the hearts of the natives. By the use of certain magical rites and formulae, men can become endowed with supernatural powers, such as the ability to swallow dishes, and are thereupon changed to were-wolves. Women who have been rubbed with oil which a wizard has consecrated are said to lose their reason, and to flee away to the woods They retain their human shape for seven days. If during that time a man shall undergo the same process of being rubbed with consecrated oil, and shall follow the toman to the woods, and strike her on the head with a heavy barthen, the Cambodians say, she shall recover her reason and may return home. If, on the other hand, no such drastic remedy is to be found, at the end of seven days the woman shall turn into a tigress. In order to cure men who have the powers of a werewolf, one must strike them on the shoulder with a hook.
The Cambodians believe that ghosts issue from dead bodies during the process of decomposition. When this ceases the ghosts are no longer seen, and the remains are changed into owls and other nocturnal birds.
Most hideous of all the evil spirits in Cambodia, are the srei ap or ghouls, who, represented only by head and alimentary canal, prowl nightly in search of their gruesome orgies. They are known by their terrible and blood-shot eyes, and are much feared, since even their wish to harm can inflict injury. When anyone is denounced as a ghoul she is treated with great severity, either by the authorities, who may sentence her to banishment or death, or by the villagers, who sometimes take the law into their own hands and punish the supposed offender.
Astrology, etc. - The science of astrology is not without its votaries in Cambodia. Astrologers, or, as they are called, horas, are attached to the court, and their direct employment by the king gives them some standing in the country. At the beginning of each year they make a calendar, which contains, besides the usual astronomical information, weather and other predictions. They are consulted by the people on all sorts of subjects, and are believed to be able to avert the calamities they predict. It is not surprising that in such a country, where good and evil powers are ascribed so lavishly, much attention should be paid to omens, and much time spent in rites to avert misfortune. The wind, the fog, the trees, are objects of fear and awe, and must be approached with circumspection lest they send disease and misfortune, or withhold some good. For instance, trees whose roots grow under a house bring ill-luck to it. The bamboo and cotton-plant are also dangerous when planted near a house, for should they grow higher than the house, they would wish, out of a perverted sense of gratitude, to provide a funeral cushion and matting for the occupants.
Animals receive their share of superstitious veneration. Tigers are regarded as malevolent creatures, whose whiskers are very poisonous. Elephants are looked upon as sacred, and particularly so white elephants. Monkeys they will on no account destroy. Should a butterfly enter the house, it is considered extremely unlucky, while a grasshopper, on the contrary, indicates coming good-fortune. There are other superstitions relating to household objects, customs, etc., which do not differ greatly from those of other countries.
LITERATURE.-E. Aymonier, Le Cambodge, Paris, 1900-02. A. Leclerc, Le Buddhisme Cambodge, Paris, 1899; Cambodge, Contes et Legendes, Paris, 1894.
Camuz, Philippe : A Spanish writer of romances who lived in the sixteenth century. To him is attributed a life of Robert the Devil, La Vida de Roberto el Diablo, published at Seville in 1629.