Glimpses of Tibetan Divination Past and Present Edited by Petra Maurer Donatella Rossi Rolf Scheuermann LEIDEN | BOSTON For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV Contents Preface vii Background History of the Volume xxii On the Contributions Contained in This Volume List of Figures and Tables xxix Notes on Contributors xxx xxv 1 A Case of Prophecy in Post-imperial Tibet Per Kværne 1 2 Three Dice, Four Faces, and Sixty-Four Combinations: Early Tibetan Dice Divination by the Numbers 11 Brandon Dotson 3 A Preliminary Analysis of Old Tibetan Dice Divination Texts Ai Nishida 4 Divinations Padampa Did or Did Not Do, or Did or Did Not Write Dan Martin 5 Landscaping Time, Timing Landscapes: The Role of Time in the sa dpyad Tradition 89 Petra Maurer 6 Signs and Portents in Nature and in Dreams: What They Mean and What Can Be Done about Them 118 Charles Ramble 7 Identifying the Magical Displays of the Lords of the World: The Oneiromancy of the gSal byed byang bu 136 Donatella Rossi 8 Vibhūticandra’s Svapnohana and the Examination of Dreams Rolf Scheuermann 9 Prognosis, Prophylaxis, and Trumps: Comparative Remarks on Several Common Forms of Tibetan Cleromancy 181 Alexander K. Smith 49 73 161 For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV vi 10 contents The Role of Lamyn Gegeen Blo bzang bstan ’dzin rgyal mtshan in the Dissemination of Tibetan Astrology, Divination and Prognostication in Mongolia 198 Agata Bareja-Starzýnska Index 213 For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV chapter 6 Signs and Portents in Nature and in Dreams: What They Mean and What Can Be Done about Them Charles Ramble 1 Introduction Divination is a way of discovering the causes of events that would otherwise remain unknown, and more generally to find out what lies in store for us. The techniques that are used reveal the visible component of a constellation of forces that underlie past and future events, thereby revealing to us the natural or supernatural agents of past incidents (such as death or theft) and also enabling us to make provision for anticipated crises. Tibet offers a wide range of techniques for revealing past causes and future events. The purpose of all these methods is to establish a threshold at which the boundary between the everyday world and the realm that holds this knowledge is infringed, and the information that we seek can be communicated to us. More often than not, the technique entails an element of chance, since it is through randomly generated numbers and configurations that the gods or other powers convey their message, or whereby, in more impersonal schemes, we may discern the general pattern of the nature of things by extrapolation from the fragment that is revealed to us at this threshold. Such techniques include the use of dice, sticks, pebbles—a method discussed in this volume by Alexander K. Smith—and knotted strings, though others could be added to this list. In most cases the answer sought is based on a succession of binary oppositions—yes/no—whereas the outcome of certain other forms of divination requires interpretation; and such cases require either prior knowledge or the use of sophisticated manuals. But thresholds do not always need to be generated by artifice: There are, in fact, signs all around us that serve as portals onto the knowledge we require, if only we knew how to recognize and interpret them. These indications do not demand any preparation on our part, but only careful observation and an understanding of the significance of what it is we are perceiving. Certain types of divination that fall into this category have already been the subject of fine scholarly studies. Perhaps the best known of these are ornithomancy (Laufer 1914; Mortensen 2013) and geomancy (Maurer 2009, 2012), but there are others besides, and this contribu- © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004410688_007 For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV signs and portents in nature and in dreams 119 tion will briefly examine Tibetan procedures for the analysis of certain other types of natural signs that have not yet been the subject of detailed studies. 2 Analyzing the Divination Environment Certain observations may provide a ‘meta-divination’ associated with procedures that do require preparation and active intervention on the part of a specialist. A case in point is the set of preliminary observations that must be made before the performance of the type of divination known as ju thig, that entails the interpretation of the patterns formed by knotted strings that are cast onto a surface. The technique is described in several sources, among them Zhang zhung gi ju thig, by the Bonpo scholar Kun grol grags pa (b. 1700). While the technique itself does not concern us here, the preliminary observations are worth consideration since they involve the analysis of the ambient environment of the divination. The first thing to be examined, according to the author, is the condition of the surface on which the strings are to be cast. This is referred to as the gzhi, the ‘base.’ This base has considerable importance in several ritual contexts: certain rituals for summoning good fortune (g.yang ’gugs), for example, are accompanied by a charter myth (smrang) that explains the origin of the rite. One such account, from a work entitled Mu ye pra phud, is set in the land of Phywa yul snang ldan, which is experiencing hardships because the ruler, Phywa Yab lha bdal drug, is bereft of a phya base (phya gzhi).1 Srid pa Sangs po explains that the absence of the base is due to demons that dispersed the five srid pa gods. The requisite base must be sought, and the hero who is charged with accomplishing this task is Prince sGam po, the son of ’Od de gung rgyal (sic) and Phywa lcam lo ma. The goddess gNam phyi gung rgyal advises the prince that the phya base should be made from a certain deer, which he then sets off to hunt. After many adventures the deer is found, and it agrees to give its body to be used for the ritual, and the goddess Srid pa’i lha mo explains how the various parts of its body are transformed into the requisites. First of all, “from the hide of that deer there came into being the white conch felt mat. First, that was the substance 1 Although the base is intended to serve for both phya and gzhi, it is only ever described as a phya gzhi, and never g.yang gzhi, probably the latter term has been appropriated by tantric vocabulary to denote a human skin. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV 120 ramble from which it was made. Next it was set up as a support for the phya. It is there today for the sake of the phya and the g.yang” (Mu ye pra phud, cited in Ramble 2015: 514). The gzhi that is usually used by diviners is a small white felt mat, but the myth recounted here implies that the original item was a deerskin. Skins are used in certain ritual procedures related to divination. Cassinelli and Ekvall, for example, describe a murder investigation in Sakya in the 1940s, in which the law officials ordered that a yak be killed and flayed, and the accuser and the accused required to roll dice on the inner surface to determine the validity of their respective claims (1969: 176). Freshly-flayed yak hides and goatskins are also used in certain oath-swearing ceremonies. In the former case the parties to the oath must be seated, naked, on the hide. The significance of using skins in such contexts is nowhere clearly explained. However, a clue may be found in the point made earlier, that divination entails the creation of a threshold between the ordinary world and the divine or preternatural realm. It is also worth noting that when oaths between adjacent communities are sworn, the location for the ceremony is of crucial importance: The ritual must take place at the boundary between the two communities, in a designated no-man’s-land. In early Bon myths, it is at margins, and especially at the margin of dark and light, being and non-being—as opposed to the void favored by the tantric Buddhist tradition—that things come into being. It may not be too far-fetched to suggest that a hide is the liminal surface par excellence, insofar as it constitutes the boundary between the interior of any creature and the outside world, and therefore symbolic of both neutral territory and also the margin at which two worlds meet. According to Zhang zhung ju thig,2 before beginning his divination, the first thing the diviner must assess is the appearance of the base. A white base is ideal; the presence of darkness indicates that there will be harm from the the’u rang; ruggedness indicates an empty center, a sign that there will be a theft; a yellow tint is a presage of harm resulting from curses emitted by Buddhist monks; red betokens defilement or a cerebral stroke (grib); if the base is worn and threadbare, there is the likelihood of shortages in the community; and an eddy of wind on the surface of the base is also a sign of grib. The next thing the diviner must consider is the nature of the payment made by the client for the divination (mo yon). An offering of butter is the best of 2 The text of the passage paraphrased here is provided at the end of this article, under “Texts cited”. I am indebted to Alexander Smith for drawing my attention to this work. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV signs and portents in nature and in dreams 121 all; barley indicates an increase in people and livestock; wool is a sign of great wealth; dairy products—milk and curd—mean long life, while a gift of meat is a warning that livestock will be lost to disease. Worst of all is a presentation of tea, which denotes malicious gossip and also warns that the country’s cattle will be depleted. Thirdly, close attention must be paid to the ‘divination barley’ (mo nas) that is spread on the surface of the base. Fragments of bone are an indication that clouds will gather, while charcoal is a warning of impurity and incest. White stones reveal a threat of obstructions and inauspicious death caused by demonesses, and the presence of salt and coarse grass presages an epidemic among cattle. Barley that cannot germinate is a sign of predators;3 metal shards are a harbinger of enemies. The fourth thing the diviner must observe is the body-language of the client, and his or her self-presentation. This section is gender non-specific, and we may assume that the following remarks refer to clients of either sex. If, when the client first approaches the diviner, she first places her right knee on the ground and presents her left cheek, this bodes ill for the elderly, whereas the opposite—placing her left knee first and presenting her right cheek—is a bad sign for the young generation. A covered head is an inauspicious sign, an indication of a contamination (mu khab) that veils the five divinities that surround our bodies (’go ba’i lha). Reciting mantras is an inauspicious form of behavior, and singing songs indicates future suffering. A client who presents herself square on, facing the diviner and showing respect, is a very favorable sign. The text then proceeds to the divination itself, which is beyond the scope of this article. All the phenomena listed above may be classified as ‘natural’ in the sense that they entail observations of the environment surrounding the actual rite of prognostication, and are not directly generated by the diviner. 3 The Meaning of Dreams A particularly fertile arena for the observation of unprovoked signs is the realm of dreams. The topic of dreaming in the Tibetan tradition is a vast one, not least because any serious investigation of the subject must entail an examination of the probably even vaster Indic literature from which much of it 3 Translation tentative: rgyund [rgyun chad] byung na gcan ngo yin. The protasis of this clause may also mean “if there is an interruption [in the presentation of the barley]”—for example, if the client should break off the process of pouring it from her container into that of the diviner and then resume after a pause. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV 122 ramble is derived. The subject of dreaming in Tibet has been discussed at length by Serinity Young (1999), and although the work is primarily concerned with the Buddhist context, attention is also given to the more popular aspects of dream divination (ibid.: 56–59). As the author notes, the pioneering—and indeed, as so often, almost the only—treatment of the subject is to be found in NebeskyWojkowitz’s Oracles and Demons of Tibet (1956), and she cites parts of the author’s translations. Nebesky-Wojkowitz’s source here is a work by Klong rdol bla ma Ngag dbang blo bzang (1719–1794), entitled rMi ltas sna tshogs brtag thabs, “Methods for interpreting a variety of signs in dreams”.4 Since this work has already been treated in some detail, it will be enough here to give a brief outline of its contents. The night should be divided into three periods: dusk, night proper, and dawn. The dreams that one has in these periods fall into different categories. The first relates to experiences from past lives, and the dreams will be about such things as food, conversation and friends to whom one was attached. These are likely to be recurring dreams, with many uncertain features. Dreams experienced in the middle of the night are the result of illusions generated by the various demons—bdud and srin—that are on the move at that time, and should not be taken seriously. It is the dreams that one has at dawn that are to be given close attention, since it is these that foretell the future. A few examples of these dreams and their significance may be listed here: – Climbing a high mountain: The dreamer will achieve greatness – Cloudless day: Happiness – Abundant harvest and fruits: Prosperity, cattle and grain, fine clothes – Wearing fine clothes: Respect from others – Wearing armor: Protection from illness and harm – Carrying weapons: Absence of enemies – Riding lions and dragons: The way to greatness Other auspicious signs include sitting on a throne, eating well and enjoying good company. Inauspicious signs and their significance include the following: – Walking through a storm or mud, being in a dirty place, eating poor food, wearing shabby clothes: Various forms of pollution (grib and mi gtsang) – Wearing clothes with a collar, crying, being hatless, looking in a mirror: Future suffering 4 There are several published versions of this work. The version used here is from Mo dpe: 138– 144. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV signs and portents in nature and in dreams 123 – Being attacked by wolves, wearing rags, being infested by parasites: Illness – Empty grain containers, bows and arrows: Malicious gossip – Being struck with weapons or chased by soldiers; blood, lightning, hail: Curses (phur ka) from others – Being bound, being underground, being mutilated in prison: Attack by ’dre demons – Being naked and riding south on a donkey, or dreaming of all red flowers: Obstructions to one’s life Then follows a list of signs that are indicators of the presence and influence of different demons: – Snakes, blue women, meadows: Klu – Rocks, trees, mounted soldiers: bTsan – Monks, donkeys, monkeys, cats, horses, dogs: rGyal po Dreams also provide an arena in which one might see portents of one’s own impending death. These include: Black women with no belongings or food; riding a camel southward, a donkey eastward, or a monkey northward; wearing red clothes and gathering red flowers; crossing a plateau wearing a turban; drinking beer and dancing with the dead. There is also a section about motifs that are likely to occur as an indication that one’s spiritual practice is becoming effective, but since these belong rather to the soteriological aspect of dreaming, they do not concern us here. Although references to divinities such as the btsan are obviously a Tibetan inflection, it is clear that this work owes a considerable debt to Indian Āyurvedic works, presumably via the chapter on dream prognosis in the rGyud bzhi. Before leaving the topic of dream divination, it is worth considering one short fourteenth-century work that provides instructions on how to determine the whereabouts of one’s future rebirth through dreams. The work is by sGra tshad pa Rin chen rnam rgyal (1318–1388), but the author traces the transmission through a succession of Tibetan scholars back to an Indian source whom he names as Paṇḍita Bikhyu Ta de ba. The work is entitled simply rMi lam brtag pa, “Dream analysis” (Mo dpe: 134–138).5 The work is divided into two parts: The main text, and the author’s comments on how the procedure should be performed (zin ris). The order of the activities is not quite the same in the two sections, and the following paraphrase presents a synthesis of the work as a whole. 5 Since this published work is quite readily available, the Tibetan text of the paraphrased and translated passages is not provided here. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV 124 ramble The enquirer should go to an extremely remote place on the first day of a given month, and thoroughly clean the place and purify himself. He should give up such things as meat, alcohol, and garlic, and then on the second day, he should desist from eating altogether. He should set up a mandala with an abundance of flowers, other offerings, and sacred relics, and in the middle of it, he should place an image of one of the Buddhas. After praying that there should be no obstructions, he should make offerings of tormas to the elemental spirits, and then imagine that the sky is filled with the Buddha and his entourage. He should recite the appropriate mantra ten thousand times (the zin ris increases this figure considerably), and again 108 times before going to sleep. The procedure should be repeated the following day—indeed, the more times this exercise is performed, the better the results will be. The zin ris adds that, just before going to sleep, the enquirer should recite the mantras 108 times over a vessel of clean water and then drink the contents. After performing ablutions, reciting prayers and making torma offerings, and ensuring that nothing and no one occupies the space between him and the shrine, he should wish for good dreams and entreat the jinas to reveal to him where he will be reborn. With this earnest wish in mind, he should assume the posture of the reclining lion and then go to sleep. Having done this, if he does not receive the various auditory and visual indications of his future rebirth, he should repeat the exercise until the signs do appear. If, when they do manifest, they reveal that he is to be born in one of the three lower realms, he should take appropriate action by abandoning unvirtuous actions. Although the text does mention that sounds and tactile sensations experienced in dreams can provide a clue, the only specific examples given relate to the colors of the visual images that may appear, corresponding to the future location of rebirth. White signifies rebirth in the divine realm; green: human; yellow: asuras; blue: animals; red: pretas, and black: the hell realms. 4 Portents of Death and Miscellaneous Portents The collected works of Klong rdol contain a number of other short treatises on divination that are worth our attention insofar as they involve the observation and analysis of phenomena that have not been produced by the diviner. The section on dream divination is immediately followed by one entitled ’Chi ba’i mtshan ma brtag pa, “An analysis of portents of death.” The signs in question are more redolent of medical symptoms, but we may briefly list a selection. In each case the feature is followed by a rather precise indication of the period of time after which death is likely to occur. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV signs and portents in nature and in dreams 125 – Diarrhea and paralysis: One month – Absence of blood beneath the fingernails: Six months – Suffering paralysis during sexual intercourse: One month – The appearance of a black spot in the middle of the tongue: Two days – Loss of sense of taste: Five days – Loss of sense of smell: Three days As in the case of many such works, this one clearly has Indian antecedents. The source here is likely to be one or another of the ‘death deception’ (’chi bslu) rituals that appear in the Buddhist bKa’ ’gyur, most of which, as Irmgard Mengele points out, “are short versions of Vāgīśvarakīrti’s Mṛtyuvañcanopadeśa” (2010: 105).6 Klong rdol continues with a summary of another work from the bsTan ’gyur, entitled lTas brtag pa rgyas pa, “An extensive analysis of signs”, a compilation that he was encouraged to complete by the Seventh Dalai Lama.7 The first of these deals with divinations based on the appearance of rainbows (Nam mkha’i ’ja’ ltas brtag pa). Each of the different forms and configurations carries a different message: Their significance is to be determined from their location, the time at which they appear, and the shape they assume. Generally, where there are many rainbows in a land, it will not endure long but will be destroyed. When a town is surrounded by an army, if there is a rainbow at the same time as there is a circle around the sun, the two sides will slaughter each other. When joining battle, if there are rainbows to both the right and the left, that means the attackers will be destroyed. A rainbow just before nightfall signifies that the king will die, the country will succumb to conflict, and illness and famine will prevail. Regarding their shape: Rainbows that have the form of a parasol, a victory banner, a chariot or a wheel are good omens, indicating a good harvest and victory for the king. If they resemble a stake, a spear or a bow, the town will be destroyed. If they look like crocodiles, turtles and so forth, there is a danger from fire and water. The appearance of a rainbow on an auspicious day signifies that the king will flourish and brigands will be defeated. The next section concerns “Methods of analyzing the occurrence of loud noises” (sGra chen ’byung ba brtag pa bya tshul). The loud noises in question are presumably a reference to thunder. The variables, in this case, relate to the 6 For a book-length study of this work see Schneider 2010. 7 This is indicated in the title of the work: bsTan ’gyur nang gi drang srong gharga’i ltas brtag pa rgyas pa bskal bzang rgya mtshos legs pa yin gsungs pas de’i gces bsdus ’ga’ zhig, “A selection of quotations from the ‘Extended analysis of signs’ by Ṛṣī Gharga, from the bsTan ’gyur, because bsKal bzang rgya mtsho said this would be a good thing”. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV 126 ramble time, the direction and the quality of the sounds. A loud noise in the morning foretells the destruction of the realm. In the morning, such a sound bodes ill for Shudras, at noon for Brahmans, at sunset for Kshatriyas, and at dawn for slaves. A loud noise that comes from two different directions simultaneously presages the loss of cattle and goats, whereas a protracted sound from an unidentifiable direction is a sign that disaster will befall the army. Klong rdol then adds a section entitled “The consequences of miscellaneous signs” (sNa tshogs ltas kyi ’bras bu). Here, too, a selection of the omens listed— all inauspicious, and all foreboding calamity for the king, his realm and his subjects—will serve our purpose. – Dogs and crows barking and cawing at a crossroads: An armed attack – A crow building its nest in a beehive colony (bung ba grong): Imminent danger – Rats, crows and other animals mating at inappropriate times: The destruction of the king and his realm – Breech birth among animals: Internecine conflict and the death of the king – A white crow: Inauspicious – The sight of a murder of crows plunging their beaks into the ground, then making a dreadful noise and flying off together: Thorough defeat of the army – A piece of meat falling from the bill of a passing bird: The punishment of that community by the king – A vulture or other carrion bird sitting on top of the house and calling: The death of the owner – An owl calling from the midst of a herd of cows in broad daylight: Danger for the king – Crows frolicking in a wood or ducks frolicking on open ground: The destruction of that land – Fruit growing on trees out of season: The death of the king and his entourage – Leaves growing on a dead branch: Conflict among the people of that land These miscellaneous signs include a list of unnatural or monstrous births. A cow giving birth to a human baby signifies that harm will befall women; unborn children speaking, crying or laughing from inside the womb signal the destruction of the land; babies born with one leg, or three or four legs, signify the death of the king or famine in the land, and the same is true of hermaphrodite births. Hatchlings with several beaks and heads herald the country’s demise; a land in which a child is born with one body, two faces and three eyes will come to a swift end—it is said that it will be overcome by an army; a land where a child is born with the head of a pig, or with a set of teeth, or missing its head or an arm will suffer extensive destruction. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV signs and portents in nature and in dreams 127 The work concludes with the following signs: Sap dripping from blossom or fruit on trees indicates harm for the regent. If the fruits on a tree are constantly of a color that indicates that they are ripe, or if they drip juice like blood, that is a sign of impending illness and famine. Saplings that resemble humans forebode the destruction of that land. If earthly gods happen to speak or to smile when offerings are being made to them, this means that the king will abandon his realm, which will consequently come to grief. 5 Indigenous or Indigenized Interpretations Whether or not they may be ultimately of Indian inspiration, like the examples listed above, certain collections of natural portents have a large component of distinctively Tibetan features, suggesting at least a considerable degree of indigenization. The most extensive such collection of which I am aware is to be found embedded in the text of a ritual that is itself very probably an entirely Tibetan development. This the “Three-Headed Man of the Black Rituals” (gTo nag mgo gsum),8 an exorcistic rite that is widely performed by Buddhist and Bonpo tantric lamas in the Himalayan region, as well as in parts of Tibet. The background to the ritual is given in the myth (smrang) that precedes the performance. In brief, the Old Man of the Sky (associated with the trigram khen) and the Old Woman of the Earth (khon) couple, and in due course the woman bears a child with the body of a human and three animal heads, those of a bull, a tiger and a pig, as well as the attributes of other creatures. They place it in a roasting pan that they then deposit at a crossroads, where it proceeds to devour everyone and everything it meets. It is eventually overcome by Kong tse ’Phrul gyi rgyal po, who induces it to apply its powers against evil, using each of its distinctive features to destroy a different category of demon or misfortune. In this way, the creature becomes a sort of panacea against all ills, including inauspicious signs, and we are informed at the very beginning that “of all curses and maledictions or calamities, or of illnesses and epidemics that might inflict the land, or of evil omens, there is nothing that cannot be 8 The full title of the text referred to here is Srid pa’i gto nag mgo gsum, the “Three-Headed Man of the Black Srid pa Rituals” (short title gTo nag). The noun srid pa may denote the phenomenal world or a category of gods, and the term srid pa bon is sometimes used as an epithet of the so-called ‘lower vehicles’ of Bon in the well-known nine-vehicle classification. Although it is clear in many places in the text which of these particular meanings it carries, its application to the gto category of rituals is more diffuse, and I have therefore left it untranslated. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV 128 ramble repulsed by this ritual” (fol. 1v).9 Later in the text we are given an extensive list of the omens that the Three-Headed Man is able to repel, and this passage is worth quoting at length. “(fol. 13r) Repel evil signs and magical manifestations. Prevent us from [encountering] people carrying corpses. Keep us from having to eat tasteless wretched fare; ward off sudden death; prevent disturbances from coming to our communities. Keep us from the sight of stags locking antlers at the head of the valley, of fish fighting with their tails in the valley floor, and crows fighting with their claws in the middle. (fol. 13v) The horse whinnying at midnight; the dog at the door howling at dawn; the cock crowing at dusk; these are dreadful omens for our patron, but these, too, are reversed by this ritual. The mouse squeaking in its hole; the weasel carrying off a mouse in its mouth—these are harbingers of drought, but they, too, are reversed by this srid pa ritual. A woman behaving erratically, or missing her monthly period, are portents of the end of a family line, but they, too, are reversed by this srid pa ritual. Wild birds descending onto the fields, or a cuckoo alighting at the top of a ladder, are omens of the approach of different enemies, but they, too, are reversed by this srid pa ritual. The owl hooting or the owlet crying during the daytime foretell an epidemic, but they, too, are reversed by this srid pa ritual. (fol. 14r) A cow with a prolapsed uterus10 is an omen of an impending epidemic, but this, too, is reversed by this srid pa ritual. The wolf howling above, and the fox yelping below are signs that vampires of decline are stirring, but they, too, are reversed by this srid pa ritual. Black birds fighting with their talons, and a black snake entering one’s house are omens that the demons of the rocks are active, but they, too, are reversed by this srid pa ritual. The sight of stags locking antlers at the peak of the high mountain is a sign that btsan of bad death are on the move, but they, too, are reversed by this srid pa ritual. The sight of fish fighting with their tails in the Manasarovar[-like] lake down below is a warning of disease borne by the serpent-spirits, but they, too, are reversed by this srid pa ritual. Seeing a black bird attacking a striped tiger with its claws is a sign that demonesses are stirring, but they, too, are reversed by this srid pa ritual. Whatever is summoned by this ritual will be repelled by it. Repelling the affliction of the btsan can be accomplished by means of this ritual, which repels and diverts all inaus9 10 byad kha phur kha chag che nyams nga dang / yul du nad yam byung ba dang / ltas ngan thaṃd (thams cad) gto ’di yi mi bzlog gang yang med / (fol. 1v). The translation is highly tentative: ba la grod pa skyes pa would literally mean “a cow that gives birth to its/a stomach,” which could possibly signify a uterine prolapse, as proposed here, or some sort of teratoma. It might also mean “grod pa that appear(s) on a cow”, where grod pa could be the name of a cattle disease (see the following footnote). For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV signs and portents in nature and in dreams 129 picious signs. (fol. 14v) The owl that calls at dusk; the owlet that is ashamed in front of the gods; untimely clashes between crows and between deer; deer at the head of the valley locking antlers; fish down below fighting with their tails; dead birds in the middle being carried away by the wind; the cock crowing at dusk; wormholes appearing in the fields; ro bkal appearing on sheep; dkar chags appearing on goats; the she-wolf howling at midnight; sogs dkar appearing on livestock; drug phrom appearing on horses; gtsed pa appearing on dogs;11 a decaying bird’s-nest in the three summer months; a decaying mouse-nest in the three winter months; the swollen (lit. pregnant) corpse of a bull in the three spring months; the bloated corpse of a dead fox in the three autumn months; the sight of ducklings leaving the nest; a large coiled serpent in the three winter months—these evil portents and manifestations, too, are repelled by this srid pa ritual.” 6 Conclusion: More Than Just Signs? In the examples considered before gTo nag, the signs that are analyzed are precisely that—indications of the events they betoken, and not the predicted blessings or afflictions themselves. In the case of the procedures for foretelling one’s future birth through dreams, for instance, the prognosis of incarnation in the lower realms can be addressed by engagement in virtuous acts. This is also true of astrological and divination manuals, which recommend measures—such as the recitation of specified texts or the performance of particular rituals—to counteract any likely consequences. In the gTo nag, by contrast, it is not just the calamities presaged by the signs but the signs themselves that are to be repelled. It seems that the distinction between the signifiers and what they signify has been erased, and that the omens are conflated with what they portend. In the passage cited above, it is sometimes uncertain whether it is the signs that the Three-Headed Man is being entreated to repel, or the afflictions that they warn of, but there are enough unambiguous passages to leave no doubt that, more often than not, it is the former, the portents themselves, that are the target. This is made explicit in several places. In addition to the very first citation from the text at the beginning of the last section, there are assertions such as: “Continually repulse evil 11 The terms ro bkal, dkar chags, sogs dkar and drug phrom are unknown to me. The first could conceivably mean “a corpse being carried on a sheep”, which is possible but unlikely; the context suggests rather that they are all types of diseases to which the respective animals are susceptible. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV 130 ramble omens that may come” (rtag tu ltas ngan yong ba bsgyur, fol. 12v); “divert inauspicious prognostications and bad dreams” (mo ngan rmi ngan bsgyur du gsol, fol. 8v), and numerous other examples that might be cited. The signs that the gTo nag is exhorted to repel are not confined to inauspicious sights in the natural world, but also include adverse configurations belonging to the realm of elemental divination. This is to be seen in an earlier section that gives a list of thirteen specific targets: “… Fourth, repel bzhi gshed; fifth, repel bye bral (recte: bye brag); … seventh, repel bdun zur; … tenth, repel dur mig; twelfth, repel lag sbrel (recte: lag ’bres) …”.12 In this excerpt, the terms bzhi gshed, bye bral, bdun zur, dur mig and lag ’bres are all inauspicious configurations of years and trigrams. Although the precise nature of these combinations does not concern us here, explanations of each can be found in Tseng 2005.13 A significant feature of many of the natural signs is that they involve combinations of components. All the examples in the last set, by their very nature, entail inauspicious associations; but even in the case of signs from the world of animals, it is not the animal itself that is inauspicious but the fact of the animal being in a particular place or engaging in a particular activity, often at a specified time. In gTo nag, this includes owls calling during the daytime; wolves howling above the hearer’s location, and foxes yelping below it; horses whinnying at midnight, dogs howling at dawn, a cuckoo alighting on a ladder; and in rMi ltas sna tshogs, certain animals mating at unusual moments, owls calling from the midst of a herd of cows in broad daylight, and so on. It is worth considering these coincidences in the light of another ritual that is not ostensibly concerned with the interpretation of signs. The text in question, entitled Kong rtse bla glud, is concerned with the procedure for the retrieval and restoration of lost souls. The passage of the text that is of particular relevance to the present study is a section that lists a series of causes that might have led to the loss of the patient’s soul. Each of the eight causes listed is a combination of three factors: one of the eight trigrams, a particular activity, and the circumstance in which the activity occurred. The structure of this passage may be illustrated by two examples: “Kyai! Upon the zon trigram of the southeast, if you, rgyal po and ’gong po demons and demons of madness acting in unison, accused [the patient] of sleeping in a frightening place and, at the time of the solstice, when the sun 12 13 bzhi pa bzhi gshed [bsgyur du gsol] / lnga pa bye brag (< bye bral) [bsgyur du gsol] … bdun pa bdun zur [bsgyur du gsol] / … bcu pa dur mig gto [yis bsgyur] / … bcuis (bcu gnyis) lag sbrel (< lag ’bres) [bsgyur du gsol] / (fol. 8v). For each of the configurations, see respectively pp. 122 (for bzhi gshed), 130 (for bye bral), 109 (for bdun zur) and 118 (for dur mig) and 243 (for lag ’bres). For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV signs and portents in nature and in dreams 131 had reached its limit and was turning back, you stole or harmed the soul of this little one, our precious patron, I offer you this soul-ransom that is [as vast as] the glorious sky, as well as these precious splints and fine pendant banners, these ransom effigies (ngar mi) with their adorned human forms, the effigies of males and females, this beer and food and these dough buttons (theb kyu), these tormas and this food—these things I offer you as a ransom. Free your captive! (fol. 6v) Kyai! Upon the li trigram in the south, if you, btsan and sorcerers, acting in unison, accused her of [polluting] the stove and producing a smell of scorching, and, while she was on a meadow with a yellow surface, you stole or harmed the soul of this little one, our precious patron, I offer you this soul-ransom … (etc.).” Other combinations include: the trigram khon together with the activity of incest and the circumstance of sitting on a green hill or in a green valley; the trigram kham, the activity of fratricide and the state of widowhood, and the circumstance of opening an irrigation channel.14 In a sense, this text is the opposite of a divination manual: Instead of analyzing combinations of events in the human and natural world to determine what they portend, it takes the outcome as the point of departure and looks back to the signs that could possibly have presaged it. But if the combinations listed are not exactly the causes of soul loss, neither are they merely passive indications; they are, rather, the set of conditions necessary to enable a particular category of demons to capture souls. These conditions are ambiguous concepts that are neither purely neutral signs nor unequivocal agents. It may be that, on entering the cultural arena represented by works such as gTo nag, the Indian science of signs underwent a process of indigenization whereby signs came to lose their neutrality and were assimilated into a pre-existing hybrid category of secondary causes. Texts Cited Note: In the following transliterations, the original texts have not been edited. Contractions (bskungs yig) are represented by an approximate representation of the form that appears in the text, followed by the expanded form in brackets. In gTo nag mgo gsum and Kong rtse bla glud, the punctuation “=/” stands for the shad that signifies “etc.”; in the former, the missing text is usually 14 For the other combinations, see Ramble 2009: 210. The text of the extract cited here is given below in the final section, “Texts cited”. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV 132 ramble bsgyur du gsol, and in a few cases bzlog; in the latter, the missing text is supplied in the first example. Zhang zhung gi ju thig (p. 473) Zhang zhung gi ju thig bsdus pa mo bya drug ’phrul gyi lde mig bzhugs pa legso (legs so) / (p. 474) […] dang po mo gzhi brtags pa ni / dkar po byung na bzang / nag po byung na the’u rang gdon / bug ral byung na snying stong yin / rkun ngo yin / ser po byung na ben dhe’i gdon / byad ngo yin / dmar po byung na grib ngo yin / zad pa byung na nor zas yul bud ’ong / mo gzhi’i steng du rlung dmar bu yug byung na grib ngo yin / mo yon mar byung na shin tu bzang / nas byung na mi nor ’phel / bal byung na longs spyod che / ’o zho phruṃ gsuṃ byung na tshe ring / sha byung na yang god kha ’ong / ja byung na mi (p. 475) kha ’ong / sa la god kha ’ong ngo yin / da ni mo nas spyad pa la / rus pa byung na mug ’dus pa’i ngo / sol ba byung na rtsog nal yong / mkhar rgong byung na ’dre mo ’gag gri gdon / tsha dang ram pa byung na god kha ’ong / nas ’bru bzang na mi ’bru bzang / gro byung na bu mo mang / rgyund (rgyun chad) byung na gcan ngo med / byad ngo yin / lcags rigs byung na dgra ngo yin / da ni mo rmod mi spyad la / pus mo g.yas btsug na ’graṃ pa g.yon bstan na che rgyud la ngan / pus g.yon btsug ’graṃ pa g.yas bstan na chung rgyud la ngan / stong pa khum nas stong pa yin pas dbul po ’ong / mgo btuṃ na ngan / zha gyon na dmu gab yin / yang na ’og la rkyen ngo (p. 476) yin / sngags pa bsgrang na ngan / glu blang na mya ngan ’ong / mdun bstan na gus tshul byung na bzang / gTo nag mgo gsum (fol. 13r) lhas (< ltas) ngan cho ’phrul yong ba =/ mi theg ro khur byed pa =/ mi zhim sdug zas za ba =/ blo bur shi chad yong ba =/ yul la phog ’chug yong ba =/ phu yi sha ba ru ’dzing bsgyur/ mda’ yi nya mo rnga ’dzing =/ bar gyi nag mo’i sder ’dzing =/ (fol. 13v) ’og rta nam phyed ’tsher ba =/ tho rangs sgo khyi ngu ba da =/ srod la bya pho ’tshe ba ’di/ bdag po ’jigs pa’i ltas ngan yin/ de yang srid pa gto ’dis bzlog/ phugsu (phugs su) byi ba mkhun pa dang/ sri mong kha nas byi khyer yang/ than ngan yong ba’i ltas ngan yin/ de yang srid pa gto yi =/ bumed (bu med) smyo spyod byed pa dang/ zla zhig khrag ral byed pa de/ rab chad yong ba’i ltas ngan yin/ de yang srid =/ ri bya sno^gs (sna tshogs) klung du ’babs/ khu byug skras mgo bab pa ’di/ dgra sna yong ba’i ltas ngan yin/ de yang srid pa =/ ’ug pa nyin mo rgod pa dang/ srin bya nyi mo kus ’debs des/ dal yam yong ba’i ltas ngan yin/ de yang sri =/ khyi la sgo nga skyes pa dang/ ba la (fol. 14r) grod pa skyes pa de/ god kha yong ba’i ltas =/ de yang srid =/ gong du spyang ku ngu ba dang/ ’og tu wa mo brgyal ba de/ phung sri g.yos pa’i =/ de yang srid =/ bya nag sdero (sder mo) ’dzing ba dang/ khyim du sbrul nag sleb pa de/ drag srin g.yos pa’i ltas =/ de yang srid =/ phu’i lha ri rtse mtho la/ sha pho ru ’dzing mthong ba For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV signs and portents in nature and in dreams 133 de/ gri btsan g.yos pa’i =/ de yang =/ mda’i ma phang g.yu mtsho/ nya mo rnga ’dzing mthong ba de/ klu nad yong pa’i =/ de yang srid =/ bar gyi stag ri khra bo la/ nag mo’i sder ’dzing mthong ba de/ bdud mo g.yos pa’i ltas =/ de yang srid =/ gto ’dis ’bod pa gto ’dis bsgyur/ btsan khram bsgyur byed gto ’dis bsgyur/ ltas ngan thaṃd (thams cad) bzlog cing bsgyur/ btsan khram (fol. 14v) ’ug pa srod la rgod pa bzlog/ srin bya lha la gnong pa =/ dus min pho rog sha ’dzing =/ phu ru sho pho ru ’dzing =/ mda’ ru nya mo rnga ’dzing/ bar gyi bya ro rlung khyer =/ srod pa bya pho ’tshe ba =/ tho rang sgo khyi ngu ba =/ zhing la ’bu khung byung ba =/ lug la ro bkal byung =/ ra la dkar chags byung ba =/ rnam gung spyang mo ngu ba =/ nor la sogs dkar byung =/ rta la drug phrom byung ba =/ khyi la gtsed pa byung ba =/ dbyar gsum bya tshang rul ba =/ dgun gsum byi’u tshang rul =/ dpyid gsum glang ro sbrum pa =/ ston gsum wa ro bam pa =/ ngang phrug tshang nas gyes mthong =/ dgun gsum sbrul chen ’khyil =/ ltas ngan than dang cho ’phrul rnams/ de yang srid pa gto’dis (gto ’dis) bzlog // Kong rtse bla glud kyai lhogs (lho phyogs) spar kha zon steng na / rgyal ’gong bsnyo ’dre bsdong pa yin / ’jigs par nyal ba snyad btags nas / rdod cig nyi ma log ’tshaṃs na / yon+g ( yon bdag) mi’u rien (rin chen) la / bla la brkuṃs (brkus sam) bzhoms srid na // bla glud naṃkha’ (nam mkha’) rien (rin chen) dang / rien (rin chen) rgyang bu ’phan bzang dang / ngar gyi mi mo rgyan dang / pho tho mo thong bshos [bu dang] / ’thib brkyu chang zan rnaṃs ni glud du [’bul] / bzung ba thong la bcings pa khrol// mnan pa theg la bsdam pa slod / zhi ba cheo’i (chen po’i) ngang la bzhugs / kyai lho phyogs spar kha li steng na / btsan dang dri po bsdongs pa yi / thabs gzhob gnyis la snyad btag nas / rtod cig spang po kha ser la / yon+g ( yon bdag) mi’u =/ bla la brkuṃs (brkus sam) =/ naṃkha’ (nam mkha’) rien (rin chen) =/ naṃkha’ (nam mkha’) rien (rin chen) rgyang bu =/ ngar gyi mi mo rgyan =/ pho thong mo thong =/ ’theb brkyu chang zas rnams ni =/ bzung pa thong la =/ mnan pa theg la bsdam =/ zhi ba cheo’i (chen po’i) =/ References Works in Tibetan (listed by short title) gTo nag Srid pa’i gto nag mgo gsum bzhugs pa legs+hō. Anonymous manuscript in dbu med, 31 folios, owned by Lama Tshultrim of Lubrak, Mustang, Nepal. Kong rtse bla glud Kong rtse ’phrul rgyal gyis mdzad pa’i bla glud dbus phyogs. Anonymous manuscript in dbu med, 8 folios, owned by Lama Tshultrim of Lubrak, Mustang, Nepal. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV 134 ramble lTas brtag pa rgyas pa bsTan ’gyur nang gi drang srong gharga’i ltas brtag pa rgyas pa bskal bzang rgya mtshos legs pa yin gsungs pas de’i gces bsdus ’ga’ zhig, by Klong rdol bla ma Ngag dbang blo bzang (1719–1794). In Mo dpe, pp. 144–150. Mo dpe Mo dpe dang sa dpyad rmi lam brtag thabs bzhugs so, compiled by Tshe ring and ’Brug mkhar. Kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1997. Mu ye pra phud Mu ye pra phud phya’i mthar thug bzhugs s+ho. dBu med manuscript, 36 fols, transcribed in dbu can in Karmay and Nagano (eds.) 2002, The Call of the Blue Cuckoo: An Anthology of Nine Bonpo Texts of Myths and Rituals. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology, pp. 35–90. rMi lam brtag pa rMi lam brtag pa bzhugs so, by sGra tshad pa Rin chen rnam rgyal (1318–1388). In Mo dpe, pp. 134–137. rMi ltas sna tshogs rMi ltas sna tshogs brtag thabs bzhugs so, by Klong rdol bla ma Ngag dbang blo bzang (1719–1794). In Mo dpe, pp. 138–144. Srid pa yab lha bdal drug gis phya gzhung chen mo gzhugs s+ho. Anonymous manuscript, owned by Lama Tshultrim of Lubrak, Mustang, Nepal. Zhang zhung gi ju thig Zhang zhung gi ju thig bsdus pa mo bya drug ’phrul gyi lde mig bzhugs pa legs so, by Kun grol grags pa (b. 1700). In ’Chi med mgon po tshe dpag med daṅ ma gśin gñis kyi sgrub chog mo yig sna tshogs bcas kyi gsuṅ pod. A collection of ritual and divinational texts of the “New” Bon (Bon-gsar) tradition, chiefly work by Rig-’dzin Kun-grol-grags-pa and Mi-śig-rdo-rje. Reproduced from a manuscript brought from Rgyal-ri Dgon in Koṅ-po by Tenzin Namdak. New Thobgyal, P.O. 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Ramble and J. Sudbury, pp. 67–80. Andiast: IITBS, 2012. Mengele, I. “Chilu (’Chi bslu): Rituals for ‘deceiving death’.” In Tibetan Ritual, ed. J. Cabezón, pp. 103–130. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Mortensen, E.D. Raven augury in Tibet, Northwest Yunnan, Inner Asia, and circumpolar regions: A study in comparative folklore and religion. PhD thesis, Harvard University, 2003. Nebesky-Wojkowitz, R. de. Oracles and Demons in Tibet. The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities. The Hague: Mouton, 1956. Ramble, C. “The deer as a structuring principle in certain Bonpo rituals: a comparison of three texts for the acquisition of good fortune (g.yang).” In Cultural Flows across the Western Himalaya, ed. Patrick Mc Allister, Helmut Krasser† and Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, pp. 499–528. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2015. Ramble, C. “Playing Dice with the Devil. Two Bonpo Soul-retrieval Texts and Their Interpretation in Mustang, Nepal.” In Bon. The Everlasting Religion of Tibet. Tibetan Studies in Honour of Professor David L. Snellgrove, ed. S.G. Karmay and D. Rossi, pp. 205–232. Special issue of EAST AND WEST, vol. 59, nos. 1–4, 2009. Schneider, J. Vāgīśvarakīrtis Mṛtyuvañcanopadeśa, eine buddhistische Lehrschrift zur Abwehr des Todes. Vienna: OeAW, 2010. Tseng Te-ming. Sino-tibetische Divinationskalkulation (Nag-rtsis), dargestellt anhand des Werkes dPag-bsam ljon-šiṅ von Blo-Bzaṅ tshul-khrims rgya-mtsho. Halle (Saale): International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2005. Young, S. Dreaming in the Lotus: Buddhist Dream Narrative, Imagery and Practice. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1999. For use by the Author only | © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV