Sei
Kaluli · numen · Kaluli traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
The sei is the Kaluli witch, a malevolent kind of being whose hidden aspect preys upon others in the unseen world. Acting invisibly, a sei seizes a victim's reflected body, dismembers it, and consumes its substance, so that the living person weakens and, untreated, dies. Healing is the work of a spirit medium, who leaves his sleeping body to hunt down the scattered parts, wash their decay away in the invisible river Sili, and warm them back to wholeness. The sei thus supplies the Kaluli account of grave illness and untimely death, and the medium's nocturnal recovery of the body stands opposite it as the principal means of cure.
Domains
- witchcraft
- illness and death
Powers
- dismembers and devours the unseen body
Sources
- The sei is the Kaluli witch, whose predatory invisible aspect attacks and dismembers a victim's unseen body, causing illness and death; a spirit medium cures by recovering the missing parts, cleansing them in the invisible river Sili, and restoring them to life.: Edward L. Schieffelin, The Sorrow of the Lonely and the Burning of the Dancers (1976). (secondary); 'Kaluli (Bosavi): History, Religion, Life Society', Facts and Details (ioa.factsanddetails.com). (secondary)