The “magic circle” motif

Note: this text is extracted from Book VII, chapter 37.

Some idea of the religious significance attached to the circle has already been given in my note on deisul, or the circumambulation of sacred shrines, mountains, etc. (Vol. I, pp. 190-193), while its uses in magical practices were briefly mentioned in Vol. II, pp. 98-100n.

I shall, therefore, confine myself here to describing some of the more uncommon uses to which it is put.

In the Pañjāb, about 1885, there was a severe attack of cattle disease. The Government took what steps it could to mitigate the calamity, and the disease soon disappeared. When, however, some time later the District Officer was in the locality it was explained that the natives could do nothing till the veterinary surgeons had left. Then they procured the services of a holy man, who drew a line on the ground right round the herd. He got on horseback and rode round the circle, sprinkling water and repeating mantras. It was this that had cured the cattle! See Pañjab Notes and Queries, vol. ii, 1885, p. 148. In the note given on this page by the editor, the reference to “vol. xii, p. 36,” of the Ind. Ant. should read, “vol. xi, pp. 35-36.”

Mention should also be made of the kār, the charmed circle of Hindu astrologers. There appears to be some doubt as to the etymology of this Pañjabi word. In the Ind. Ant., vol. xi, 1882, pp. 35-36, Sir Richard Temple would derive it from the Sanskrit kārā, “a prison.” The root kaṭ means “to surround,” whence kaṭaka, “a zone”; Hindi, kaṛā and kaṛī, “ring,” “bracelet”; thus the word may be of Prakrit origin. In Pañjab Notes and Queries, vol. ii, 1885 (No. 758, p. 136), however, it was suggested that kār should be connected with karsha, “a scratch,” “furrow,” “trench,” from the root kṛṣ, “to draw.”

The term kār is frequently employed to invoke protection (in much the same way as the Roman Catholic crosses himself when apprehensive of danger), and is in everyday use. It constantly occurs in charms and mantras. We also find it in the Ānanda-rāmāyaṇa (“Sāra-Kāṇḍa,” Sarga 7, verse 98 et seq.), a mediæval composition, where Lakṣmaṇa draws a protective circle round Sītā with the tip of his bow.

Then there is the maṇḍalī, or debtor’s circle, to be considered. It has been described by several early travellers in the East. See, for instance, Marco Polo, Book III, chap. xvii (Yule, vol. ii, p. 343), and note 14 on p. 350;

G. P. Badger, Travels of Ludovico di Varthema, Hakluyt Society, 1863, p. 147; Hamilton, Journey through Mysore, Canara and Malabar, 1807, vol. i, 318; Père Bouchet, Lettres Êdificantes, vol. xiv, p. 370; R. H. Major, India in the Fifteenth Century, Hakluyt Society, 1858, p. 14.

Quotations from one or two of the above will make the use of the debtor’s circle quite clear.

Varthema (op. cit., p. 147) says:

“And when anyone ought to receive money from another merchant, there appearing any writing of the scribes of the king (who has at least a hundred of them), they observe this practice:

Let us suppose the case that someone has to pay me twenty-five ducats, and the debtor promises me to pay them many times, and does not pay them; I, not being willing to wait any longer, nor to give him any indulgence, shall take a green branch in my hand, shall go softly behind the debtor, and with the said hand shall draw a circle on the ground surrounding him, and if I can enclose him in the circle, I shall say to him these words three times:

‘Bramini raza pertha polle’—that is, ‘I command you, by the head of the Brahmins and of the king, that you do not depart hence until you have paid me and satisfied me as much as I ought to have from thee.’ And he will satisfy me, or truly he will die there without any other guard. And should he quit the said circle and not pay me, the king would put him to death.”

The following account is given by Marco Polo (op. cit., vol. ii, p. 343):—

“They have the following rule about debts. If a debtor shall have been several times asked by his creditor for payment, and shall have put him off from day to day with promises, then if the creditor can once meet the debtor and succeed in drawing a circle round him, the latter must not pass out of this circle until he shall have satisfied the claim, or given security for its discharge. If he in any other case presume to pass the circle he is punished with death as a transgressor against right and justice. And the said Messer Marco, when in this kingdom on his return home, did witness a case of this. It was the King, who owed a foreign merchant a certain sum of money, and though the claim had often been presented, he always put it off with promises. Now one day the merchant found his opportunity, and drew a circle round both the King and his horse. The King, on seeing this, halted, and would ride no farther; nor did he stir from the spot until the merchant was satisfied. And when the bystanders saw this they marvelled greatly, saying that the King was a most just King indeed, having thus submitted to justice.”

These customs explain the gambler’s ring mentioned in the second act of the Mṛcchakaṭika, or Clay Cart, where a shampooer having got into debt is vainly called upon to pay.

As a last resource the other draws a circle round him, saying triumphantly:

“There, now you’re bound by the gambler’s ring.”

The shampooer replies:

“What! Bound by the gambler’s ring? Confound it! There is a limit which we gamblers can’t pass.”

Although a protective circle is usually made on the ground, this is not always the case. Thus among the negroes of Jamaica a circle in chalk marked on the door of the house acts as a protective charm to those within, and no duppy can enter. A duppy is a very curious kind of spirit with supernatural powers, and is said to be formed from a cloud of smoke which arises from the grave of a person who has been dead for three days (Folk-Lore, vol. xv, 1904, pp. 90 and 207).

The circle is also used for practical purposes by means of homoeopathic magic. Thus in his Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord (Algiers, 1908, p. 244 et seq.) E. Doutté describes how, in order to bring back a runaway slave, an Arab of North Africa will trace a magic circle on the ground, stick a nail in the middle of it, and attach a beetle by a thread to the nail, taking care that the sex of the beetle is that of the fugitive. As the beetle crawls round and round it will coil the thread about the nail, thus shortening its tether and drawing nearer to the centre at every circuit. So by virtue of homoeopathic magic the runaway slave will be drawn back to his master.

This is quoted by Frazer, Golden Bough, vol. i, p. 152 et seq.

In conclusion I would again (see Vol. II, p. 99) refer readers to Crawley’s article in Hastings’ Ency. Rel. Eth., where so many useful references are given. To those given by A. E. Waite I would add his The Book of Black Magic, London, 1898, where numerous rites of conjuration are given.—n.m.p.