7. The Herbal Arsenal and Fetid Food: The Power of Plants in Early Tantric Exorcism Rituals
| Dublin Core | PKP Metadata Items | Metadata for this Document | |
| 1. | Title | Title of document | 7. The Herbal Arsenal and Fetid Food: The Power of Plants in Early Tantric Exorcism Rituals - Roots of Wisdom, Branches of Devotion |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Michael Slouber; Western Washington University, USA; |
| 3. | Subject | Discipline(s) | Religious Studies |
| 4. | Subject | Keyword(s) | plants in Asian religion; Hinduism; Jainism; Buddhism; Tantric texts; tantric exorcism; sacred nature of flora; trees in religion; plants as food; plants as medicine; plants in ritual and myth |
| 5. | Subject | Subject classification | South Asian Religions |
| 6. | Description | Abstract | This chapter discusses early medieval Bhūta and Bāla Tantras. On the basis of unedited manuscript sources, the author describes the role played by plants in religion and life as seen through the lens of exorcism rituals. Datura, red oleander, mustard seeds, rice, sesame, garlic, fig, Flame of the forest, wood-apple: these and many more formed the basis of tantric exorcisms. Plants were used to attract, feed and repel demons. They were made into incense, oil, and weapons, as well as cakes, mannequins and medicines. Auspicious and noxious qualities of sacred plants and trees were infused into water, milk and cooling ointments, or made into sweet fragrances or foul-smelling fires. In short, the universe of early tantric exorcism ritual was suffused with plants whose powers resonate in contemporary exorcist practice across South Asia. |
| 7. | Publisher | Organizing agency, location | Equinox Publishing Ltd |
| 8. | Contributor | Sponsor(s) | |
| 9. | Date | (YYYY-MM-DD) | 01-Jun-2016 |
| 10. | Type | Status & genre | Peer-reviewed Article |
| 11. | Type | Type | |
| 12. | Format | File format | |
| 13. | Identifier | Uniform Resource Identifier | https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/books/article/view/30834 |
| 14. | Identifier | Digital Object Identifier | 10.1558/equinox.30834 |
| 15. | Source | Journal/conference title; vol., no. (year) | Equinox eBooks Publishing; Roots of Wisdom, Branches of Devotion |
| 16. | Language | English=en | en |
| 18. | Coverage | Geo-spatial location, chronological period, research sample (gender, age, etc.) |
Indian sub-continent, historic to contemporary |
| 19. | Rights | Copyright and permissions | Copyright 2014 Equinox Publishing Ltd |