But at least these were all positive aspects. We do not know, whether there were other cards in the pile. On them were the pictures of Ganesh (God of wisdom, success and courage), Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth and beauty) and Saraswati (Goddess of knowledge, music and creative arts). For INR 20 he made his parrot pick three cards out of a pile for Anne. He sat outside Sri Nagarajar Temple in Nagercoil that we had just visited. We found the last fortune teller by accident.
In the end he is in a trance and the Gods appear to him and tell him the solution to the people´s problems. All the time he plays on his kokkara (see below) and calls 101 Gods to assist him, starting with village Gods and ending with Lord Shiva.
The ceremony he demonstrated to us lasts from 6 pm to 3 o`clock in the morning. They are the only shamans in their village. He works together with his uncle (the Kaniplathi = chief priest). The shaman who explained his work to us also has a regular job in the forest department. The Kani people are classified as tribal, and are considered to be a jungle tribe. Very interesting was our visit of a Kani shaman`s house in Kanikudiyruppu village in the Papanasam area. The first one also helps people with family problems, the second says that she heals some illnesses, as e.g. Their main God is Lord Murugan, accompanied by some other Hindu Gods, to whom they pray and offer coconuts, fruit, incense sticks and fire. Then we visited two ladies who work as diviners. E.g., within 31 days the problem will be solved. He threw some cowrie shells and their position was interpreted by the God via the shaman. Although he told us that he was a Christian, he asked the Dravidian village God Sudalai for advice. He finds out if a person has cast a black magic spell on his client. In a small village we learned to know a male shaman who helps people with family problems. All but one live in the Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu.
In autumn 2011 my husband, his daughter Anne and I visited several shamans, diviners, healers and fortune tellers in Tamil Nadu, India.
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