In India, ever since the Vedic age, astrology has been the divination technique par excellence. In rural Tamil Nadu, when an astrologer diagnoses an affliction in his client’s horoscope, be it illness or misfortune, he also quite frequently takes charge of the treatment. He appears as a nodal point of a whole network of complex interactions which form the local therapeutic system.
Among all the remedies the astrologer knows (local medicine, propitiatory measures, etc.) he may, in some cases, decide to have recourse to ritual measures in order to ameliorate the situation of his client. While, from the astrologer’s point of view, the etiological conceptions of affliction or illness – in short, misfortune – follows the ‘inescapable’ logic of astrological determinism, the therapeutic measures become possible only by switching to a frame which leaves a place for the free will. This mobilisation, one after another, of contradictory beliefs by the same individual, at different stages of the same process of decisions is a cognitive attitude which deserves to be addressed.
Whether it be conjurations, potions or amulets, rituals used as correctives very often involve the aid of invisible powers. The ritual actions the specialist may perform do implicate an iconic logic, present in the mineral and organic substances (powders, waxes, liquids or pastes), the metals, and of course various highly symbolic objects, such as the amulets which contain sacred formulas, as well as symbols engraved on fine leaves of copper. Several questions arise. Is it possible to interpret this mixture of words and symbols? Do they establish correspondences between the afflictions, the various powers, and the body of the client?
In this paper, based on ethnographic data, I propose to study the ritual dynamics linked to astrological practice, to explore the relationship between practical Hinduism, divination, and local therapeutical landscape.
