Amok

“ This is merely one instance of many which might be cited, and serves to illustrate my contention that âmok is caused, in most cases, by a condition of mind, which may result from either serious or comparatively trivial causes, but which, while it lasts, makes a native weary of life. At such times, he is doubtless to some extent a madman—just as all suicides are more or less insane—but the state of feeling which drives a European to take his own life makes a Malay run âmok. ”

“ Under English rule the great object of the police is to take the "amok" runner alive, and have him tried like an ordinary criminal for murder; and if he can be brought to bay, as he sometimes is, they succeed in pinning him to the wall by means of such a stout two-pronged fork as I saw kept for the purpose in Malacca. Usually, however the fate of the "amok" runner is a violent death, and men feel no more scruple about killing him in his frenzy than they would about killing a man-eating tiger. ”

“ It is true that some âmok are caused by madness, but such acts are not peculiar to the Malays. Given a lunatic who has arms always within his reach, and the result is likely to be the same, no matter what the land in which he lives, or the race to which he belongs. In independent Malay States everybody goes about armed; and weapons, therefore, are always available. As a consequence, madmen often run âmok, but such cases are not typical, and do not present any of the characteristic features which distinguish the âmok among Malays, from similar acts committed by people of other nationalities. ”

“ This day, in the amok attack on the Frangis, five-and-twenty chosen hulubalangs perished, and Sri Audana was also wounded through the groin, being pierced with a long lance. Then they made the raja's elephant kneel down, and the Prince descending, returned to his palace, whither they also conveyed Sri Audana; and the raja ordered his physician to attend him, and he examined the wound, with the sharp point of a betel-leaf, and said, that it was of no consequence, and would easily be cured, though if the weapon had penetrated a barley-corn farther, he had been a dead man. ”

“ A Javan has received an outrage, perhaps a blow, but he preserves his usual calm, grave demeanour, until on a sudden, and with a terrible shriek, he draws his kreese, and attacks not only those who have offended him, but unoffending bystanders, and often the persons he best loves. It is a temporary insanity, which usually lasts till he sinks from exhaustion, or is himself struck down. The paroxysm over, remorse assails him, and he bewails the sad results of his matta glab or blinded eye, by which term the Javans frequently designate the amók. ”

“ Drawing his kreese, he fell upon the unoffending man, and laid him dead upon the ground. Sudden repentance succeeded the groundless suspicion and cruel deed, and some Javans, who soon afterwards came up, found him raving over the body of his friend, and imploring to be delivered to justice.” Seldom, however, does an amók make only one victim. The Javan women are not subject to these fury-fits, but are not on that account the less dangerous. Of an extremely jealous disposition, they have quiet and subtle means of revenging themselves upon their rivals. ”

“ De Gubernatis has indeed suggested that the word amouchi was derived from the Skt. amokshya, 'that cannot be loosed'; and this would be very consistent with several of the passages which we shall quote, in which the idea of being 'bound by a vow' underlies the conduct of the persons to whom the term was applicable both in Malabar and in the Archipelago. But amokshya is a word unknown to Malayālam, in such a sense at least.
We have seen a-muck derived from the Ar. aḥmaḳ, 'fatuous' [ (e.g. Ball, Jungle Life, 358) .] But this is etymology of the kind which scorns history. ”

“ These are called Amuco. And as soon as they see them begin this work, they cry out, saying Amuco, Amuco, in order that people may take care of themselves, and they kill them with dagger and spear thrusts."—Barbosa, Hak. Soc. 194. This passage seems to show that the word amuk must have been commonly used in Malay countries before the arrival of the Portuguese there, c. 1511. 1539.—"... The Tyrant (o Rey Ache) sallied forth in person, accompanied with 5000 resolute men (cinco mil Amoucos) and charged the Bataes very furiously."—Pinto (orig. cap. xvii.) ”

“ Akop is another evil spirit, who has a head, long slimy arms and legs, but no body. He is always near the place of death, awaiting an opportunity to embrace the spouse of the deceased, and once let the living feel his cold embrace, death is sure to follow. ”

“ Spare me, noble Anak!" shrieked the hag, dropping to her knees as the flint point of Anak's spear hovered over her. "I will not harm her nor you, either. I will soften Uglik's heart toward you and make him give you the maiden. I will declare it is the will of the God."
Anak lowered the spear.
"As long as Una is safe, your life is spared," he said grimly; "but pray to Degar Astok to keep her safe. Should any harm befall her, your life will answer for it."
"I will weave spells to guard her from harm, Anak," she cried eagerly. "Only let me live, brave hunter!" ”

“ How difficult it was for a native to break away from habits and customs ingrained in them through centuries of repetition may be gathered from the story of Akom, a freewoman, one of the most self-righteous of the big ladies of the district. She had been betrothed, when a year old, to a young and powerful chief, and had been brought up in the harem and was a zealous upholder of all superstitious practices. On her lord's death she escaped the poison ordeal, and was active in placing wives and slaves into the grave. ”

“ In a spirit of hospitality the Angekok invited the voyagers to his encampment, [124] where a feast of walrus blubber and meat would be given them. It appeared, however, that the natives as a body did not relish the inroads to be made on their scanty supply of food, and one old woman especially inveighed against the feast. In the end the dark-skinned Kalutunah, enforcing his authority and asserting his dignity as the Angekok of the tribe, tersely and firmly said: "The white man shall have blubber!" ”

“ The main power needed to fight Amalek and to erase his name and memory from the world, is through Shabbat, which is the name of the Holy One, Blessed be He. For the main war of Amalek in every generation is against the name of Hashem, which is the name of the True Tzaddik, for the name of Hashem is joined with that of the True Tzaddik. This Tzaddik is the glory and beauty and splendor of the whole world. He is the true grace of the world. He is the aspect of the simple foundation, the river that flows out of Eden, from which are drawn all four elements which are the basis of all the worlds. ”

“ After a time an old woman brings in some oldot seeds, each strung on a thread, and fastens one on the wrist of each person, as a protection against the evil spirit Akop, who, having been defeated in his designs against the widow, may seek to vent his anger on others. ”

“ Said Abarak, 'To hear is to obey!'
He bestrode the neck of Koorookh and sat with dangling feet, till she cried, 'Rise!' and the bird spread its wings and flapped them wide, rising high in the silver rays, and flying rapidly forward with the three on him from the mountain in front of Aklis, and the white sea with its enchanted isles and wonders; flying and soaring till the earth was as what might be held in the hollow of the hand, and the kingdoms of the earth a mingled heap of shining dust in the midst. ”

“ Anak stepped to Una's side.
"Uglik spoke truth when he said that Una would be High Priestess of Degar Astok," he said. "This I now proclaim her. You, Esle, stripped of your office, shall do menial tasks for all who will until death claims you. If your homage wavers, death will not be long.
"Lo, I make a new law for the tribe. No longer shall all the women belong to the Father, but to those to whom the Father awards them. To each hunter, I now give one woman. He shall take her to his cave and hunt for her. She shall obey him and no other. ”

“ On the other hand, they have amongst them individuals whom they call Angekoks, magicians, conjurers. Those assert that they have it in their power to raise a storm, to create a calm, to bring whales near, etc., and say that they learnt these arts from old Angekoks. The people regard them with fear; in every family, however, there is at least one. A young Angekok wished to make the wind rise, and he proceeded to do it by dint of phrases and gestures. ”

“ They placed implicit confidence in their angekoks, or angekos, or “medicine-men,” ascribing to them almost [Pg 275] unlimited powers over the things of earth and sea, this world and the next. When setting out for the chase, or prostrated by illness, they always sought the assistance of the angekoks, who, on such occasions, indulged in a variety of strange ceremonies. The nature of these may be inferred from what was witnessed by Captain Lyon, who, during his famous Arctic voyage, bribed an angekok, named Toolemak, to summon a Tomga, or familiar demon, in the cabin of his ship. ”

“ The young hunter looked up with adoration in his eyes.
"This I saved for my friend, Anak," he said proudly as he extended a generous chunk of liver. "Invar will be honored if his friend will eat of the liver of his kill."
Anak took the morsel with thanks and ate it slowly. His thoughts ran to the tall maiden whom he had requested from the Father, and his blood boiled at the way he had been put off. He was half inclined to cry the rannag, but he was not yet ready for the death duel which would determine whether he or Uglik would rule the tribe. ”

“ Uglik sprang to his feet.
"What means the Chief Hunter of the tribe of Ugar?" he demanded.
"I mean that to-morrow we settle for all time who rules in this valley, the tribe of Ugar or the cousins of Gumor."
"And has the Father no voice in the council of the tribe?"
"We have come to the end," replied Anak. "If we do not strike now, soon we will be too weak to strike. To-morrow we attack!"
"I am Father of the tribe of Ugar," replied Uglik with a dangerous note in his voice. "No one gives orders here except me. On you, Anak, the Chief Hunter that was, I place the word of death! Slay him!" ”

“ Uglik leaped to his feet, spear in hand, but before the Chief Hunter's cool gaze, he wavered, again. Men were too scarce to waste, unless it became necessary.
"I will consider the matter," he said shortly. "I may lend her to you for a time, but I will not give her to you. Such is not the law."
"The Father who ruled before you gave women to his favored hunters," replied Anak. "I was the son of such a one."
"And Degar Astok assumed the form of a lion and punished him for his impiety by destroying him," retorted Uglik. ”

“ Among the Eskimo the angakok, or shaman, trains his child from infancy in the art of sorcery, taking him upon his knee during his incantations and conjurations. In one of the tales in the collection of Rink we read (525. 276) : "A great angakok at his conjurations always used to talk of his having been to Akilinek [a fabulous land beyond the ocean] , and his auditors fully believed him. Once he forced his little son to attend his conjurations, sitting upon his knee. ”

“ In the aspect of "Call the generations from the start."
For Amalek has no interest in waging war with any other leader - large or small - aside from the Head himself. However, against the Head of the House, he has no power to wage war. For that True Tzaddik - the Head of the House - has already merited to defeat and break him completely, since he has no selfish motivations at all. For he has already broken all his desires and negative traits with such an absolute completeness, that beyond it there is no more final completeness. ”

“ At Napartok, having declared to the natives the counsel of God for their salvation, he thus continued: "I hear that there are quarrels and backbitings among you, and that some even seek the lives of others; all this proceeds from your not knowing the Saviour." He then turned to the Angekok, Aweinak, who was a reputed murderer, and said, "Hear these my words, 'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed.' Forgive one another, and live as brethren and sisters in love and fellowship; make no difference between your own countrymen and those of the north and south." ”

“ Advancing toward Makuik I silently gave the Kryptok brotherhood sign, which he returned. I had not seen Ikik since the previous evening but I now perceived her in the background and noticed that wise old Makuik had made fast one of her ankles to a large block of ice.
Approaching her quietly I hung an oil skin tobacco pouch about her neck. It contained a book-plate bearing the Traprock arms [26] and the [Pg 214] device "Traprock must be true." On the back of this I had written, in Klinka script, "I could not love thee, dear, so much, loved I not honor more." ”

“ I have asked the Eskimo to repeat to me the words of Tornarsuk, up there on the cliff, and I would not dream of laughing at my faithful friends at such a time; the messages of Tornarsuk I receive with a respectful gravity. [65]
There are no chiefs among these people, no men in authority; but there are medicine men who have some influence. The angakok is generally not loved—he knows too many unpleasant things that are going to happen, so he says. The business of the angakok is mainly singing incantations and going into trances, for he has no medicines. ”