Oracles and Demons of Tibet

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The author, Rene de Nebesky-Wojkowitz a scholar and adventurer who studied Tibetan culture, primarily in Sikkim, journeyed to the Himalayan region in the 1950s just before and during the Chinese invasion of Lhasa, when great upheavals were taking place in Tibetan society and culture. This book, a reprint of a long out of print study sheds fascinating insights on the occult secrets of Tibetan mysticism. It details the classification, appearance, and attributes of the Tibetan protective deities, their iconography, sacrifices, ceremonies, oracles, ritual dances, black magic and their cult of weathermaking.

"Many of the guardian goddesses especially those of the ma mo type, are pictured as ugly women with long emaciated breasts and huge sexual organs, while only a few are said to have the lovely appearance of ' a girl who has just passed her sixteenth year of age.' " Description of one of the Tibetan protective deities, considered to be the guardians of the Buddhist Dharma.

Contents:

PART I THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE PROTECTIVE DETIES

I -   The Protective Deities. Their Classification, Appearance And Attributes

The 'Jig rten las 'das pa'i srung ma

II-   dPal ldan lha mo
III-  The group of the mGon po
IV-   Vaisravana, Kubera, and Jambhala
V-    gShin rje and related deities
VI-   lCam sring

The 'Jig rten pa'i srung ma

VII-  Pe har and companions
VIII- rDo rje shugs ldan
IX-   Tshangs pa
X-    rDo rje legs pa
XI-   The dGe bsnyen Phying dkar ba
XII-  Tsi'u dmar po and the btsan demons
XIII- The Tshe ring mched lnga and related goddesses
XIV-  Mountain deities
XV-   Local protective deities
XVI-  The dregs pa
XVII- The dregs lha

Part II

THE CULT OF THE PROTECTIVE DEITIES

XVIII-Sacrificial object and offerings
XIX-  Thread-crosses and thread-cross ceremonies
XX-   Worship of the dharmapalas
XXI-  Tibetan oracles. Their position, attire, feasts, and prophetic trances
XXII- The State Oracle
XXIII-Methods of divination
XXIV- Tibetan weathermakers
XXV-  Destructive magic
XXVI- Protection against evil
XXVII-Some notes on Tibetan shamanism

Tibetan texts
Tibetan source
Indexes