A Facet of Women’s Spirituality and Religion in Meghalaya, India

Abstract

The Khasi–Jaintia society is a population situated in the State of Meghalaya and extends into pockets in the states of Assam, Manipur, and Tripura in North-eastern India, including the bordering country of Bangladesh. This paper formulates a narrative about an indigenous religious practice among Jaintia women. With Christianity the dominant religion, some sections of the population still profess the indigenous faith in this state, which centres on a sense of reverence and belonging to nature. This aspect of drawing one’s faith and spirituality from nature is particularly evident among some women of the Jaintia society, who take on the roles of healers and clairvoyants (Soanes, 2001, p. 810), whereby certain spirits attributed to each element in nature are believed to descend and reside in them. This raises the question of how their religio-spiritual practice shapes the way they treat nature as their own home, crystallising the healer's role as one of providing aid to people in every area of life. The essence of this paper is to understand how, in this present era when science and technology have almost a firm grip on every life perspective, the people of this society choose to draw their strength in all aspects from nature despite a prevalent religious and political ideology. Relying on an ethno-historical approach, this paper has largely delved into the use of oral sources. What could be observed is a symbiotic and interrelationship amongst the people and their ecology. They collaborate with the environment to seek a healing balm, a sanctuary for their ailments and worries, thereby equally restoring the balance of nature and protecting it.