Thlen Biography

Many heard about Thagas - a secret society of strangers who kill people for the glory of the goddess Kali. Much fewer people outside of India are aware of not so famous, but no less cruel cults that have been in various regions of Hindustan since time immemorial. Muslim rulers and British colonialists fought with varying successes with varying success, but to this day, echoes of ancient cruel times are heard in the deaf corners of India.

One of these dark cults is dedicated to Thlen - the evil God or the devil in the guise of a snake among the people of Khasi. Khasi is a small nation that lives in the north-east of India, mainly in the state of Meghalai, near the city of Sweths or Cherrapongi, due to frequent rains known as the most wet place on the planet. In the language and race of Khasi, they differ from the majority of the population of India - these are southern Mongoloids who are more likely khmra or Vietnamese than Hindu.

The religious views of Khasi are also different from the rest of India - many Khasi Christians, others profess traditional beliefs, including cruel rites, cannibalism and human sacrifices in the past. The legend of Thlen is one of the characteristic manifestations of this culture. She loved one of the gods, but her father strictly forbade an unequal marriage. The angry goddess, who knew how to change his appearance, began to secretly converge with different demons and eventually became pregnant.

Fearing the wrath of her father, Kma Kharai escaped under the protection of her uncle, the lord of the dragons. In a deep cave, she gave birth to a son with the appearance of a snake and the habits of a vampire, eager for human blood. Unlike his mother, Thlen could not change his guise, but he could grow out of a creature the size of a rainworm in a monster that could swallow a whole person.

Over time, the monster settled in one of the caves, where everyone who passed by was enough and devoured. The gods did not interfere, only limiting the number of people devoured by the monster: if two people passed by his caves, he could devour only one, and the second was obliged to let go, if ten to five to eat, five to let go. One way or another, the local villagers are tired of this terror.

They agreed with one of the local gods, by the name of the Sweath, so that he, taking advantage of the fact that he was rushing away from Thlen and reluctantly get out of the cave, began to feed the snake of goats and pigs. The monster swallowed cattle without looking: revealing his mouth and swallowing his tribute. At the same time, Thlen believed that he was eating people.

Over time, the monster got used to such a feeding and already without hesitation opened the mouth, hearing a voice at the entrance. Then the villagers were tired of this: the monster demanded more and more victims, and local residents could be left without cattle. They again turned to the assistant god. And now, one fine day, the demon, hearing a familiar voice, habitually opened his mouth, but instead of the next victim, he swallowed a piece of hot iron.

After the death of Thlen Khasi so that the demon was not reborn again, they decided to fry it and eat it, distributing a piece of meat to each of the inhabitants of the village. However, there was one young man who could not attend the festival of getting rid of the monster. His mother, fearing that due to the fact that her son did not eat his part, would fall curse all over his family, secretly hid a piece of meat into the folds of the dress to bring home.

At home, the woman put the meat in a closed vessel and began to wait for her son. He came home upset, saying that he had lost money that made up almost all the family savings. He considered this a sign of a curse, which fell due to neglect of the holiday, but was amused when his mother told him that she secretly brought him meat at Thlen. Hoping to correct his affairs, the son and mother opened a vessel, but there, instead of meat, there was only a tiny living snake.

Mother and son wanted to kill her, but at Thlen suddenly spoke to them, begging to spare him. He promised to return to the family well -being and prosperity if they cover him with the rest of the villagers. The temptation was great, and Thlen remained to live. Over time, he grew up, strengthened and demanded human casualties. When a woman and her son began to object, he sent a disease to his family: one after another, the household began to wander and weaken and to save them from death, the demon’s involuntary saviors began to kill the fellow villagers.

Gradually, the power over other families found in Thlen in the same way. Which was even worse - the demon multiplied on many new snakes, demanding from people human victims in exchange for wealth. And, as the story showed, there were a lot of people who wanted to gain prosperity in this way. They hire special murderers, who are called Nongshokhnokh - a local analogue of Thagov.

For murder, they cannot use iron weapons - because Thlen was killed by iron - only batons. The naming "Nongshokhnokh" in translation means "the one who hit." In addition to the baton, the killer requires silver scissors, silver lancelets and a small bamboo cylinder. Before the murder, Nongshokhhh drinks a special drink that should give him courage and help choose the victim. Finding a suitable, in his opinion, man, Nongshokhnokh throws him in the eyes of a ritual mixture of rice with turmeric.Having stunned the victim for a while, the killer beats him with a baton to death, after which he cuts earlobes, eyebrows, lips, and also pulls the nails from the arms and legs with silver scissors.

In silver lanceote, he pierces the nostrils of the corpse, and picks up a little blood into the cylinder. After that, the killer returns to the house of the "Guardians", where everything is ready for the ritual of calling by Thlen. On the copper plate lying in the middle of the floor, everything that Nongshokhnoch cut off from the corpse, after which the fans of the cult hit the drum, calling to the demon-snake: “Father or uncle, come to us!

Here is food for you, we did everything to satisfy you!

Now give us your blessing so that we can achieve health and prosperity. ” According to the beliefs, soon at Thlen comes and waits until the spirit of the murdered man appears on the plate, after which he slowly devours him. The cult of the Demon-Zmey has a long history: back in the 19th century, British researchers noted the wild fear of Khasi in front of families who were considered the ministers of Thlen.

It was noted that many Khasi were afraid to go out at night, afraid to be attacked by Nongshokhnokh. It was believed that the one who uses the services of Thlen is dependent on him: the only way to get rid of the demon is to refuse all the acquired property, even from clothing. Among the legends of Thlen there is a story about a Muslim who marries a girl from Khasi.

During the family life, he learned that his mother -in -law kept in the house, that he called the “bhut” the devil. Many times he asked his wife to show him this devil, but the girl refused every time. But, then he nevertheless persuaded her, making a promise not to tell anyone about him. After that, the wife took him to the corner of the house and showed a small box, in which a tiny snake lay a little more hair thick.

The Khasi girl stretched her hands over the reptile, and she suddenly began to grow until she turned into a huge cobra with an open hood. The frightened husband began to ask his wife to drive the demon back and she, again, spread her hands, reduced the demon to the same size. Legends about the cult of Thlen are closely intertwined with the local structure of society.

The fact is that Khasi was stronger than other tribes of the region, the property differentiation was expressed, even the tribal land was involved in the sale, and most of it was in the hands of individual families. Accordingly, it is believed that Thlen is revered precisely inside these families who have riched precisely thanks to the help of a demon-snake. There are curious roll calls with the image of the “Snake-Dengoner”-a popular plot in the folklore of many peoples, including Russian.

According to these beliefs, the snakes are lured or grown from the chicken-boltun egg, after which it becomes the guardian of the house, which brings wealth in exchange for treats. Sometimes such a snake appears with wings, sometimes - with a roostulous comb. At a suddenly rich man, they often looked askance, suspecting him that he is dealing with such a snake, that is, he is a sorcerer.

Perhaps in the past such beliefs took the form of a certain religious practice, similar to the one that was practiced in the Khasi hills. Educated, “urban” Khasi, as well as ethnogram scientists, have no common opinion on whether this cult in reality exists or is it just superstition, like faith in witches. However, many villagers, like some clergymen, do not doubt in reality both of Thlen and his admirers.

Moreover, ritual killings in honor of the most diverse deities have been committed in this region for a long time. In the year, the Hindustan Times reported two BSF border service employees, detained on suspicion of human sacrifice of a seven -year -old boy. The murdered person was found in the hills, not far from the border guard headquarters, and his body had numerous injuries indicating the ritual nature of the murder.

And to this day, in Mughalae, cases of self -guess are happening over people suspected of sacrifices from Thlen, there are stubborn rumors about strange murders, after which nails are absent on the body of the victims. So, the locals are sure, Demon-Smay did not leave this land.