Animal Cruelty
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The “Spirit” in a Wick
This article deconstructs the “dancing wick” ritual from South Kanara, where a lit lamp wick wriggles after an oracle collapses. Rather than a divine spirit entering the cotton, the movement is caused by a trapped earthworm struggling against heat and suffocation. Simple physical inspection easily exposes this deceptive cruelty.
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The “Spirit” in the Coconut
antriks exploit families during exorcisms by claiming a self-moving coconut imprisons a captive spirit. In reality, the mechanical movement relies on center-of-gravity shifts caused by a small animal sealed inside and distressed by ritual smoke. Real healing requires medical care for psychological dissociation, not ritual fraud.