The next visit after a year or so was more interesting. I had developed hyper-acidity and was having continuous pain in the abdomen. I had been using a lot of antacids but the problem was not fully cured. Urgain told me that we should visit the oracle again. This time we would be going for a healing session. Again because of Urgain we were treated to a cup of tea and biscuits. The Lha-mo was getting prepared for the session.

She had lesser people waiting this time as we had an appointment and came early. After sometime we were taken into her kitchen which serves her working place as an oracle. First she chanted as usual her mantras and once she was in full trance she asked Urgain about the purpose of visit. He told her that I had a tummy problem and wanted to get cured. She heated up the knife and touched her tongue with it. It gave a flesh burning smell. She had a copper pot with handle in which some coals were burning. After touching her tongue she would put her spit in this pot. She asked me to stand before her on my knees. Then she took out a tube and put it on my tummy and started sucking out. I did not feel anything but after a couple of sucks, she put some blood and some fleshy things from her mouth into the copper pot. I was surprised to see all this coming out of her mouth. I had not felt any suction or any force at the place where she had placed the tube on my belly. She picked out a darkish red piece of flesh from the pot and started removing some layers from it. Inside there was a folded piece of paper. She said that someone had played black magic on me and it was good that I had approached her in time. According to her if I had tackled it in time, the black magic would have turned into a bird and caused me many problems. It was an eerie experience seeing flesh and blood being sucked out of one’s belly without any feeling etc. She told me that everything would be alright now. Urgain had to again put a hundred prayer flags on top of the Leh palace monastery to flutter in the air!

The meeting with the oracle had mystified me but the eerie experience of healing process with the Sabu Lha-mo did not make me feel any better. My acidity problem continued as before. It was very annoying and sometimes I would get severe pain. In fact, I had been under the treatment of many gastroenterologists and had also undergone endoscopey also. I had been taking allopathic medicine for a long time but things did not improve. On my next visit Urgain took me to another oracle in Choglamsar. She was a Tibetan and was quite young. She did not seem as stern or professional as the Sabu one. She appeared more polished and probably somewhat educated. We spent an hour with her. She also repeated the same suction treatment. Being more sturdy and young she took out something much longer and blackish in colour from my belly. I was surprised whether the thing came out of my belly or she already had it in her mouth! However, she did not seem as impressive as the Sabu Lha-mo. Again it did not seem to make any difference. I did not have any dramatic cure as had been told to me by some other people who had been consulting these oracles. After the “procedure” Urgain suggested that we see an Amchi who lived in Choglamsar. Amchi is the traditional Ladakhi doctor using wild herbs etc to cure diseases. Amchis also use very severe type of treatment known as “Dag” to relieve pain. This involves putting a red hot iron on a person’s flesh. This very harsh treatment is supposed to relieve all types of pain. In fact, the pain caused by the red hot iron must be making one forget all other pains. It is like a counter irritation treatment. But we did not go to the Amchi for this type of procedure but just wanted to know if he had some special herbs to relieve acidity. Apart from herbs the Amchis also prepare medicine from lizards, insects etc. I remember meeting some Amchis in Zanskar. They were preparing vitality increasing medicine from a flying fish found in a high altitude lake above Padam. According to them this lake situated very high up in the mountains had flying fish. These would jump out of water more than 10 feet and then fall back. The Amchis would wait and catch these as these fell back into the lake. Well, I did not want any insect or fish treatment. The Amchi listened to me carefully and then took out three types of round pills. I had to take these for a week. For Urgain’s sake I took these along but did not try the same. I was not sure whether these will cure my problem. However, ultimately I was cured of the problem by Ayurvedic treatment in Jammu. There was a very good Arurvedic doctor who prescribed a very simple treatment. I was completely cured of the ailment. Well I do not know whether the oracles had any role in it?

After having tried the oracles for their healing powers, I decided to try these for some future predictions about various matters during my next visit to Leh. Even though in the earlier attempt the oracle had avoided such questions, yet I wanted to make another try. This happened in early nineties when militancy was at the peak. I asked Urgain to take me to Sabu Lha-mo. I wanted to ask some questions about the situation in Kashmir. As usual we were treated to tea and biscuits. This time we were almost alone with the oracle. Once the oracle was possessed, I asked Urgain to pose a question about militancy to her. He asked if the militancy is going to end soon. The oracle seemed to get little agitated and then in short sentences told Urgain, “No, it will not end! The militants are coming into Kashmir valley from the North, South, East, and West. They are entering in hundreds and the turmoil will continue for a long time”. I do not know if this was a divine answer or keeping in view the general condition, it was anybody’s guess? In any case, my encounters with the oracles had been quite fascinating. A very interesting magical type of experience!

(Concluded)