Guruji (teacher) says that you should say the mantra he has given you a hundred thousand times. He says that the present period is inauspicious for you. Your grahan-dishan (planetary configuration) is bad, but he has assured me that it will get better as you progress with the mantra. Yes Madam, all this is according to your janma-patra (document drawn to show planetary positions at time of birth).” He is obviously speaking to someone in authority, and it wouldn’t be surprising if she happened to be some senior bureaucrat’s (his boss’s) wife. The old and spectacled jyotishi leans back in his sofa, and interrupts, “Tell her to wear a coral Ganesh ring. It will be good for her.” The middle aged woman meanwhile listens with a worried look on her face. The young man says into his mobile, “No Madam, this bad period will not last long. That’s what the Guruji is saying.” One can imagine, with this kind of news, the conversation goes on for a long time.
One can also imagine, if this is a common occurrence in the capital city, and if people like the above mentioned ‘madam’ are seeking help from jyotishis and shamans, what must be the situation regarding this issue in the villages of the country. As Adrian Storrs says in his book on Jhañkris, “From time immemorial, jhañkris, as the Nepalese faith healers and medicine men are called, have given medical care to the rural people, Much of the jhañkris’ success is due to the fact that they are well known, respected and accepted, especially as intermediaries between man and spirits. Furthermore, the jhañkris will go to patients at any time and treat them in their homes.” In Nepal, shamans or jhankris can be of any caste; more of them, however, are found to be of Tamang, Gurung, Chhetri or Sherpa