them the higher beings make known their desires. So far as could be
learned the _ballyan_ is not at any time possessed, but when in a trance
sees and converses with the most powerful spirits as well as with the
shades of the departed. This power to communicate with supernatural
beings and to control the forces of nature, is not voluntarily sought by
the future _ballyan_, but comes to the candidate either through one
already occupying such a position or by her being unexpectedly seized
with a fainting or trembling fit, in which condition she finds that she
is able to communicate with the inhabitants of the spirit world. Having
been thus chosen she at once becomes the pupil of some experienced
_ballyan_ from whom she learns all the secrets of the profession and the
details of ceremonies to be made.

At the time of planting or reaping, at a birth or death, when a great
celebration is held, or when the spirits are to be invoked for the cure
of the sick, one or more of these women take charge of the ceremonies
and for the time being are the religious heads of the community. At such
a time the _ballyan_ wears a blood-red waist,[112] but on other
occasions her dress is the same as that of the other women, and her life
does not differ from their's in any respect.

[112] PEDRO ROSELL, writing in 1885, says that the _ballyan_ then
dressed entirely in red. BLAIR and ROBERTSON, Vol. XLIII, p. 217.

When about to converse with the spirits the _ballyan_ places an offering
before her and begins to chant and wail. A distant stare comes into her
eyes, her body begins to twitch convulsively until she is shivering and
trembling as if seized with the ague. In this condition she receives the
messages of the spirits and under their direction conducts the ceremony.