According to Lorimer Fison and A. W. Howitt in Kamilaroi and Kurnai, Bunjil barn is a type of charm. To perform it, the charmer selects a tall He-oak tree, lops it to a point, and draws the outline of a man (a Yamboginni, or apparition) on the ground so that the tree appears to grow from the figure’s chest. The charmer then clears the area of all debris for some distance around, forming a sort of magic circle.
Next, the charmer strips, smears his body with charcoal and grease, and incessantly chants a magic spell. The expectation is that the victim, wherever he may be, will then rise and walk to the circle in a trance, “as if in sleep.”
Upon entering the magic circle, the charmer will throw pieces of the He-oak wood at the victim. The victim will then fall, after which he’ll cut out his tongue and send him home to die.
There is also a counter-charm to this barn, which must be repeated incessantly in a monotonous chant: “Numba jellung baruda.” Freely translated, this means, “Never shall the sharp barn catch me.”