Research source

The most elaborate precautions are, however, devoted to barring out the ghost and preventing its return to its…

Date of account: Second edition published 1896
Source: The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Reference: The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 2 (of 2) · selected passage 29
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

The most elaborate precautions are, however, devoted to barring out the ghost and preventing its return to its former home

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

The most elaborate precautions are, however, devoted to barring out the ghost and preventing its return to its former home. The first of these consist of rules to prevent the breach of the curiosity taboo. All through folk-lore we have instances of the danger of looking back, as in the case of Lot's wife. One of the maxims of Pythagoras was: "On setting out on a journey, do not return back; for if you do the fairies will catch you." [158] In one of the Kashmîr tales the youth is warned not to look back, otherwise he would be changed into a pillar of stone. [159] In one of the Italian spells the officiant is told: "Spit behind you thrice and look not behind you." [160] In an Indian tale the god promises to help the Brâhman and to follow him. The Brâhman looks back and the deity becomes a stone. [161] The danger of looking back is that the person's soul may be detained among the ghosts of the dead. This is the reason why Hindu mourners do not look back when they are returning from the cremation ground, and so we find that in Naxos it is a rule that none of the women who follow the bier must look back, for if she do she will die on the spot, or else one of her relations will die.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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