Research source

If a man repeats it forwards, he will become invisible to his neighbour; but if he repeats it backwards, he…

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 166
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

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

If a man repeats it forwards, he will become invisible to his neighbour; but if he repeats it backwards, he will assume whatever shape he desires." [760] The use of this charm enables the witch to take the liver out of a living child and eat it. But, in order to do this effectively, she must first catch some particular kind of wild animal not larger than a dog, feed it with cakes of sugar and butter, ride on it, and repeat the charm one hundred times. When dying, the breath will not leave the body of the witch until she has taught the two and a half letters to another woman, or failing a woman, until she has repeated it to a tree. [761]

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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