Folk Lore Notes. Vol. I—Gujarat

by A. M. T. Jackson

QUESTIONS ON FOLKLORE.

By W. CROOKE, Late of the Indian Civil Service.

Author of the Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India.

I. NATURE POWERS.

1. Give any indications of the connection of the worship of the Deota or minor local deities with the lower races, as, for instance, where the village deity is served by a priest drawn from the lower castes.

2. Give any current beliefs about sun worship. How and at what periodical feasts is the worship conducted and what form of ritual is adopted?

3. Give any customs of moving round temples or sacred objects in the course of the sun in the heavens: cases in which women after childbirth are exposed to the sun: conception believed to be caused by exposure to the rays of the sun: the use of the Swastika as an emblem.

4. Give any legends or customs connected with moon worship: the spots on the surface of the moon: the moon as a healer of disease: the custom of drinking the moon’s rays: any ceremonies at new or full moon.