Village deities. Local deities. Installation of deities in new settlements. Ghostly godlings. Deities responsible for crops and cattle 21

CHAPTER III.

[Disease Deities.]

Causes of epidemic diseases and the remedies adopted to stop them. Cattle diseases. Remedies practised by the village people in connection with them. The methods for the exorcism of disease. Methods of expelling evil spirits from the body. The village sorcerer. Offerings of rags, coins, etc., at sacred trees and wells. The transferring of disease from one person to another. Scapegoats 29

CHAPTER IV.

[The worship of Ancestors and Saints.]

Shráddhas and other ceremonies performed for the propitiation and emancipation of the deceased. Worship of the founders of religious sects, of saints, etc. Ghosts. Rebirth of ancestors in the same family. Miracle-working tombs. Muhammadan saints whose worship has been adopted by Hindus. Rural methods for the cure of barrenness 40

CHAPTER V.

[The Worship of the malevolent dead.]

Popular notions about dreams. Auspicious and inauspicious dreams. Temporary abandonment of the body by the soul. Character and functions of the bhut or disembodied soul. The state of the soul after death. The rebirth of the soul. The souls of persons dying a sudden or violent death. The ways by which ghosts enter and leave the body. Methods of driving away evil spirits from the body. Reliefs regarding sneezing and yawning. Rákshasa or the malevolent demon. Other malignant spirits. Evil spirits which go about headless. The haunts of evil spirits. Ghosts of women dying an unnatural death. Spirits of persons killed by tigers and other wild beasts. Ghosts of women dying in childbed or menses. Precautions taken by parents at the birth of children. Beliefs in connection with bats and owls. Spirits which haunt ruins, guard buried treasure and occupy valleys 49