Religious Chastity; An Ethnological Study

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1912. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XIX REVIEW As ghosts are supposed to have the same interests and affections as the living, their desire to return to their old haunts and associates is taken for granted. Unhindered, the ghost is sure to seek the places and persons and goods he cared for in life. Conjugal ghosts, particularly marital, are especially bothersome. The marital ghost is loath to leave his widow; if the idea occurs to him, he possesses her and may even attempt to beget offspring by her. The haunted widow has therefore to undergo special exorcisms and cleansings. The reluctant ghost may be locked out or he may be beaten or drowned or burned off. Before the widow is purified, remarriage is dangerous both for her and for the man rash enough to marry her. Both are liable to attack by the jealous ghost, and misfortune, illness, or death may result. On rare occasions the harassing spirit may even be selfish enough to keep her from ever living with another man, --a consummation planned for, by the way, by monopolist husbands in ghost-discrediting societies through testation. Usually, however, the primitive widow is left in peace and free to remarry after she has duly appeased her husband's spirit by giving satisfactory proof of her grief and devotion. In common with his surviving relatives and friends, she may shave her hair or wear it unkempt, smear herself with clay or ashes, wear tattered or soiled or unadorned garments, or ceremonial headgear, ceremonially wail or observe silence, lacerate her flesh, fast, and forego her usual occupations. Although one or many of these mourning customs are followed by bereaved kinship groups, a more comprehensive or exaggerated observance of them is usually incumbent upon the widow. Where ghost fear yields to ghost love, the dread of ghostwa...