9
votes
Why is salt used to get rid of ghosts and keep out demons?
Salt has had a strong significance in a lot of different religions for millennia.
I believe that salt used for the explicit purpose of repelling demons originates from Buddhism or Shintoism, where ...
- 487
7
votes
Why are the feet of bhoots facing backwards?
This is an answer given by my Indian grandpa, so please take it with a pinch of salt.
As most hero-villain war stories in old movies and old stories in India go, it mostly involves the protagonist ...
- 714
7
votes
What is the earliest ghost story we know of?
Pliny the Younger tells the story of a haunted house in Athens, featuring the stoic Athenodorus Cananites, in his letter to Sura:
Now the following story, which I am going to tell you just as I heard ...
- 17k
7
votes
Why is salt used to get rid of ghosts and keep out demons?
Salt is a preservative. The Tarim Mummies were preserved in salt for 4000 years. If you pack meat in salt it will not rot. (Because it sucks all the water out and kills any bacteria. Water is ...
- 144
7
votes
Why is salt used to get rid of ghosts and keep out demons?
Why is salt associated with repelling of demons? This seems like an almost impossible question to answer. The origins are very obscure. Firstly, what does salt symbolize?
Judeo-Christian traditions ...
- 2,842
7
votes
Why is salt used to get rid of ghosts and keep out demons?
Salt is a natural cleanser, and can be used to scour out pots, as toothpaste, to remove rust, etc. (See this page for more.) So it's not a big leap from there to supernatural cleansing.
As for salting ...
- 5,878
5
votes
Why do ghosts mess with electricity?
It relates to Spiritualism and modern extensions.
Essentially, spiritualism uses "magic tricks" (illusions) to create the impression of paranormal activity, often as simple as thumping a table or ...
- 14.1k
5
votes
Why do ghosts mess with electricity?
Obviously, this is a modern trope, not true folklore, as electrification process took from around the 1880s to the 1960s.
I suspect this idea of ghosts affecting electricity originated in the movie ...
- 2,287
4
votes
Accepted
What is the earliest story of summoning the dead we know of?
The earliest is likely Gilgamesh and Enkidu as told in the Sumerian standalone poem Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World:
Warrior Gilgamec, son of Ninsumun, directed his steps on his own to E-...
- 583
2
votes
Is it possible to hurt / Repel Demons and Ghosts with Really Salty Water
In certain Christian traditions, holy water is a mixture of salt and water that has been blessed by a priest. Witches, vampires, and other nasty evil creatures were considered violently allergic to ...
- 5,354
2
votes
What is the difference between a phantom and a ghost?
phantom has its roots in Greek and came to Middle English through Old French
ghost comes from proto-Germanic and survives in most Germanic languages. In Flemish, for example, we have no commonly used ...
- 5,354
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