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The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 2 (of 2) cover

The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 2 (of 2)

Chapter 51: CHAPTER II. TREE AND SERPENT WORSHIP.
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About This Book

The work presents a systematic ethnographic survey of northern Indian popular religion and folk-lore, recording beliefs, rituals, and everyday preventative practices. It examines the evil eye and its remedies, tree and serpent cults, totemic and fetish practices, animal worship, witchcraft and black art, and seasonal rural festivals, drawing on local testimony and observed customs. The account describes naming taboos, protective marks and charms, sacrificial and ceremonial forms, and the social logic that underpins ritual responses to misfortune. Chapters conclude with bibliographic references and an index to aid further study.

CHAPTER II.

TREE AND SERPENT WORSHIP.

Sylvarum numina, Fauni

Et satyri fratres.

Ovid, Metamorp. iii. 163.

Αὐτὰρ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ

Κυάνεος ἐλέλικτο δράκων, κεφαλαὶ δὲ οἱ ἢσαν

Τρεῖς ἁμφιστρεφέες, ἑνὸς αὐχένος ἐκπεφυυῖαι.

Iliad, xi. 38–40.