I26. Dangers to souls.
.12.19.-.22.26.34.39.44.45.47. (.48.) .51.52.53.68.
On its way to another world, the soul must distract the attention of its guards with gifts or defend itself from attack.
Dogon, Malekula (Wao), Marshall Islands, Garo, Ao, Kyengi, Chinese (Shandong, Jiangsu), Tofalars, Koryaks, New England Algonquins (Massachusetts), Eastern Ojibwa, Chiroki, Chumash , huichol, lacandons, mihe, sumu, camayura.
West Africa. Dogon [on the way to the afterlife of Manga, located on the SV, the soul meets a rooster who wants to stop it; he must throw the millet given by the old woman; then the dog blocks the way, she should be given milk to a cow that a Fulbe woman grazed]: Palau Marti 1957, No. 45:67.
Melanesia. Malekula (Vao and other islands near the main island) [on the fifth day after death, a soul descends through the volcano to the lower world; relatives sacrifice pigs; at the entrance, a monster with with claw hands; a pig is thrown at him, his soul has time to pass]: (retelling in Speiser 1996:289).
Polynesia - Micronesia. Marshall Islands [after the funeral, the soul comes out of the grave and goes to the southern end of Knox Atoll, where it must jump over a crevice in the reef; and a huge fish tries to swallow it; After reaching the place where souls gather, the deceased eats Nelanii's eternal food there and is no longer hungry or thirsty]: Kowata et al. 1999:68-69.
Tibet is the Northeast of India. Garo [the deceased goes to Chikmans, leading a cow by the rope; on the way, the monster must throw rings that are inserted into his ears, so all garo non-Christians in Garo Hills have rings in their ears (but not garo in Bangladesh); a man reaches a tree and ties a cow to it; it is easy to recognize the tree, it has traces of ropes that those who died earlier used to tie their cows]: Burling 1988:32; ao [deceased a woman puts a bean in the basket; she will throw it to the long-haired demon Aonglamla; he thinks it's something valuable, rushes to pick it up, the deceased will pass by at that time]: Mills 1926:230.
Burma - Indochina. Khyengi [Ngathein rules the trial of the dead under the tree; on the way to him, souls wait and destroy caterpillars; a rooster tied to the leg of the deceased must scare them away; a sword placed on his head, must scare away evil spirits; the soul crosses the river across a thread bridge; N. sends the souls of bad people to an iron pot of boiling water; if the soul runs away, the dog N. catches it; if he tries to hide in the crown of a tree, then falls victim to the Hakgyi bird]: Chesnov 1982r: 206.
China - Korea. The Chinese (Shandong) [put tortillas with their hair baked in them; when hellish dogs throw themselves at them, they will chew them for a long time and the soul will have time to pass by]: Eberhard 1968:464; Chinese (Jiangsu, link to Chinese source) [after the deceased was disguised, it was necessary to make balls out of 7 longyang fruits and flour and tie them to the deceased's wrist, because after death you have to go through the village of Angry Dogs; you have to carry these cookies with you to distract them]: Kudinova 2017:185.
Southern Siberia - Mongolia. The Tofalars [on the way to the land of the dead, the deceased had to cross the abyss on a hair-thick rope; this could be done by someone who did not have great sins; the spirits moved the deer to the other side on the other side safe road; on the way to Erlik Khan, you must go through a dog village where dogs died; if a person beat dogs during his lifetime, he must grab a bone for them]: Alekseev 1980: 175.
SV Asia. Koryaks [one soul rises to the Supreme Being, the other goes down to the first ancestors of Peni'nelau; the entrance is guarded by dogs, and dogs that beat dogs are not allowed in; but these guards can be bribed, so The deceased is put fish fins in his mittens, he will give them to dogs guarding the entrance to the world of shadows]: Jochelson 1908:103.
The Midwest. Eastern Ojibwa (southern Ontario)] [young wife dies; husband remains at the grave; as soon as he closes his eyes, he sees his wife come out of the grave and walk away; he walks behind, sleeps in some far away from where she stayed; a house nearby; someone (this is Nanabush) says that there are all dogs a person has ever owned; if they have harmed them, they will take revenge; this someone gives bags of with shoes; when dogs attack, a person throws their shoes and they tear them without touching the person; then another house, his name is, but the man does not go in; finally, the last one, it is empty, only small beds; N. says that when the spirit enters the house, it becomes invisible; but promises to help by hiding the one who has come in his pocket; at night, the spirits will begin to dance on the occasion of the arrival of the new deceased; the person sees, grabs wife, put it in a box; there is some kind of rubbing in the second box; the man teaches: you got here in two years, and you will return in two days; you have to heat two pebbles at home, put them in a box of rubbing so that it melted, cover both boxes and yourself with a blanket; if the wife speaks, then she came to life; everything was successful; parents came to visit the grave and saw the young couple alive]: Laidlaw 1915, No. 18:14-15 .
Northeast. The Algonquins of New England (Massachusetts) [... they believe in the immortality of the soul that must enter the Elysium in the southeast... at the door of Elysium, a big dog greets them with a formidable growl; to fight off they put a bow and arrow in his graves; they also put wampum and Mowhackies to acquire greater privileges in another world]: Wood 1634 in Schwartz 1997:93; in Skinner 1913:90.
Southeast USA. Chirokee [Sirius and Antares are two dog stars opposite each other, where the Milky Way meets the horizon; they cannot be seen at the same time; the soul crosses the stream on a thin perch, the villains fall off it; the rest continue to go east and then west; at the entrance at the fork in the road, you must feed the dog well; moving on, the soul meets the second dog and also feeds; who has it with you There is little food, he may not be able to escape the second dog and will wander between the two forever]: Hagar 1906:362-363.
(Wed. California. Chumash [souls go across the sea; first they enter the Land of Widows, who eat the smell of food and water (see motive I19); then they pass between two moving rocks; they flatten the living and are safe for dead; pass between two qaq birds, which peck their souls out; souls put poppy heads into their eye sockets, see again; cross the river by log, entering the land of the dead Šimilaqša; there they get eyes from blue abalone shells; the souls of ancestors who have forgotten the customs fall off the bridge, turn into monstrous turtles, frogs, snakes, fish]: Blackburn 1975, No. 12:99-100).
NW Mexico. Huichol: Furst 1967:69 [the soul of the deceased throws five tortillas to the dog; while it eats, it manages to pass; otherwise the dog will bite]; Leal Carretero 1997 [the deceased meets dogs on his way; if He killed dogs in life, this is bad; dogs should be given a tortilla, otherwise they will be bitten]: 39.
Mesoamerica Lacandons [soul throws bones to dogs, grain to chickens, hair to lice]: Boremanse 1986:74; Micah [the soul of the deceased throws cakes to dogs to allow them to pass]: Gillow 1899 in Villa 1955:120.
Honduras vs Panama. Sumu [with two sticks, the souls of all the dead are protected from birds and butterflies]: Conzemius 1932:160.
Southern Amazon. Kamayura [the souls of dead women fight off birds attacking them with spindles]: Villas Boas, Villas Boas 1973:134.