Min tibetanska barndom i Zorgay - Life and Culture on the Tibetan ...

looked over my shoulder. I tried to shout but I couldn’t make a
sound. My legs were as heavy as if stones were weighing
them down.
I made sure my back was well covered 24 but I still had
the feeling I was being pulled backwards. I struggled with all
my might to walk forward. The ghost following me whispered
to me but I couldn’t underst<strong>and</strong>. I heard the crying of women
<strong>and</strong> children who seemed to be walking beside me, yet I
couldn’t see them. I was too afraid to chant scriptures or
murmur mani to frighten them away. The ghost whistled as he
tossed pebbles <strong>and</strong> dust at me. When I saw our village, a dog
barked <strong>and</strong> he stopped following me. Then I felt better <strong>and</strong> it
seemed that no one was pulling me back anymore.
Vanquishing Ghosts
The story about the poplar tree ghosts made us feel afraid
when we passed it on our way to <strong>and</strong> from school. Elders also
worried <strong>and</strong> asked our lama to exorcize the ghost so we could
live in peace. The lama knew everyone who had died in our
village <strong>and</strong> made a list of those he thought had not yet been
reborn as sentient beings. It was a matter of great joy for us
that Mother's name was not on the list. The lama <strong>and</strong> the
monks who came with him chanted scriptures for nearly four
days in preparation for the battle against the evil beings. The
lama gathered all the villagers together in a house where he
chanted scripture on the fifth night. No matter your age, you
were expected to come, even babies. Villagers were to leave
their doors unlocked or open.
The lama chose seven people who were born in the
most ferocious animal years, such as the Year of the Dragon
<strong>and</strong> the Year of the Tiger. They were told to run with a monk
who held a big leather bag <strong>and</strong> had iron chains tied loosely
around him. The lama told them in which direction to run.
Those seven also carried various implements. Father held two
short wooden sticks in one h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> a half-burned piece of
firewood in the other. Wherever he ran <strong>and</strong> whatever his two
24 A ghost's back is hollow, which is why you must cover your
own back when you are being chased by a ghost, for the ghost
will try to take your back to fill his emptiness.
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