The Malay believes that the howling of a dog gives hints as
to things that will happen in the vicinity:
0600-0800: will gain fortune from trading
0800-1000: will receive news from afar
1000-1200: will be having meals with relatives
1200-1400: will be losing money and separate from wife and
children
1400-1600: something big will happen inside a house
1600-1800: will obtain good fortune
1800-2000: there will be quarrelling
2000-2200: talks in the house will become an issue
2200-2400: women cause the quarrel
2400-0200: will receive grieve news
0200-0400: obtain fortune in life
0400-0600: will get profit
(Note: The Malay divides one day to 12 hours day and 12 hours
night.)
On the other hand, the Chinese believe that a dog howls
because it has seen a ghost. And if anyone is bold enough to get some tears
from this dog and apply onto his or her own eyelids; then this person may also see
what the dog seen: ghost.
The funny thing is that the connection between dogs and the dead and realm of death exist in many cultures.
ReplyDeleteLook for example into South American, African, Hellenic and even Nordic mythology and folklore in order to find such links.
Does the concept of the Dog-Spirit as the guardian of graves exist in SEA mythology?
Not in SEA though. But in Taiwan, there is a shrine dedicated to a dog, people called it "the 18 royalties".
DeleteLegend has it that a few hundreds ago, 18 fishermen drowned but one dog survived. After people burried the bodies, the dog stay put and guard the graves until it died.
The locals built a shrine to commemorate the dog. It is now a very famous shrine in Taiwan.
Ah, very good. That is familiar to some Spirits that are believed to be the guardians of the graveyards in pagan Europe. Before burying the first person in the graveyard they buried a living dog so that the soul of the dog would become the guardian of the cemetery. This Ghosts dog became later the guardian of the graveyard and punished and scared away grave desecrators, but magicians know how to tame such dogs when doing necromancy.
ReplyDeleteif the dog was not buried before the cemetery was established it was believed that the first person buried in every cemetery became bound to serve as its guardian.
This belief you also have in Haitian Vodou, where the first dead is believed to become Baron Samedi, the cemetery Loa of death.
Anyway, very interesting with the connection between dogs and the Other World.