Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 18, 1907.djvu/405

Rh mystical union continues to subsist between body and soul, the grave is the new dwelling, amidst our forefathers. And, doubtless, as a rule, when one lays the dead in the grave, one pictures to oneself that night is daytime for the dead; they move about and pursue their occupations whilst the living are asleep, they form a society of their own which, like all societies in former days, regards every stranger as an enemy. For the living, there is great danger in intruding into the society of the dead, and, on the other hand, the living do not want the intrusion of the dead, and endeavour to protect themselves by means of exorcisms. If each part would keep to themselves the matter would be easy enough, but it lies in the nature of the dead that they are always trying to get back to the places where they have passed their lives. Maybe something is forgotten, or some wrong committed which must be put right, or there may be some private affairs with the living which have not been concluded, and then "they walk," return to the well-known places amongst the people they have known; and that, the living do not like.

The dead man then dwells in the grave. The living wish him to keep quietly at home. But why should he? Let the parson read over him and "fasten him" if he will, but, unless some man who knows how to exorcise, has ordered him to remain under the mould, or a solid oak stave has been run through his body, he will find some means of slipping out. That is why in the churchyards you find holes in the ground near one of the ends of the grave, it is through them that the dead slip out at nightfall. Narrow paths may be seen between the graves of friends, those are trodden by the dead in the darkness of the night. Round about in foreign countries one can find with bricked-up graves that a hole has been cut in the upper stone so as to allow