Thu, 14 Jun 2007
Zombies and Ghosts
I found out this morning that yesterday you were supposed to write about zombies on your weblog. I'm behind the curve on this one, but it's an interesting subject, so let me say something about zombies now. Tibetan zombies are called rolang, literally the dead who rise. They're corpses who have been inhabited by evil spirits. Their touch can kill, sicken, or convert you to a zombie as well. But they can only move in straight lines and can't bend at the knees. So no zombie car jackers. According to this paper on Tibetan lore (pdf) there are various kinds of zombies, each with a different way to defeat them:
Tibetans speak of four types of rolang. Rolang are "bone-rolang," draklang are "blood rolang," wulang are "breath-rolang," and mewalang are "mole-rolang." A rolang can be destroyed by breaking its leg bone; a draklang must be made to bleed; and the wulang must be suffocated. The mewalang is the most difficult rolang to destroy as one must find a mole on its body and find a way to cut it out. However, in many stories the rolang is defeated by other more simple means, such as by chanting mantra (a mystical formula of invocation or incantation) while whipping or hitting the rolang, or by pushing its head back down before it fully arises. It has been said that "... if you spit before a rolang can breathe on you, then it cannot harm you"
Another type of evil spirit in Buddhist lore is the kumbhanda. They're small mis-shapen demons with pot bellies and huge genitals. They cause all kinds mischief inclding causing nightmares by sitting on a victim's chest. They're ruled by Virudhaka, one of the Four Great Kings, Buddhist deities who guard the four quarters. The other kings rule the yakshas, gandharvas, and nagas. Yakshas are nature spirits and can be considered either goblins or faries, depending upon whether they're good or bad. Gandharvas are heavenly musicians and feed on pleasant scents. Nagas are dragons, live in bodies of water, and guard treasure.
That was fun, maybe I'll discuss Buddhist mythology again. There are many, many Buddhist demons and spirits.
