The world is a ritually deadly place for many Hindus.
Certain times of the day, days of the week, and seasons of
the year are considered unlucky.
The entire tone of the universe is nasty at certain times,
and the unwary or uneducated might suffer a variety of misfortunes.
To combat these threats, as well as the issues of one's
previous karma, which may be detected via an unlucky conjunction in one's birth
horoscope, rites of protection are utilized (natal horoscope).
Some inauspicious periods are exclusively unlucky for
specific activity.
By abstaining from these activities, potential disaster may
be prevented.
However, some occurrences that are unavoidable, such as
eclipses, are seen to be unlucky.
In such instances, one might avoid the negative consequences
of inauspiciousness by transferring it to another person, generally via the
conduit of presents (dana); distributing gifts is also the favored method for
removing inauspiciousness caused by a poor conjunction in one's horoscope at
birth.
People can defend themselves by engaging in positive
protective factors such as prayer and worship.
Human envy, greed, and anger may also generate negative
powers, which can be channeled via black magic, the evil eye (nazar), or other
forms of witchcraft.
Finally, some Hindus believe that a variety of nonhuman
creatures, including as spirits, ghosts, and witches, attempt to harm humans
via the use of supernatural abilities.
Despite the potency and popularity of all of these negative
forces, there are techniques to fight them if one is aware and cautious of
them.
There are well-established solutions for issues caused by
human malice.
One is to avoid those who are seen to be unlucky, such as
widows.
Another technique is to avoid provoking envy by never
bragging about one's good fortune, excessively complimenting a kid, or freely
parading one's money.
In many circumstances, individuals may use different
protective ceremonies to counteract potentially vulnerable periods in their
lives.
Talismans or amulets, which are thought to protect the
wearer, are still worn by many people.
Carrying iron is another traditional protection strategy,
since it is said to make the person carrying it impenetrable to witchcraft.
A black smear of lamp-black is sometimes applied to the
faces of young infants to symbolically disfigure them and remove the source of
envy.
Another defensive approach is to place an item (such as a
clay pot with a painted face) on the wall that will absorb any negative
emotions before being removed.
Lawrence Babb's The Divine Hierarchy was published in 1975,
Gloria Goodwin Raheja's The Poison in the Gift was published in 1988, and David
F.
Pocock's "The Evil Eye" was published in T. N. Madan's
Religion in India in 1991.
Also see samskara.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
