The truth about cats and folklore

By Hilath Rasheed MALE, 19 Nov 1998 (HNS) - If a black cat crosses your path, rest assured the day would turn ugly. If one of your loved ones sneezes just as you are about to leave on a voyage, you can expect a journey that is far turbulent than that of the Titanic. On the other hand, if a butterfly enters your room through an open window, then expect a brighter horizon for the rest of the day. The insatiable taste to explain the inexplicable, the undying curiosity to find answers for which there is none, has stemmed folklore that draw fuel from the supernatural forces. Maldives has its own set of folklore, both real and fantasy. But those that centre on fantasy outweigh others, for the simple reason that our culture is heavily influenced by mysticism that shrouds much of the beliefs of South Asia. "Dhivehi (Maldivian) folklore centres on the unknown. It has its roots in the Bhuddist culture that was prevalent here until Islam's advent 1,100 years ago," said Habiba Hussain Habib of the National Centre for Linguistic and Historical Research. "When we look at culture of our closest South Asian neighbours, folklore is based on superstition and the supernatural," said Habiba who is presently researching into Maldivian folklore. Folklore started with the defining characteristics of island life; the interactions of nature with human lives. Stories told by word of mouth got blown out of proportions, and by the time it reached the present generation, legends and myths were created; of beings and spirits that are far beyond the comprehension or realism of the human mind. "The legends and myths must have some truth to them. Their roots will have stemmed from certain incidents that actually happened. But the tales got so twisted that by the time they reached us, there are fantasy and magic that have found their way into the stories," 76-year-old historian Mohamed Ibrahim Luthufee said. Luthufee, one of the top researchers into the subject of folklore, has had his own share of experiences concerning the unknown. Once, during the days of the Second World War, a younger Luthufee and a group of young men were sitting on the wall of the cemetery adjoining Thakurufuaanu Mosque in his home island of Addu Atoll Hithadhoo. Suddenly, they were snapped out of idle talk by the crash of planks right behind them. They heard it, but nothing was to be seen. Only the empty silence of the tombstones answered them. The skin crawling crash was what is known to many as Kaddevi Elhun. With Kaddevi follows the sure death of a person who happened to hear it. And however far he or she lived, the dead will be brought for burial at the particular place where the Kaddevi was heard. Sure enough, the next day, Luthufee found a funeral at the Thakurufaanu mosque cemetery. An aunt of his told him that Kaddevi was common in that area, and that within 40 days of a particular Kaddevi, exactly three people would die during that period. Her prediction, ominously, proved true. In Islamic culture, one of the basic principles is the belief of the world of jinn, spiritual beings living parallel along with other creations like angels and humans. Those jinn who strayed and became evil were believed to be responsible for evil happenings and affliction that victimised human beings. Further it is believed that these beings haunt uninhabited places. Hence, cemeteries and places of dense vegetation are believed to be the favourite whereabouts of spirit beings. Maldives has its own version of sylphs but these are not the gentle and feminine type found in Greek folklore. Rather they wantonly seek to harm those unfortunate who accidentally come across them. Kandholhu plants, a kind of wild lily that grows in the islands, are linked to these tree spirits. Once a girl in Laamu atoll Fonadhoo picked a Kandholhu flower during sunset and put it in her hair. (Old folks warn that to pick Kandholhu flowers during sunset is to bring the wrath of the spirits who inhabit