CHAPTER IV.

_QUAINT PARSI BELIEFS._

Worship of cabined spirits on full moon eve—Goat-sacrifice on marriage days—Practice of besmearing the forehead with the blood of the victim—Non-Aryan cults imbibed by the Aryans—Hindu and Parsi beliefs in water-spirits compared—Antiquity of water-worship among the Parsis—Worship of _Ardevi Sura Anahita_—Influence of the _genii locorum_ on the community—Mahomedan patron saints of Parsi household—An anthropological puzzle—Ecstatic possession of a Parsi woman—The Gunbow well—_Murgha Bâwâ’s_ well—Cures effected by the grace of water-saints—Beliefs common to the whole world—Association of life with motion—Water-worship in the East has its counterpart in the history of Western thought—Professor Robertson Smith’s description of the worship prevailing in Arabia—Well-worship in the West probably more widespread and primitive than in the East 18-26