Manes

'The Good People'

The ghosts of the dead who live in the bowels of the earth, and may emerge through any deep shaft, cave, or chasm. Normally they are shy and harmless, although they have sometimes been known to lead speleologists astray. In Latin, manes means 'the good people' because each family has its own assemblage of ancestral ghosts.

There is no reason to suppose that one's ancestral ghosts are likely to cause any harm but it is wise to propitiate them in the correct manner. Between 13th to 21st February each year, one should place offerings of food, wine, and flowers in broken pots in the middle of a road.

At midnight on 9th, 11th and 13th of May the father of each family should get out of bed, fill his mouth with dried beans, and then slowly spit them out with the words

With these beans I ransom me and mine. Ancestral ghosts, begone!