Ancestral spirits/souls
In the olden days, in Tartu County, water was brought to the grave in a bowl so that the dead would have a drink when they came out of the grave.
Vanasti viidud Tartumaal kausiga hauale vett, et surnutel hauast välja tulles oleks juua.
The caretaker of the Kuresaare churchyard (graveyard) went to a wedding in the village of Muratsi, leaving the maid at home to tend to the animals. Suddenly, at dusk, a number of spirits appeared in the room, all asking for water to drink. Because the girl didn't have enough water, the spirits started to strangle the girl. When the host found the maid half-dead on the floor that evening, he realised that there was no water in the troughs at the well for the dead. The troughs at the mortuary well must always be full of water - or the dead will come to strangle those in the room. There must always be a caretaker in the cemetery, who has already been baptized for the dead1, and who can tame the dead in the graveyard and send them to their graves with a blessed staff in hand.
1 Baptism for the dead – a non-biblical practice where a living person is baptized in lieu of a person that passed away.
Kuressaare kerguaidas (surnuaedas) läinud vaht Muratsi külase pulma, ümardaja jäenud koduse loomasid talitama. Korraga, kui videvik käes, ilmunud hulk vaimusid tuppa, kõik küsivad vett juua. Et tüdrukul vett polnud kõige hulga tarvis anda, hakand vaimud tüdrukut käegistama. Kui peremees õhtul ümardaja poolsurnult põrandalt leidis, mõistis ta ära, et kaevul (kajul) künädes vett surnute tarvis polnud. Alati peab surnumajas kajul künad vett täis olema - muidu tulevad surnud tuppa käegistama. Alati peab vaht surmale juba ristitud olema1 ja õnnistud kepiga, mis ta peab käes, aedas surnuid taltsutada ja hauda saata olema.
1 Surmale ristimine – mitteametlik tava ristida keegi elav inimene ristimata surnu asemel.
