Ghosts/Creatures with backwards feet

In small indian villages, people talk about ghosts and mysterious creatures a lot! I love to hear stories from my grandmother, who is from one of those villages in India.
Most of her ghost stories involve some or varied type of creature that has backwards feet. That is one of the most common thing I have heard in those stories. Also, I have heard people say that all ghosts have backwards feet!

Since, this is a forum related to mythological beasts and similar stuff, I was wondering if any of the creatures you know (or have heard of) that have backwards feet? What is this thing about backwards feet? Any opinions/explanations?

[edit on 8/4/2004 by jp1111]

When I was younger I read a book that claimed the Yeti had backwards feet, but I don't know if that's a commonly held opinion or not.

Originally posted by jp1111
In small indian villages, people talk about ghosts and mysterious creatures a lot! I love to hear stories from my grandmother, who is from one of those villages in India.
Most of her ghost stories involve some or varied type of creature that has backward feet.
[edit on 8/1/2004 by jp1111]

Mme. Blatvasky also, if I recall correctly (tho it might've been a different theosophist) talks about Lemurians and such as having backwards feet. I had thought that was a rather strange thing to say. Perhaps she got the idea from the same sort of stories you had heard.

hmmm interesting i too have heard of these backward feet creatures, i'll ak my granny for her recollections

Quetzalcoatl, i am not sure of the spelling, from Aztec Indian folklore, had an evil twin brother who brought man fire from the underworlds. He is the Bringer of misfortune and bad luck. It was said he had backward feet.

Also the little people in Africa are said to have backward feet

and witches in the indian subcontinent, tibet, nepal etc, are said to have backward feet.

Originally posted by jeffthefish
When I was younger I read a book that claimed the Yeti had backwards feet, but I don't know if that's a commonly held opinion or not.

I think you might be right on that. I searched for Yeti and found some webpages that also say similar things.

Here is one of the links:

Folklore describes a fearsome, savage beast with a high-pitched whistling scream; a vile, pungent odor; feet that point backwards; and supernatural powers. Superstitions say that sighting the creature
can bring ill fortune, illness, or death.

- From www.angelfire.com...

I think they are saying something about yetis related to bigfoot.

Thanks for the reply!

I used to work with a guy who had backwards kneecaps and walked like a flamingo.....but he was not a ghost.

Originally posted by Nygdan
Mme. Blatvasky also, if I recall correctly (tho it might've been a different theosophist) talks about Lemurians and such as having backwards feet. I had thought that was a rather strange thing to say. Perhaps she got the idea from the same sort of stories you had heard.

I don't know if they had backwards feet. I think I read somewhere that lemurians had huge feet with really far protruding heels which enabled them to walk both ways (backward and forward).
Thanks for the reply!

Originally posted by worldwatcher
and witches in the indian subcontinent, tibet, nepal etc, are said to have backward feet.

Yes, my grandmother was also talking about that, they call it "chudel" or something.

(Hey worldwatcher, I really liked your previous avatar, the one with kareena, I'm her biggest fan!)

Thanks for the reply!

Backwards feet? There is one that I haven't heard before. It would seem quite unlikely though from the aspect of animal physiology...unless they walked backwards of course.

Originally posted by Jonna
Backwards feet? There is one that I haven't heard before. It would seem quite unlikely though from the aspect of animal physiology...unless they walked backwards of course.

I know, but in India (in small villages), people say that if you are walking alone at night and if you come across a stranger, check that person's feet, if they are backwards you better leave that place as soon as possible as that person is some ghost or evil creature.

I haven't met anyone like that before when i was in india, so who knows if these stories are correct. However, my dad and my grandmother say that they have seen those backward feet creatures/ghosts! Its scarry!

Perhaps it is symbolic in some sense that the feet are backwards. Doomed to retread over the ghosts past or never to procede or something.

Originally posted by Jonna
Perhaps it is symbolic in some sense that the feet are backwards. Doomed to retread over the ghosts past or never to procede or something.

Nice point. They call it a "warning sign" from the ghosts/creatures.

Although hearing so many stories like that, I still cannot completely believe them since I haven't seen any. When I say that (that I don't believe her) to my grandmother, she challenges me to get out in the backyard of their house past midnight, when I visit their village.
I never tried that, i guess i was scared!

I read a lot of folklore from all over the world at one point in my life, and I think the idea of supernatural creatures w/ backwards feet is common across a number of cultures.

I think it is analagous to the idea that supernatural beings have no shadow.

Certainly, one similarity is the importance of walking backwards away from a corpse, supposedly so that it cannot follow you out of the room.

Many cultures, Welsh, Navajo, carried this to the extreme of knocking a hole in a wall of the house, and removing the dead through the hole. The idea was that the dead person could not recognize their home later, and couldn't come back to haunt it.

If you wanted to catch a supernatural creature, it would be difficult if the thing had backwards feet---uncatchable, like a leprachaun.

I would suggest the writings of Mercea Eliade on shamanism,
and
Sir James Frazier's "The Golden Bough." for the kind of mythological archetype you have in mind.

Originally posted by jp1111
I know, but in India (in small villages), people say that if you are walking alone at night and if you come across a stranger, check that person's feet, if they are backwards you better leave that place as soon as possible as that person is some ghost or evil creature.

I haven't met anyone like that before when i was in india, so who knows if these stories are correct. However, my dad and my grandmother say that they have seen those backward feet creatures/ghosts! Its scarry!

Without a doubt India is one hell hole for demons and different forms of evil carnations. My grandpa has seen em all and has actually done some minor forms of exorcisions(not the type that you see from the movie).

There was actually one scary story coming from one of my friend's relatives. He was a pretty good artist, and he is out somewhere in india late at night(not very smart). He meets this one hot girl. He decides to paint her. When he shows it to someone else the next day, it turns out to be the hideous thing ever. Could it be a backwards feet witch?

Point is, dont go out at night alone in india. That place is filled with rapist and evil beyond your wildest imaginations.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
Certainly, one similarity is the importance of walking backwards away from a corpse, supposedly so that it cannot follow you out of the room.

Yeah, I have heard that before, its kinda weird. Back in India, whenever we used to go to someone's funeral to visit the body, people said similar things about walking backwards. I never knew the reason why they said that. Its scary that you said how it could follow you...

I didn't know about the whole "hole" story. That was new!

Thanks for the list of readings.

Originally posted by kyateLaBoca
There was actually one scary story coming from one of my friend's relatives. He was a pretty good artist, and he is out somewhere in india late at night(not very smart). He meets this one hot girl. He decides to paint her. When he shows it to someone else the next day, it turns out to be the hideous thing ever. Could it be a backwards feet witch?

Could be!
That's a scary incident you narrated! I have one too.

I moved here in US 3 years ago from India. So back in 2000 in India, a very scary scene happend near my highschool.

My highschool's situated on a very lone highway far from the town nearby some villages. Oh, I hated to ride my bicycle all the way there since I lived in town! Allright, back to the story, so this rickshaw*(see note below) driver who was taking two women to some place was stopped by a third woman on that highway. The driver stopped the rickshaw a distance away from that third woman who was standing on the side of the road while he noticed her feet. He didn't get out the rickshaw though. As soon as he saw her feet he rushingly started his rickshaw back and hurried his way through the highway.

Now, the two confused women who were sitting back in the rickshaw asked the driver why he escaped suddenly without taking in that passenger on the highway, the driver answered back that the woman on the side of the road had backwards feet. Hearing that, guess what reaction the two women gave to the driver? The two women surprised him by saying that their feet were backwards too! The driver fainted when he actually looked at the two women's feet which were backwards just like the other woman on the road back.

This whole story was narrated by the driver to his family/friends who was hospitalized later on since he was in such a shock. According to him, he didn't know what happened after he fainted, his guess was the two women disappreared.

*rickshaw - a 3-wheeled vehicle (unlike a cab) to carry passengers. Click here for a picture of how it looks like.

Point is, dont go out at night alone in india. That place is filled with rapist and evil beyond your wildest imaginations.

You are so right! In India, if you go out alone at night in a city or a town you'll probably become a victim of a crime scene. If you go out alone at night in a village, you'll probably meet a ghost or some evil creature!

[edit on 8/4/2004 by jp1111]

dammmnn man that was scary as hell! I wish I didnt read that along with some of the other stuff I've been reading today.

Originally posted by kyateLaBoca
dammmnn man that was scary as hell! I wish I didnt read that along with some of the other stuff I've been reading today.

I know, that's one of the scarriest real-life stories I have ever heard. And when it happens in a place near you, its worse! I was even afraid to go to my school for a few days since I had to go on the same highway. But I did, as there is more traffic in the morning on that highway. Btw, that incident happend during mid-day, which was unusual! (school was off on that day!)

Now, I don't understand! What was the purpose of those backward feet creatures or ghosts whatever they are? They just scared the hell out of a poor driver and disappeared without hurting him!

Further, during some days later after that incident happened, people in those nearby villages claimed to have seen some "spheres" of lights "flying above" out of their houses at night. That's how they described them. UFOs, Aliens? I don't know! More ghost activity was also reported there during those days. I used to laugh at those things, but at the same time, I used to get so scared!

I still question those things, but when so many people claim to have experienced it, it makes you believe it!

[edit on 8/4/2004 by jp1111]

hey,

well my dad is from India, and he him and my grandparents used to tell my brother and me stories about creatures that roamed around at nite, they called them "chiralles" (pronounced, 'ch-ray-lees')

They were actually really spooky stories. It was said they looked just like normal people, but they're feet were backwards, they only came out at nite, and i remember something about the trees too, but its slipped my mind.

My dad and my uncles had a few disturbing stories from when they were in India, quite frightening.

But yeah, this thread just reminded me of those stories so i thought id share hehe

that funeral superstition still applies today, in my family, you don't walk backwards. After going to a funeral or a wake on your return to your home, you enter the doorway backwards, sort of like to make sure no one (living or dead) follows you.

The churail from what i know is a form of a vampire

btw it's nice to see others from our culture on this site, and don't worry JP1111, Kareena will be back

Aside from ghosts,I think its fairly obvious that becuase of the lack of sightings(this being that they actually exist) would mean that the backwards feet thing was a genetic screw up(like a 2 headed frog) they would have flourished like forward footed animals..Thus survival of the fitist.In this world backwards feet dont help anything out so obviously they will be rare and become extinct.

We all seen multi headed animals,extra legs,less legs ect ect...I wouldnt be suprised in the least if i saw a animal or person with backwards feet because birth defects are a normal part of life.

Actually my sister was born with one of her legs almost completly backwards,they just did a few surgeries and she never had another problem.

As far as ghosts go..If I actually saw one I dont think it would matter if it had backwards feet lol..its a ghost..Id be just as freaked out if i saw a ghost and it had foreward feet