Tase

   In Burmese lore, hordes of the demonic dead who prey upon the living and spread disease and pestilence.

   There are several types of Tase:

   • Thaber Tase are the spirits of women who died in childbirth and return as succubi. (See LILITH.)

   • Thaye Tase are grotesque giants who were people who died violently. They spread smallpox, cholera, and other deadly diseases. They also appear at the bedsides of dying people to laugh at them.

   • Hminza Tase enter the bodies of crocodiles, tigers, and dogs and attack people. They haunt areas where they once lived unhappy lives.

   The Tase can be kept away by banging pots and making great rackets of noise or by appeasing them with sacrifices and dances. Sometimes, the dead are buried without grave markers, an attempt to make them forget where they once lived, so they will not return in demonic form.