Valuable hints on popular beliefs and customs are scattered among the poems. There was much faith in omens and astrology. One song mentions the portents, which preceded the death of ‘Sey of the elephant look’. A woman with disheveled hair was a bad omen. There were fortunetellers who plied a busy trade. Children were provided with amulets for warding off evil, and rites were practiced which were supposed to avert the mischief of demons (pey), to bring about rain, and produce other desired results.