Image from stock.xchng
“108 bells”: rung to bring in the New Year “to curb the 108 mortal desires which, Buddhism teaches, haunt…humankind.” (San Francisco Bay Guardian)
Ghoul: “In Muslim folklore, the ghoul is a demon of the desert that is able to assume the shape of an animal. It is an evil spirit that robs graves and feeds on the flesh of the dead or on young children. They inhabit lonely places, especially graveyards. They also lure travelers into the desert, sometimes beguiling those travelers by prostituting themselves, and then devouring them.” (pantheon.org)
When Setsuna is in Hades and is unable to hear, see or move until a Voice tells him to awaken, this seems to be similar to what occurs to the soul in the Egyptian Book of the Dead (Budge, Egyptian Magic).
