The relationships between the spirit and the human world are articulated differently through diverse cultural practices. Among the Ao Nagas community, of Northeast India, spirits are broadly conceived either as ancestral or non-ancestral. Both can be malevolent and benevolent, realized through difference and detachment, a sense of familiarization, other-making, and even predation. The dichotomy between the homestead and mysterious dark forests is socialized through different folklore and experiences. The study opines that this interaction constantly results in either balanced reciprocity or negative reciprocity. Balanced reciprocity is where propitiation and cultural negotiations are smooth, whereas negative reciprocity entails predation and domination of one over the other. Therianthropy is generally observed in the folklore realm, often associated with tiger spirits in legends. Weretigers are seen with overlapped roles as ethnomedicinal practitioners, seers, and soothsayers, frequently benefitting the community. Weretigers are argued association of humans with their tigrine counterparts, three tigers for a lifetime. A phenomenon that is rapidly declining. This anomalous association for the community is a symbol of reverence, pride and gift. A symbiosis between the two worlds follows a regulation of strict underline transactions. The paper, drawing from the understanding of weretigers and their phenomenon, attempts to understand 1) Why do people believe in spirits? And 2) How do humans share their boundaries with spirits?
