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Ghosts, Souls and Death
Human Universals:
Every culture has a concept of soul, and an
after life, but…
Death is a biological occurrence with a
myriad of cultural interpretations…
The Soul
• The noncorporeal, spiritual component
of an individual.
– In anthropology, the term is seen as
exclusive to humans.
– In many cultures, seen as departing from
the body during sleep to travel through
space/time and meet with all sorts of
people, including relatives
The Soul
• Where does the soul reside? How
many souls within an individual?
– Haitian Vodou: ti bonanj is the “little angel”
or the person’s consciousness and ego.
Upon death, stays around the body for a bit
and then moves on to heaven. Gwo bonanj
or “big angel” comes from the ancestral
spirits and is returned after death. This is
the person’s life force that determines
his/her character and intelligence.
The Soul
• Where does the soul reside? How
many souls within an individual?
– Jivaro (Ecuador): Each individual has 3 souls.
Nekas is the life force. Aruntam is acquired
through visions and is necessary to reach the
afterlife or “real” life. The miusak is the
“avenging soul” that resides in the head and
avenges the death of the deceased.
.
The Soul
• Where does the soul reside? How many
souls within an individual?
– Ancient Egypt: Soul was made up of five parts:
• Ren (name). Given at birth. As long as the name was
remembered and spoken, the person would live on.
• Ba (personality). The part of a person that would go to the
Afterlife and live on, often represented by Ba birds.
• Ka (life force). Death occurs when this leaves the body. Also
seen as going to the Afterlife and reuniting with the Ba.
• Ib (Heart). Essential to gain entry to the Afterlife. Good heart,
Afterlife gained. Bad heart, the Ba, Ka and every other part of
the soul would die a final death.
• Sheut (Shadow). A shadow was is always attached to an
individual, therefore it must contain and important part of
that individual. Often portrayed on tomb walls as a mini
featureless figure behind the deceased individual.
Death and the Afterlife
• Where/what is the “After Life?”
• Transmigration: The soul passes from one body to
another (human, animal, inanimate object).
• Reincarnation: A belief in an immortal, eternal soul that is
born again and again in different bodies.
– Over 70% of the world’s religions have this at their core.
– Hinduism: The goal of reincarnation (or samsara) is to attain
moksha or liberation from the limitations of space, time and
matter. Karma is the cumulative result of actions (good or bad)
from previous lives. Good actions equal good Karma and eventual
attainment of moksha.
– Buddhism: Reincarnation as the transmission of Karma, but not
of personality (as it is in Hinduism). The ultimate goal of
reincarnation, and Buddhism is the cessation of desires and
cravings. Only if this is achieved may one reach Nirvana.
• Purgatory: In Roman Catholicism, a place where souls go
that are in a state of grace but need purification.
Ancestors
• Ancestor Worship
– A catch-all term used by
anthropologists to describe
the beliefs and behaviors
surrounding the veneration
of ancestors
• This term is slowly falling out of
favor because in some cultures
ancestors are seen as being
venerated and attended, but not
really worshipped.
Ancestors
– Japan
• Ancestors as dead regular household members that are not in living memory.
• Upon death, the soul will wander in uncertainty for a few days until it is
purified by a series of rituals performed by the family. After these cleansing
rituals, the soul then enters the clean and peaceful world of the ancestors.
• The dead in Japanese society carry a moral authority, a perceived ability to lay
down morals and values within the family. One does not want to do wrong for
fear of shaming the ancestors.
• Geomancy when describing Japanese culture, Geomancy refers to:
– A method of determining the location and orientation
of structures within the household (Feng Shui).
– The incorrect placement of furniture/objects or the overall
structure of the house can lead to negative occurrences.
– If Geomancy can not reveal the misfortune, then the ancestors
might be suspected.
Determining Death
•
•
•
•
What is the body?
What animates the body?
What is consciousness?
Is someone dead when their heart stops, but
the brain keeps on working? How about the
other way around?
– 18th & 19th century pull-cords. The heart as a
voluntary muscle?
• Which is the seat of the soul? The Heart or
the Brain?
– Modern western medicine: The Brain
• “Beating Heart Cadavers”
– Ancient Egypt: The Heart
• The heart in mummification, the heart scarab
Ghosts
Souls without Bodies
• A manifestation of an individual after death
that remains in the vicinity of the community.
Generally seen as a negative force and can
bring about illness and other misfortune.
–
Vs. Soul (which is seen as a positive force).
• Japanese Ghosts
–
–
Result of impure spirits of the recently dead who have not yet undergone
the correct rituals to become ancestors.
Ringu excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_GQO1oWEwg
• Western Ideas of Ghosts
–
6th Sense trailer:
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG9AGf66tXM
• White Noise trailer:
•
•
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haHHr5_VX7I
American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP)
(From http://www.aaevp.com): “Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) concerns
unexpected voices found in recording media. It is a form of after death
communication…. The Survival Hypothesis holds that we are nonphysical entities
who are able to exist in the physical aspect of reality because of our physical body,
but that when our physical body dies, we as Self, change our point of view to
nonphysical reality. In effect, we exist before and after our current lifetime.”
• International Ghost Hunters Society
–
http://www.ghostweb.com/
Vampires
Bodies without Souls
 A person who has died before his or her time
and who brings about the death of friends
and relatives until his or her corpse is “killed.”

“Vampire” legend comes from Eastern Europe, but stories of the undead coming back to torment the
living abounds in countless cultures, throughout the millennia.
 Sekhmet (ancient Egypt) & blood.
 Eastern Europe:
 Austria: 18th century. Officials noted the practice of exhuming dead bodies and “killing” them.
Charges of vampirism included the accused looking bloated with blood seeping out of their
orifices. Appearance due to natural decomposition of the body, which was not so clearly
understood?
 Bulgaria: 1-nostril
 Bavaria: Sleep with thumbs crossed and 1 eye open
 Moravia: Only attacked while naked
 Albania: Fond of high-heeled shoes


 Africa…
 Asia…
 Rhode Island…
Bram Stoker, Vlad Tepes, Dracula, Elizabeth Bathory and the modern Vampire legend…
Modern-day Vampire groups: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/cultureplaces/food/us-vampires-pp.html
Zombies
Bodies without souls
• A corpse that has been raised from the
grave and animated
• Most closely related with Haitian
Vodou
– Not to be feared. Fated to live a life of
slavery on a plantation.
– Wade Davis, The Serpent and the
Rainbow
• Together with Haitian psychiatrist, Dr.
Lamarque Douyon, tracked down and
recreated Zombie Powder, a type of
powder that (allegedly containing
pieces of dried puffer fish) causes the
victim to appear dead.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/pla
yer/places/culture-places/food/japan_pufferfish.html
• Davis emphasized the role of a
powerful priest in depriving a person
of their will, and psychologically
helping to create this “zombification”
process.
–
In Haitian Vodou, the part of the soul able to be
controlled by this priest is the ti-bonaj or their
personality/individuality.