Inanimate objects and souls

Athena

New Member
One of the most interesting Native American myths is the belief that everything, including inanimate objects, possesses a soul. From what I understand, it's a fairly pervasive belief among Native Americans rather than one originating from a particular tribe.
 

greekgoddess31

Active Member
I don't think that it is necessarily that it possesses a soul but a spirit. They are not the same thing. Everything has life and gives life.
 

Nadai

Active Member
I think it's interesting that, while every object, living or not, has a "spirit" rather than a "soul", souls can become trapped in objects. A soul can become trapped or bound to another person or something that the deceased held very close to themselves like a necklace or a doll. Taking pictures of the dead can bind a soul to the human realm; if a person dies in front of a mirror their souls can become trapped in that mirror and can appear in other mirrors as well, but the originial trinket or mirror has to be destroyed for that soul to be set free.
 

Myrddin

Well-Known Member
Taking pictures of the dead can bind a soul to the human realm; if a person dies in front of a mirror their souls can become trapped in that mirror and can appear in other mirrors as well, but the originial trinket or mirror has to be destroyed for that soul to be set free.
Could that possibly have some bearings in the Bloody Mary myth?
 

Nadai

Active Member
Could that possibly have some bearings in the Bloody Mary myth?
I thought about that as well, but as far as I know, no one took any pictutures of her corpse and she didn't die near any mirrors; she was burried alive:(
There was a time when photographs were taken of the dead: a mother may take a photo with her dead child to remember it by, a husband may take a picture with his dead wife as a memorial or keepsake, but I don't think that was the case with Bloody Mary. If they did take a picture of her, they'd have done it before she was burried when they thought her to bed dead; I can't imagine that they'd have waited until she was dug up and think, "let's get a picture of this!"

*Wisconsin Death Trip: once a famous selection of photographs, published in 1973, and chosen by Michael Lesy from the work of Charles van Schaick, a studio photographer in a small Wisconsin town between 1890 and 1910. The images that have stayed with me longest are the ones of dead children who were posed for Van Schaick's camera at the request of their families. It would be unthinkable to do that now, but at the time -- an era of high child mortality rates -- they were simply regarded as keepsakes*
 
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