Ancient Wisdom Atlas

Motif

External soul or life stored outside the body

external_soul_or_life_stored_outside_the_body

A motif of the External Soul and Life-Token family, within the sub-family Souls, Life, or Strength Outside the Body. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.

1 occurrences

1 traditions


comparative

  • The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) / CONTENTS; lines 6498-6584 confidence: high

    The passage explains an external-soul belief: life is imagined as a concrete thing that may be kept outside the body in a safe place; if unharmed, the person lives, but if injured or destroyed, the person suffers or dies.

    The passage explicitly describes a life or soul absent from the body, preserved in an external object or safe place, with the person’s life dependent on its condition.

    read in the book