Motif
Sleep or dream as risky soul projection
sleep_or_dream_as_risky_soul_projection
A motif of the Soul Loss and Restoration family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
comparative
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The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2) CHAPTER I. THE KING OF THE WOOD. / MACAULAY. / CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF THE SOUL. / HEINE.; lines 3606-3684 confidence: medium
Frazer explains the custom of covering or turning mirrors after a death as fear that the reflection-soul may be taken by the departed ghost, and calls it parallel to the Aru custom of not sleeping in a death-house because the dream-soul may meet the ghost.
The passage compares mirror dangers with dreams and sleep, in which the soul is projected out of the body and may meet a ghost or fail to return.
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